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Gears Of War 4
My chainsaw revs, chewing through what feels like a never-ending tide of Swarm. These are just Juvies, though. Small, fast, and fodder for my Lancer Mk. 3. They're plentiful, but not smart enough to steer clear of my whirring death machine.
At Gamescom, we had a chance to check out 20 uninterrupted minutes of Gears of War 4. The segment sees JD, Kait, and Del fighting through the Swarm in an abandoned COG fort, uncovering new enemy types.
This takes place in the first quarter of the game, and introduces Juvies (enemies that are similar to Locust Wretches) mutating into other forms. Instead of springing from emergence holes, Juvies burrow into nests and explode out as Drones.
These larger enemies are similar to Locust Drones, picking up weapons and diving behind cover. They also pop out of gooey red pods that are scattered about, clinging to walls and ceilings. They can be dropped to the ground by firing at the tethers for improvised, destructible cover.
In typical Gears of War style, combat segments are separated with banter that helps set the stage and advance the story. In the demo, our heroes are on the trail of a Snatcher which has kidnapped a comrade named Oscar. If JD and friends don't catch up and free him, he'll be turned into a gibbering Swarm Juvie after gestating in one of the pods.
The team tracks the Snatcher to a tram yard, where one final encounter takes place. The segment concludes with a pitched battle with a new enemy type called Pouncers. These dog-like creatures fling barbed quills from their tails and can also pin allies to the ground. During the demo, Kait was beset by one, but firing into the creature's pulsating orange form freed her.
In addition to giving us a chance to get messy with Gears of War 4, Microsoft has released footage of the game running at 4K. You can see some of what we played in the video below.
Gears of War 4 will be out for Xbox One and Windows 10 on October 11. For more, check out our coverage hub from April 2016.
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