The Hive

Has a pretty good vibe. One of the few good, actual bug/insect RTS games. Very short, but updates in the future are looking promising so this game might get a whole lot bigger!

First and foremost I have to say right out of the gate I am not a frequent player of RTS games, and to be quite frank, generally I do not like them in the slightest. However, I have to say that I have thoroughly been enjoying The Hive. Not only do I agree with a lot of other people on the graphics/visuals/aesthetic, I also love the color scheme throughout the different levels. I like some of the additional color thrown onto a few different unit types which adds a sort of flare to your swarm, which gives a subtle and nice break from the otherwise constant color scheme.

I've noticed a lot of people leaving negative or mixed reviews noting the slowness, and while I like the idea or fantasy of an incredibly fast swarm or horde overrunning enemies, I much prefer the "slowness" of both the units and the game in general. That's partially because, as I mentioned previously, I am not an RTS player and so the slow pace helped me quite a bit when I first started, as well, because I struggle with managing tons of things all at once, this allowed me some time to sort of breathe as I go (Oonga oonga, hurt to tink). The simplistic resource system combined with the slower pace has allowed me to enjoy the game while progressing the story without too much "challenge".
To those who want "faster game play" use wasps or some of the "weaker" units, but lead them with a more tanky unit like the Rhino, Hive Queen, or Avatar.

I think the equipment feature for units is pretty great, or at least it's worked pretty great for my play style. Typically, I'll build up a small defensive force of two or three Rhinos and a couple of hunters OR one to two healers. With them I'll find a choke point or comfortable spot where I can defend against early enemy raids while I buy time to build up a larger force. After a little while, because the crystals are so abundant throughout the entire campaign, I'll usually use my extras to build up a double layered wall of turrets so that when I deploy my army my base remains defended. All of this is made easier because the equipment you gather is carried on through to each next level. Second point on this I really like, which combats one of my biggest issues with RTS games, is that by bringing the equipment with you into each level, some of your strength or "progress" carries over. I REALLY freaking like this part of the equipment system.
This also applies to the DNA resource system as well. While I'm not sure if it was intended to be this way or not, once you spend DNA to unlock a new unit type, it is then forever unlocked and not needed to be repurchased.

I do not know if upgrading units with DNA carries over to other levels or not as I built the Worker Den one time, upgraded some units, beat that level and then never used the Worker Den again.


THINGS I NOTICED (POTENTIAL BUGS?)

- Some of the landscape, specifically bridges or elevated narrow pathways, can be buggy when deploying large amounts of units over them. This can cause units to glitch through the surface and down to the layer beneath them (which is usually not connected to other accessible land) and therefore they become stuck.

- When you have multiple units of various types selected (i.e., the Rhino, Hive Queen, and/or Infectors), only one of the unit types abilities is usable. Which causes you to have to manually select the other unit and then use their abilities individually. This is not really frustrating so much as it's honestly just a bit annoying at times.

- After cutscenes the camera reverts to an odd angle at a preselected area on the map. Super easy to immediately correct and it does not at all effect the gameplay, but just sort of odd I guess.


SUGGESTIONS TO THE DEV (MINOR/MAJOR)

- (Minor) If I'm right about the unit upgrades from the Worker Den not transferring over to the next level, I think this would be a good system to also have transfer over as you progress. If it does, either now or in the future, I think the current DNA costs for each upgrade are fairly reasonable, however, if they're only active for each specific level, then the DNA requirements should be substantially reduced.

- (Major) This one plays into the above mentioned suggestion: Add a speed upgrade to units on top of the already available unit upgrade option. Or, it's worth considering adding a small +Speed buff to one or a couple specific unit types. Obviously don't allow it to stack, but by giving the Avatar a +15% Speed buff or the Hive Queen a +10% Speed buff to nearby friendly units, this would help satisfy some of the currently "negative" reviewers complaints.
You could either add it in like that, or add it in as another passive buff to higher quality armor types (Green/Common = +5%, Blue/Rare = 10%, and Purple/Epic = 15%) so that the larger more tank like units are a bit faster.

- (Major) Terrain issues, such as units falling through/being pushed off of bridges, or units acting wonky when ordered to cross the map, either small or large portions. It's as if they're looking to make a direct shot to the newly selected location, but choose not to obey because an invisible wall from the shoreline interferes with my command which causes them to ignore it completely. In general this is just bothersome, but in a pinch it's frustrating.

- (Major) Equipment types and their drop rates could use a bit of a buff overall. I feel as though it takes forever to gather plenty of equipment for one or two individual units, but to gather enough equipment to fully deck out even two or three individual units takes pretty much the entire campaign. I just end up with two or three very geared units and a bunch of extra common gear laying in my inventory because individually equipping each individual unit is just bleh.

- (Minor) This plays into the above mentioned suggestion: substituting the individual specific buffs for a slightly lesser AoE version of them would be awesome. I'd much rather have a tanky Rhino or two that, because of their equipment, can shrug a bit more damage off but overall just buff my other nearby friendly units ever so slightly enough that their presence is better felt than seen if that makes sense?


OVERALL - 8.5/10
Obviously some things could use a bit of work, but hey, that's every game these days. Ever hear about No Man's Sky or pretty much any Triple A game released in the last, idk, decade?
Regardless, the feel and art style of this game encourages a more casual playstyle. It's very easy to get wrapped up in while not being overwhelmed and the fact that you can pause it and step away helps if you, like myself, have kids.
This game alone has helped me, an avid hater of RTS games, enjoy an RTS game.

I wanted to leave a review since most of the ones here feel outdated. I did not run into any of the performance or bug issues people mentioned in the past, so it seems like the dev has been working on updates.

The game does a good job of making you feel like you are leading an alien insect colony. I enjoyed the RPG elements, like getting loot from enemies and unlocking units in whatever order I wanted.

The atmosphere is one of my favorite parts. The visuals and music really set the tone, and the world feels mysterious. I find the underworld setting pretty unique.

it pretty fun and good

I thoroughly enjoyed. A fairly short campaign but i'd love to see more.

interesting idea, story doesnt make sense and combat is not a challenge in the slightest. other than lacking any real soul, its buggy as hell no pun intended. i'm glad i got it on sale