Warhammer 40.000: Darktide: Secrets of the Machine God

The fun thing about Darktide is that it makes you want more, despite life in a Hive City being anything but cheerful, and the whole premise of the game being that you are expendable. Very expendable. In the case of the new Secrets of the Machine God update, we get something that is at least a bit festive, even impressive as well. Old factory areas and massive machines. Darktide is as much about the setting as the actual gameplay, because you are meant to feel slightly uncomfortable with your surroundings.

In the heart of this Free-LC, we have a derelict manufactorum complex, a Foundryplex, a massive marvel of its age, but also something that requires extensive cooling, which still is active, despite the machines having been dormant for millennia. This is not only lore friendly but has allowed Fatshark to make a level design that includes elements of snow and ice, combined with brilliant ambient music provided by legendary composer Jesper Kyd. Its sort of placed outside the normal Hive city, an "inter-zone area" its called, and used to make Moebian steel, a key component in making battle tanks in the olden days.

It is rather different, as a new in-level NPC is present, and your job is basically to get in, start up the factory, get resources, and get out with as much as possible. It's very classic, and really makes you attempt to be as efficient as possible. The exact method you go about the objectives is variable, which is sort of strange, but also makes for great replayability. In general, I found that Fatshark has managed to change objectives for different levels to a degree that makes replaying a lot more fun and viable, honestly, I usually just jump in to a fast play mission, and am happy with whatever I am thrown in to.

Four new types of weapons are introduced, so are three new variations. My favourite is the classic Godwyn-Branx Pattern Bolt Pistol. It's mobile, and packs a serious punch. It's sort of the Deseert Eagle of the Warhammer universe. I know its supposed to be extremely rare in-game, but I really wanted to have this weapon when the game first came out.

Ogryns get their very own two-handed pickaxe. Yes, the big lumbering brutes, that seems to be able to work as both humanish shields and close combat shock troops now get pickaxes, because that most brutal of brutes really needed more hammering for his hammer and anvil tactics. To no surprise, there are two heavy variants and a medium variant, as nothing in the world of Ogryns is light.

If you know your lore, you also know the Adeptus Arbites have the hard job of policing the local population of a Hive City, a job that is done in part with a Shock Maul. It is the bluntest of blunt instruments, and as the name suggests, it will stun your opponents as well.

Last but not least, the double barrel shotgun. Extra gore is not optional, it's there, and I cannot fathom that having an Assault Shotgun version named "Hacker" didn't get banned by some sort of ethics commission.

It is still strongly recommended to use grenades and melee weapons when possible, the combat system doesn't change, and ammunition isn't exactly in abundance. This leads me to the next point, survival, because one thing that Darktide needs is big brain thinking, and stupid players will get downed and captured, use the very limited health kits too soon, or waste ammunition on targets that deserve a spade to the face. However, the number of players who are inherently bad at the game seems to be at an absolute minimum, and this has increased the enjoyment a lot.

While I am happy that Fatshark continuously improve on the game, expand it ever so softly like this, I must say that I still wish there was a more classical RPG style way to improve on your character. I would also like to see more story-driven content, the use of the in-game NPC is a great start, but we could have multiple each time, with different mission objectives, perhaps at once, forcing the group to either go halfsies on two, or fully commit to one, with different rewards.

It does fill me with joy that Fatshark seems to be committed to support the game going forward, because it's currently one of the most addictive coop shooters I have ever tried, and not to mention, one of the most authentic Warhammer 40K games on the market.