‘Gears Of War 4’ Introduces Robotic Enemies And More New Weapons In 9-Minute Campaign Video

New Gears of War 4 footage hit Monday to reveal an all new class of enemy for the upcoming Xbox One and Windows 10 shooter. This technically makes the second class of enemies coming to the game and they are bringing a collection of new weapons with them.

A nine-minute campaign gameplay video shared via IGN First reveals The Swarm won’t be the only enemies players will face in Gears of War 4. The Coalition has added a robotic army called the DeeBees to the mix with a much more aggressive playstyle than typically seen in the franchise.

The armored DeeBees come in different flavors. There’s the standard infantry unit that will take cover and fire, but generally appear to be more aggressive than the Locusts fans have been used to facing. The Heavy DeeBees ignore cover altogether and steadily move directly toward JD, Kait, Dell, and Old Man Fenix to fire on them. Their armored bodies combined with any feelings of self-preservation make them a relentless and aggressive force to deal with. While the Heavies are charging, a shielded and hovering drone armed with a Gatling gun will lay down fire on the four heroes and a smaller, ball-like drone will roll up to players and blow up like a bouncing betty mine.

These enemies come equipped with a host of new weapons that players can pick up and use. This include the SMG-like Enforcer and the Overkill shotgun, which looks like it has a bit better ranger than the Gnasher. They are joined by the Embar Sniper Rifle, an almost Railgun-like weapon, and the Tri-Shot Gatling Gun, dropped by the hovering, shielded drone.

The combination of new robotic enemies and weapons add to the menagerie of enemies, but why are they there? All indications are these are COG built machines meant to replace humans to keep order and serve as soldiers. The Heavy DeeBees in particular have the hallmark circle plates on their chest from Gears armor.

Thematically, it makes sense COG authorities would begin using robotic soldiers. Humans on the planet Sera are close to extinction and many don’t want to fall under the thumb of what remains of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. Why they are after JD, Marcus, Dell, and Kait is a complete mystery as even the younger Fenix remarks he doesn’t know why they are being attacked by forces that should be on their side.

It should be interesting to see how the addition of DeeBees change up Horde Mode. The Coalition plans to reveal the popular co-op survival mode during PAX Prime the weekend of September 2.

The new Gears of War 4 campaign footage also provides an opportunity to check out the graphics for the game. As previously covered, It runs at 1080p and 30 frames per second during the campaign on the Xbox One to achieve extra effects, such as the wind shear storms. The multiplayer will run at 1080p and 60 fps for the console. Executive Producer Rod Fergusson confirmed on Twitter the footage shown is from the Xbox One version and not the Windows 10 release. The PC version will support higher resolution along with extra graphics options not available on the console.

Gears of War 4 is also one of the new Xbox Play Anywhere titles releasing to the Xbox One and Windows 10 this year. Purchasing the game digitally for either platform will automatically grant a free copy on the other. The game will also support cross-saves and cross-play between consoles.

Xbox Play Anywhere was officially launched as part of the Xbox One update released at the end of July. ReCore will be the first title out on September 13, followed by Forza Horizon 3 on September 27, and then Gears of War 4 on October 11.

What do you think of the latest Gears of War 4 footage and the new enemies? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via YouTube/IGN]