Today, Swedish studio Fatshark announced that Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is finally expanding beyond the Hive with the upcoming Expeditions game mode. It's been over three years since the original launch on PC, and so far, players have been confined to the Hive City of Tertium; now, they'll get to explore the many dangers of the Atoma Prime planet.
While roaming the desolated plains, they've been given a new objective: to search for Tech Remnants and investigate sites of interest. Even the strongest reject can only survive the polluted air for a limited time, so beware of that and call the Valkyrie for extraction when you're done. Enemies can attack from any direction, since they're not confined to the claustrophobic corridors of Tertium. Another danger is that every moment spent outside the Hive alerts the Chaos Spawn and other monstrosities to the players' presence. Squads must decide when to fight or flee and devise strategies to survive one of Darktide’s deadliest challenges yet.
The open-ended environment of Atoma Prime is as toxic and deadly as the chaos that engulfs it. Beyond the aforementioned polluted atmosphere, there are also twisters and lightning storms, and the day/night cycle significantly changes navigation and gameplay feel. Safe zones are scattered throughout the map, but they are only temporary sanctuaries. These sanctuaries are run by the Dead Siders, a faction previously considered little more than myth by the inhabitants of Tertium, who believed no one could survive outside the hive. Players will now get to interact with them directly, trading Salvage (a secondary currency found during the run) for supplies, upgrades, and new tools. Unlike Tech Remnants, Salvage cannot be kept between runs and must be spent on the spot. Once outside, Darktide players will once again be surrounded by hazards on all sides. This forces squads to move quickly and think tactically.
One such danger is the new Monstrosity called Ogryn Pack Master. Uncharacteristically quick for one of his kind, this large Ogryn with tusks was inspired by a classic Warhammer miniature. He's the first Monstrosity to be voiced and repeatedly taunts players mid-combat; on the upside, his vocal nature gives players an advantage in spotting him without much trouble.
The Ogryn Pack Master can be found roaming the derelict plains of Expeditions Mode with his pack of Pox Hounds and Armoured Pox Hounds. He is a challenging adversary for the Arbites, and players will notice his unique and savage interactions with them. Fatshark suggests eliminating him swiftly, as he will continually call his hellhounds to the battlefield; the developers also teased that he'll interact with player stealth "in a surprising way." The studio also said he might be added to standard Warhammer 40,000: Darktide missions at a later time.
According to Fatshark, Expeditions is not for the faint of heart and is available to players who are midway through their character progression. Furthermore, no two runs in this game mode are the same: the Badlands are unpredictable, and each successfully completed excursion unlocks new missions. Players navigate these via a new mission selection screen built around a grid of nodes, each with its own parameters and modifiers. Fatshark has confirmed the grid will be updated regularly, positioning Expeditions as a long-term core pillar of the game rather than a one-off addition.
Expeditions also introduces an arsenal of new items, as well as modified and supercharged versions of existing ones, in the Dead Side Sanctuary. For instance, the obliterating Modified Grenade can wipe out all enemies in the vicinity, but it will also draw more to the squad's location. Players can locate these items using the scanner tool that highlights nearby sites of interest, extraction points, and exits. This also doubles as a communication tool in co-op, letting each player mark targets in their own color to coordinate movement across the open map.
Beyond the Hive goes live in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide on Tuesday, March 17, and is being labeled as the biggest injection of free new content in the game since launch. Are you excited to step outside of Tertium? Let us know in the comments.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
