Strategy
Gears Tactics
The first hour is a test
Gets good by 1h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 3h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 22% of players who started
Started playing 90% of owners
Steam reviews 74% positive of 7,803
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (52%); after 10h it's 1 in 5 (22%).
- Fully opens up by hour 3.
- The opening is criticised more than in 80% of games we track.
- 22% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Maybe too much spine...” (Rescued the deserters) and “Broken hand, broken heart” (Defeated the Corpser): from 55% to 37% of starters.
- 90% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 7,864 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 23.5h for positive, 11.9h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (89.5% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- World on Fire Escaped the Hammer of Dawn. 94% −6
- Hell of a shot Teamed up with Mikayla. 77% −17
- The bigger they are, the harder they fall Defeated the Brumak. 62% −15
- Maybe too much spine... Rescued the deserters. 55% −7
- Broken hand, broken heart Defeated the Corpser. Most players quit here 37% −17
- Dead men tell no tales Outsmarted Prescott. 36% −1
- Champion of Vasgar Complete all Campaign Acts (any difficulty). 22% −15
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (61)
story milestone ending side
- Oh I'm sorry did I break your concentration? Interrupt an enemy Overwatch with a Disabling Shot from the Snub Pistol. 100%
- Tactics! Perform a chainsaw execution. 98%
- World on Fire Escaped the Hammer of Dawn. 94%
- The path of the righteous man Complete a mission without any of your units dying or being downed. 91%
- Grubslayer Kill 10 enemies. 91%
- Hell of a shot Teamed up with Mikayla. 77%
- Piñata Kill a single unit that has taken damage from each Gear on the mission. 74%
- Everyone stay cool, this is a robbery! Complete a Control side mission. 73%
- Stronger Together Complete a Rescue side mission. 62%
- The bigger they are, the harder they fall Defeated the Brumak. 62%
- I never miss Hit a target with 10% or less chance to hit. 55%
- Maybe too much spine... Rescued the deserters. 55%
- BOGO Kill an enemy, AND an enemy behind it, with a single burst of bullets. 54%
- Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face Down a Gear with friendly fire. 53%
- Number 5 is alive! Complete a mission with Jack (Jacked game mode only). 52%
- Tick Tick Tick... Kill an enemy with a Ticker explosion. 47%
- Snafu Heal an enemy unit with a Stim Grenade. 46%
- Fortuna Audaces Sequitur Complete a Scavenger Run side mission. 45%
- All For One! Apply three or more stacks of Wingman on a single ally (Jacked game mode only). 43%
- Smash! Complete a Sabotage side mission. 42%
- Broken hand, broken heart Defeated the Corpser. 37%
- Dead men tell no tales Outsmarted Prescott. 36%
- For he is truly his brother's keeper... Use Jack to rescue both soldiers from torture pods on a Rescue mission (Jacked game mode only). 31%
- God-like Complete 20 missions without any of your units dying or being downed. 31%
- Demolition Expert Close an Emergence Hole before any enemies have emerged. 25%
- Grubslaughter Kill 1000 enemies. 24%
- You can't see me! Gain a Supply with a Hidden Jack and no other allies in the Supply Point (Jacked game mode only). 22%
- Champion of Vasgar Complete all Campaign Acts (any difficulty). 22%
- Zed's dead, baby. Kill one or more of each Deviant enemy (Jacked game mode only). 18%
- I've got your 'BOOM' right here! Kill a Boomer with a boomshot. 18%
- Jack and the Beanstalk Defeat the Brumak in Act 1 Chapter 6 without Jack taking damage (Jacked game mode only). 13%
- Trick Shot Get 4 kills with a single Torque Bow shot. 11%
- We’re in the endgame now Complete a Veteran side mission. 11%
- Trouble in Paradise Empower a Teamworked unit and gain 3 AP from their kills. 8.6%
- Up Up Down Down Use Alpha and Omega twice each in the same turn. 8.4%
- Check out the big brain on Brett! Kill 5 enemies with a single Overwatch action. 6.6%
- Hero of Vasgar Complete all Campaign Acts on Experienced or Insane difficulty. 6.3%
- Legen (wait for it)… Upgrade one primary weapon with all Legendary mods. 4.2%
- One For All! Have four squad members with the Jacked status effect at the same time (Jacked game mode only). 3.6%
- Suit Up! Equip at least one weapon with all Supreme Weapon Mods (Jacked game mode only). 3.5%
- Untouchable Win a Veteran Mission without taking a point of damage (Jacked game mode only). 3.1%
- Immortal Complete 100 missions without any of your units dying or being downed. 1.9%
- Happy Killmore Close an Emergence Hole by kicking a Ticker into it. 1.8%
- Savior of Vasgar Complete all Campaign Acts on Insane difficulty. 1.7%
- Boom! Kill 100 enemies with Ticker explosions. 1.5%
- Three Count Hit with 3 Explosive Shots while having maximum Anchored bonus in a single turn. 1.5%
- High Noon Complete a mission by only dealing damage with Snub Pistols. 1.2%
- Immortal Legion Complete the campaign on Insane difficulty without a single unit dying. 1.2%
- Midnight Hour Gain AP from the Avenger skill, then use a Rage shot to kill the unit that caused your AP gain. 1.2%
- Backdoor Man Kill 6 targets with a single Rampage, after coming out of Cloak. 1.1%
- I could do this all day Complete 20 Veteran Missions. 1.1%
- …dary! Upgrade each Hero's primary weapon with all Legendary mods. 0.9%
- I am Ironman Complete the Campaign on any difficulty with Ironman mode enabled. 0.9%
- Ain't no one like me, 'cept me! Complete a mission on Insane difficulty with a single soldier. 0.8%
- Great vengeance and furious anger... In one turn, Breach 3 enemies; kill one of each with Precision Shot, Reckless Shot and Double Shot. 0.8%
- We should have shotguns for this... Complete a Veteran Mission with all Scout units. 0.8%
- Grubpocalypse Kill 10000 enemies. 0.7%
- I've done the whole mind control thing... Use Jack to HiJack each non-boss enemy at least once (Jacked game mode only). 0.7%
- The Big Ending Revive a Scout with Stim ability and then use that Scout to kill at least 5 enemies with Rampage. 0.7%
- Seriously Jacked Earn all "Jacked game mode" achievements. 0.6%
- Seriously Tactical Earn Grubpocalypse, Immortal Legion, I Could Do This All Day and Boom! 0.6%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.