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COLOGNE, Germany—Changing the formula of a respected, successful franchise is a risky business, and first impressions of Gears of War 4's DeeBees highlight the problem. This new robotic race of enemies, seemingly named by the director of a children's television show, flank and shoot like the Locust we're used to, but the aesthetic difference is difficult to warm to. Shooting and killing sentient boxes of circuit boards and wires doesn't provide that same sense of guttural, crass satisfaction that comes with blasting a hole through the head of a Locust (which appear in other parts of the game), or ripping a chainsaw through its torso. Call me an animal, but that's what I want from Gears of War, the quintessential third-person cover-based shooter. Dismembering an android incarnation of The Rock doesn't provide that same splat and release.

Having seen just 20 or so minutes of them in action, maybe that's an unfair judgement. After all, DeeBees come in various forms, so there's the potential for them to change tactics and develop their own unique personality amongst their fleshier brethren. Bipedal DeeBees, for instance, forego the use of cover, instead relying on their armour to deflect your rounds, while the power of their weapons deters you from poking your head out of cover to get a shot off. They can jump low when navigating over cover, and if they get close they turn suicide bomber and explode.

The smaller of the two walkers I saw tended to attack only in packs, their role seemingly focused on herding you into tight spots from which their larger siblings could deal the real damage and force you into a compromising position. It's these larger examples, which pack more potent weapons, that blow up in your face. If you're too close to them when they jump over cover you become stunned for a moment, which is enough time for them to blow up and take you out. Additionally, flying drones and fast, ground-based mechanised balls that roll up to you and, again, explode in your face, act as support robots and distractions.

Enlarge / Bill Hill, manager of exploration systems development for NASA, speaks during a social media event Thursday at Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. (credit: Eric Berger)

One of the biggest criticisms of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft is that they will be too expensive to fly. Namely—while the large rocket and sizable capsule appear to be more-than-capable vehicles that could form the core of a deep-space exploration program—will there be any money left after producing them for NASA to actually go and explore? Until now, this has been a question the space agency has offered only vague assurances about.

But on Thursday, when Ars sat down to interview NASA’s Bill Hill inside the Michoud Assembly Facility, where the SLS core stage and Orion are assembled, the NASA manager was notably forthcoming. “We’re just way too expensive today,” Hill acknowledged. “It’s going to take some different thinking and maybe a little bit more risk taking than what we’re wanting to do today.”

Hill should know. As deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, he is the NASA headquarters official responsible for the development of SLS, Orion, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center. Hill said he has given managers of each of those three programs some targets for production and operating costs once the vehicles move out of the development phase and into production.

Captured on PC, Ars UK's Mark Walton takes Adam Jensen on his first mission into the heart of the aug ghetto Golem City. (video link)

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is not an exciting-sounding sequel. It's one of those video games that feels like an expected follow-up, and it's probably fallen behind in the industry's "buzz" and "hype" quotients as a result.

Just like the last entry, 2011's DX: Human Revolution, this game puts you in the shoes of the same cybernetically enhanced anti-hero, offers the same "play how you want" system, and even replicates a lot of the last game's powers, controls, and aesthetic. You'd be forgiven for glancing at a snippet of gameplay and wondering which game is which.