this is a warzone. Dynamic missions
seem to suit live service games in
particular, where developers can
react to player feedback, tweak the
modifiers, or introduce brand new
ones in an update. The mission map
can be “altered instantly, basically,”
says De Geer, with Fatshark able to
wrench out a feature, like some bad
weather, make some changes and
then pop it back in once it’s happy
with the improvements. It also lets
the team design special missions
that appear only for a set time.
Wahlund says these could come with
additional unique rewards,
learn to cooperate effectively. “And if
they don’t,” Brigas warns, “then
they’re not going to survive.”
There are other things that might
be used to bring players together- non-combat activities, for instance,
and puzzles that are a bit more
involved than pushing some stones in
the correct order. There might be
times when the party has to split up,
too, but with the cooperative
elements still intact. Maybe two
players could fight off waves of
enemies, while the other half of the
quartet deal with a less bloody
problem. This could also provide
more opportunities for players to
shine even if they’re not racking up
the kills. But Andersson emphasises
that it’s really about letting the whole
team shine; letting everyone feel
powerful together. “It’s way more fun
moving down a horde together than
you doing it on your own with
everyone else watching,” he says. So
the idea is to give everyone a chance
to contribute, whether it’s solving a
puzzle, helping your squad by
tanking a tough enemy. or utilising
everyone’s skills to kill a specialist.
Darktide is still in this exciting
stage where it’s ripe with possibilities,
but at this point it’s hard to predict
what it will look like when finished.
Fatshark’s idea of Darktide is still a
compelling one, though, drawing out
the best bits of Vermintide and
investigating why they worked so
well, and how that can be applied in
other places or taken in new
directions. And honestly, you can’t go
far wrong with chainswords.
encouraging dedicated players to
watch out for them and jump in as
soon as one appears.
If you’re looking for a group to
take on these missions, Fatshark’s
trying to ensure that you still get to
choose where you go. Where
Vermintide 2 strongly encourages
players to use Quick Play, which
throws you into a random mission,
Darktide will grant more freedom to
choose specific missions to play.
“Co-op is something that we’ve
focused on even more this time
around,” says De Geer, and that goes
beyond letting you have more of a say
on where your co-op adventures take
you. “We’re trying to find more places
to introduce co-op, and one of the
strongest ones are special enemies,
but there’s also customising your
loadout with your team and making
sure you’ve covered all your bases.”STICK TOGETHER
Vermintide’s specialists, even the ones
who couldn’t take much of a beating,
forced players to work together. If
there’s an assassin around, you need
your teammates to keep their eyes
open, or to kill it if it jumps you. In
Darktide, Fatshark wants to use them
to challenge players more and make
them experiment with proper team
tactics. It’s still not settled on what
these specialists will be, however.
There’s a lot of units that could fit the
bill, though the team is mostly
restricted to the roster of the tabletop
game. Whatever the final list ends up
being, the goal is to create encounters
where it’s imperative that playersMAIN: Hives aren’t
just very big, they’re
also very tall. Don’t
take the stairs.Gamenamexxxx
Fatshark hasn’t confirmed all the
classes yet, but here’s our first
look at the playable characters.