Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Reviews
Warhammer 40k: Darktide is hard to recommend, even a month after release. There’s a good game here, but it’s burdened by issues I’m sure will be fixed after a few major updates; the only question is whether or not you’re willing to deal with it until then.
One should expect more from the extremely rich Warhammer 40k lore. Darktide has some good ideas but commits the ultimate sin for a game: it becomes boring due to its extreme repetitiveness.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you enjoyed Fatshark’s previous projects on Vermintide and its sequel, or you’re just an overall Warhammer 40K fan, then you will feel right at home with Darktide. As long as you can dig past the rough state the game is in right now with unfinished content and performance issues, then there’s truly an addictive and satisfying cooperative horde shooter lying underneath all those corpses.
Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with this game. Its immersive surroundings, sounds and action made you feel in the thick of the action. The graphics were extremely detailed. The sound was fitting with the feel of the game. The voice acting was great and so were the animations by all of the characters. It could be overwhelming at times with constant hordes being thrown at you. This just meant teamwork and sticking together were vital for survival and completing the levels. It may not be for some, however. I tend not to choose these types of games but I do appreciate them. For those who like the visceral action given by games like Doom Eternal, Metal: Hellsinger, and Vermintide this game is for you. With updates and additions planned for the game by the developers, it’s well worth getting if you have been meaning to for a while. I award Warhammer 40,000: Darktide the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Darktide is built on great foundations and I enjoy playing it a lot – especially with friends. There’s a brilliant game buried deep within this Hive World, filled with exciting combat and gruesome enemies in equal measure. However, to properly enjoy those glorious moments, you have to break through the pustular skin of Darktide’s pointless upgrade systems and wade through the poisoned viscera of dull progression. I just hope that the countless obstructions in the live service elements don’t turn too many players away from the game mired underneath.
All of All of these details come together to form a fairly lifeless game – one with all the fixings and foundation of another epic showcase but without any of the polish or love that is so evident in the team's previous undertaking.
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.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide offers an authentic representation of the 40k lore, and while the cooperative action gameplay can be occasionally satisfying, it lacks content, has a few strange design choices, and suffers from too many performance issues.
Warhammer 40,000 Darktide is still not the production that miniatures game enthusiasts and Vermintide lovers were expecting. In what is the core of the gameplay experience, the slaughter of hordes of enemies, it works just fine, and diving into that riot of death leads to a macabre ecstasy. Lacking, however, is an adequate structure to support the ludics: too slender progression, poor variety of missions, questionable solutions implemented in the two stores.
Review in Italian | Read full review
In a month or five or twelve, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide may reach the state it should have launched in. In a month or five or twelve, it may become a co-op game that's easy to recommend. But while I undoubtedly had fun during the missions I completed over 40+ hours playing both the pre-order beta and full versions, it's clear that we're dealing with yet another title whose potential isn't allowed to fully shine through at launch.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has a solid foundation that just needs more built atop it. Slaughtering legions of Chaos freaks is fun for a while, and the in-game chatter between characters is surprisingly funny to the point I was invested far more than I otherwise would’ve been. Sadly, the unbalanced classes and poorly paced missions, plus a complete lack of incentive to play after hitting the level cap stop it short of what one wants from a horde shooter.
While it wasn’t what I expected, Darktide still does Warhammer 40k well, which is all many fans of the franchise could have asked for. While it could stand to improve in some places, I believe Darktide is fundamentally a good game that many players will enjoy, and given time may improve on many of its faults.
Overall then, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has the makings of an incredible Warhammer 40k game – the gameplay loop is excellent, with the visual and sound design to match. Unfortunately, a lot of other aspects of the game do mar the experience somewhat, and it does feel unfinished in some areas. That being said, if Fatshark can build and improve upon the existing content, there is potentially a very special game here in future.
In its current state, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a very fun and beautiful co-op shooter that's probably one of the best of its kind. It's the rough foundation of a great game, but it hasn't achieved greatness yet. There's a limited selection of maps and character classes, a lot of grinding, and very pronounced technical issues that hold back the title significantly. If you can tolerate that, Darktide is fun to play with a group of friends. Otherwise, I'd advise you to wait for future updates or test the waters with the PC Game Pass.
Warhammer lovers will surely enjoy Darktide, despite it feels more like a game still in the early access phase than a finished and already polished one.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Warhammer: 40,000: Darktide is one of the most enjoyable games of the year, but it's tremendously rough around the edges.
One day, Warhammer 40K: Darktide will be a great game. Fatshark, like many developers, has yet to perfect the art of the rough landing. A polished core experience can't overcome woeful performance and blatantly unfinished features, like the (almost) entirely missing crafting system. I'm confident, however, support will continue until Darktide ends up being the game we all hoped it would be.
Warhammer 40,000 : Darktide offers a very pleasant and fun cooperative multiplayer experience. However, we hope that the bugs (especially on PC) will be solved as soon as possible.
Review in French | Read full review
I have no doubt that these will be fixed in time but when are WE as gamers/consumers going to stop allowing this to be the norm. I feel like I say this on far too many reviews, fact of the matter is the game should have launched without these technical issues but I won’t start preaching here… we have a podcast for that. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is coming to Xbox at a later date and my hope is that all of its extremely rough edges are grind down to perfection by then, the moment to moment in battles is a blast to play but the pitiful rewards and technical issues just turns it into more of a chore than a joy to serve the Emperor.
Enjoyably frantic, and gory, Darktide is gratifying to play, but the experience is softened by performance issues and dreadful load times.