Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Reviews
Performance issues aside, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's ferocious battles make for some of the most thrilling co-op action in years.
Developer Fatshark’s newest outing builds upon the great foundation of its work on Vermintide. Darktide offers a refined and evolved co-op experience with expanded, thrilling combat and more robust customization. While a lack of an engaging story and network issues hamper its potential, this co-op shooter still offers one of the best Warhammer games I've seen in recent years.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is one of those games that oozes fun, no matter how you play it. It lends itself perfectly to all playstyles, and has this natural way of immersing the player in its world. That might be from the unique RPG system, the insanely detailed environments that make you feel like you're really walking through this huge hellscape, or maybe it's just the gratuitous violence. Whatever the cause, it's doing a great job of keeping me hooked. Of course, the game isn't without its cons, and these do detract from an otherwise solid experience. Regardless, it's a game that I will absolutely be coming back to time and time again.
Still, knowing Fatshark’s previous work, I’m confident Darktide will be in much better shape in just a few months’ time. And perhaps, in a year or two, after a couple of expansions and numerous updates, it may be something extraordinary. As things stand right now, it’s only very good… which is hard to complain about. A fantastic setting with tons of replayability and the same old juicy combat? There’s plenty to get sucked into, and no signs of slowing down.
Warhammer 40k: Darktide is definitely worth buying if you love the franchise, but even then, just barely at the moment, due to being hollow and unstable. Here is to hoping they can fix it up so that it can be considered equal or better to Vermintide 2.
I’ll have more to say about Darktide once I’ve spent some time with the newly stabilised release build. For now, be aware of the technical issues players faced during the beta before diving in. I’m hopeful that Fatshark has been able to sort most of them out, because this is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in the 40k universe to date – when it works.
It is hard to translate just how satisfying it feels to tear through a horde of heathens in Darktide as its thunderous soundtrack plays to words. The best way to do so seems to be simply saying that it is spot-on enough to surely please any fan of Warhammer or horde shooters. Darktide is a Primarch amongst Warhammer games, and it serves the corpse emperor admirably.
If you are a fan of horde-like games then Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will no doubt scratch that itch. Whilst the gameplay can become repetitive and the grind seems to offer little value at this stage, I cannot deny that I had a blast playing it with a group of friends. Some incredible “oh crap” moments occurred during combat when we were overrun by a horde of enemies and had to work together to stay alive. It’s moments like these that keep you coming back for more. As this is a games-as-a-service title, we expect many more improvements and features to be added with time to enhance the experience and features.
Fans of Vermintide will definitely enjoy Darktide’s slightly more creative approach to character building, and anyone into fast-paced cooperative shooters — lovers of Warhammer 40,000 or not — will have a great time. Best of all, Warhammer 40,000 Darktide has all the elements for an extended life, provided Fatshark keeps fixing bugs, adding content and rewarding its fans. Darktide is off to a great start.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a beautiful-looking and sounding game with fun team-combat, even for players who are new to the universe. There are some issues with loading times and connectivity that are sure to be patched in the future.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a worthy successor to Vermintide. Fans of good first-person melee combat shouldn't hesitate to check this one out.
Hilarious banter, ridiculous fights, a great mission structure, and satisfying progression show that Fatshark is only getting better. Being available day one on Game Pass for PC means no one, either alone or with friends should pass on giving this one a go.
Although it feels more like an early access release at this point, this is a promising start for what should eventually eclipse Vermintide 2 and all the other Left 4 Dead wannabes.
"As Darktide's levels aren't grouped into acts, it's much harder for Fatshark to tell coherent stories across them"
Some occasional technical issues and an unwillingness to truly burst out of the norms for the genre keep Darktide from reaching enormous heights, but within the confines it sets for itself, this is about as good as it gets.
Darktide captures the most essential parts of its genre, though it sometimes stumbles when trying to build metagame content on top of that foundation.
Enjoyably frantic, and gory, Darktide is gratifying to play, but the experience is softened by performance issues and dreadful load times.
The developers should be yelled at for giving us an Early Access game disguised as a full release, but their fans are used to it. I have no doubt that, over time, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will get new content, fixed bugs and an overall boost in quality.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Darktide is easily the best first-person experience of all Warhammer 40,000 games.
Review in Russian | Read full review
With Darktide being more of a live service game, there isn't necessarily an ending to its narrative to speak of. Players will rank up and be treated to short cutscenes reflecting the increase in trust and standing the spaceship's NPCs hold for the player. However, each character feels rooted in the dark sci-fi future the Warhammer series takes place in, as they deliver hints of its complex lore. More story will likely be introduced over time, with hopefully new locations to explore, because players may be left hungry for more narrative and beautiful levels to look at. Still, mowing down enemies with friends has rarely felt as satisfying as it does in Warhammer 40K: Darktide.