I was exactly shocked when Fatshark showed a mohawk puffing chemicals Hive of Scum How Warhammer 40,000: Dark Tidenext class; most existing game characters are already unwashed criminals. However, it turns out that they are good company when it matters. Having played about six hours of Hive Scum ahead of the December 2 launch, I'm convinced that this class offers something new—and even those who don't spend the required $12 on it will still get an awesome new mission type that day that delves into the truly messy ground war of 40k.
Let's start with this one since it's the biggest free addition to the update. No Man's Land is a shorter operation than most standard missions, similar to the bullet train job Darktide got last year, and takes your squad outside the game's main city for a dirtier trench attack (along with, nicely, one of the hilariously proportioned 40K tanks). As with the train, it's almost non-stop combat, with only the briefest of pauses to allow your armored battle buddy to get through a gate or steal some space iPads from an enemy bunker.
In other words, this is a simple task. But it's also nicely dynamic, and the trench setting – a well-trodden wargame playground but a refreshing change from Darktide's usual metal corridors – is oddly beautiful in places. Beams of light cut through the dust of a bombed outpost as the mountainous architecture of the hive city looms over the battlefield. It would be wonderful if it weren't so terrible.
Hive Scum doesn't make such a strong first impression. Especially after the Arbites with their Dreddish character judges and unique K9 control mechanicsThey don't initially achieve the distinction you'd want from premium DLC. Most of the personality/voice options just sound like the grungier cousins ​​of the standard Veteran, and while they start with two submachine guns (most notably Darktide, akimbo), the early levels of my Scammer lacked the freshness of action that the dog cops had.
However, once you spent a few skill points on the subclass's run-and-gun style, everything started clicking like a tech-priest's mechanical finger. If the Veteran is all about long-range precision shots and the Zealot is all about gritty, dogged melee combat, then Hive Scum with a gun takes the best of both and creates something that still feels separate from them. A running gunslinger who constantly forces magic down the throats of heretics, taking out heavyweights and mobs alike in long, continuous sprints. The further you move up the talent tree, the longer you'll be able to continue those kill chains while adding other massive damage dealing moves like rocket launchers (effective, fun) and perks that deal massive extra damage to enemies shot in the back (effective, challenging).
I haven't tried the other two main playstyles, one of which is melee-focused (and which admittedly sounds a little too much Fanatic), while another plays on illicit chemistry by encouraging players to pump themselves and their teammates with syringes containing a specially prepared Fun Times concoction. I will say that my preferred approach is a risky one: if meringue still exists in the 41st Millennium, my Hive's armor is obviously made of it, so a failed reload or a positioning error could result in a shootdown almost instantly. But the skill upgrades are flexible enough to take the edge off: I regain durability (essentially a shield) for every baddie killed at close range, which both encourages and protects aggressive footwork.
And any waste from the hive, regardless of whether it has a superficial level of chemistry, can regulate the action of its syringes. While I could combine damage, stamina efficiency, and attack speed buffs, I invested heavily in stamina regeneration, which I could combine with the Desperado ability to balance out my inherent fragility with limited bursts in the form of an endlessly running, deceptively tough, wildly destructive blur of shell casings and screams. I can leave any time I want, thank you.
I still think the Arbiters are the stronger and definitely more ambitious of the two DLC classes, but I definitely wouldn't mind sticking with my Hive Scum gun dervish in the second. Especially when I can unleash them on No Man's Land, which itself looks like the latest in a string of high-quality mission expansions – and, to my mind, sounds like it's going to be accompanied by yet another Jesper Kyd fireworks.
