In most shooters, I'm usually reluctant to play as characters with AI-controlled companions who do a lot of the work for you. You won't catch me playing Torbjorn in Overwatch 2 or Namor in Marvel Rivals, and I'm typically not a fan of the myriad "buddies" available to Warlocks in Destiny 2. My feelings remained the same when Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's first new class since launch, the Arbitrator – a sort of discount-Judge-Dredd police officer who gets a cybernetically-enhanced attack dog to order around – was announced. How would a companion fit into such a fast-paced and busy horde shooter like Darktide?
But even after just a few missions playing the Arbitrator, I was glad to get a satisfying answer to that question: it turns out it's an extremely good fit. Now with over 50 missions under my Arbitrator Wallace's belt, most of which undertaken with faithful support from my cyber-mastiff Gromit, the Arbitrator is a firm favorite of mine amongst the five classes in Darktide. It's definitely far too powerful, but the thrill of new ways to play my favorite horde shooter has also got me thinking of what developer Fatshark has on the horizon.
