I was precisely whelmed when Fatshark revealed the mohawked, chem-huffing Hive Scum as Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s next class; most of the existing player characters being unwashed crims as it is. Turns out, however, they make good company when it counts. Having played about six hours of Hive Scum, ahead of launch on December 2nd, I’m convinced the class offers something new – and even those who don’t drop the requisite $12 on it will still, on the same day, get a rollicking new mission type that delves into properly muddy 40K ground warfare.
Let’s start with that, since it’s the biggest of the update’s free-to-all additions. No Man’s Land is a shorter operation than most standard missions, similar to the speeding train job that Darktide gained last year, and takes your warband outside the game’s main city for a muckier trench assault (alongside, in a nice touch, one of 40K’s hilariously proportioned tanks). Also like the train run, it’s an almost non-stop slugfest, with only the briefest of pauses to let your armoured battle buddy through a gate, or to steal some Space iPads from an enemy bunker.
It’s a simple assignment, in other words. But it’s also enjoyably pacey, and the trench setting – well-trodden ground for war games, yet a refreshing change from Darktide’s usual metal corridors – does look strangely beautiful in places. Light rays cut through the dust of a bombed outpost, while the mountainous architecture of the hive city looms over the battlefield. It’d be lovely if it weren’t so horrible.
The Hive Scum doesn’t make such a strong first impression. Especially after the Arbites, with their Judge Dreddish personas and unique K9 handler mechanics, they don’t initially appear to achieve the distinction you’d want from a premium DLC class. Most of the personality/voice options just sound like gruffer cousins to the default Veteran’s, and while they start off with dual machine pistols – akimbo-ing being a Darktide first – my Scummer’s early levels lacked the freshness of action flavour that the dog cops had.
However, with a few skill points to spend on the run-and-gun subclass style, it all began clicking like a Tech-Priest’s mechanical thumb. If the Veteran is all about accurate shots from range, and the Zealot is dedicated to sustained, thick-of-it meleeing, a gun-specced Hive Scum takes the best of both and makes something that still feels separate from either. A run ‘n’ gunner that’s constantly magdumping down heretics’ throats, shredding heavies and mob crowds alike in extended, unbroken sprints. The further down the talent tree you go, the longer you can keep these killchains going, while adding other mass-hurt tricks like rocket launchers (effective, fun) and a perks that deal huge bonus 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, does at least sound a little too Zealot-like) while the other plays up the illicit chemistry angle by encouraging players to pump up themselves and their teammates with syringes of custom-mixed Fun Times. I will say that my preferred approach is a risky one: if meringue still exists in the 41st millennium, my Hive Scum’s armour is apparently made from it, so a badly timed reload or positioning misstep can almost instantly result in a downing. But the skill upgrades are flexible enough to take the edge off: I regain toughness (shield, basically) for every baddie killed at close range, both encouraging and protecting aggressive footwork.
And any Hive Scum, regardless of whether they spec for a sketchy chemistry degree, can adjust the effects of their syringes. Although I could blend damage, stamina efficiency, and attack speed buffs, I invested heavily in toughness regen, which I could combine with the Desperado ability to counterbalance my inherent fragility with limited bursts as an infinitely sprinting, deceptively tough, savagely destructive blur of shell casings and shouting. I can quit any time I want to, thanks.
I still think Arbites are the stronger, and definitely more ambitious of the two DLC classes so far, but I’m definitely not averse to sticking with my shooting dervish Hive Scum on the 2nd. Especially when I can let them loose on No Man’s Land, which itself looks like the latest in a string of high-quality mission expansions – and, to my ears, sounds like it’s accompanied by yet another Jesper Kyd banger.
