Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Exceptionally Fun But Half-Baked

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – In this Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review, we’ll be diving into Fatshark’s next foray into the Warhammer universe. It’s not Vermintide 3 but it’s a new beast altogether… more or less. Is the story remarkable? How different is the gameplay before and after the launch? Are there other aspects of the game that make it stand out compared to other FPS and hack-and-slash titles? We’ll answer all of these and more!

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Exceptionally Fun But Half-Baked

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Story & Setting 

In Darktide, you take on the role of one of society’s rejects to join forces with the Inquisition in the hopes of obliterating the forces of Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease, Pestilence, and Decay. As to why they would ever want to be involved with him in the first place is anyone’s guess but you’d be surprised by the huge number of his followers. Do you and your allies have what it takes to punish these despicable heretics for their sins? Will you stand by the God-Emperor all throughout or will you consider joining Nurgle as your faith wanes?

Unfortunately, none of these questions will be answered, at least not any time soon. Fatshark’s plan is to periodically add campaigns to expand the story, much like in Destiny 2. As it stands, however, Darktide’s plot is plain and uninspired even if it’s being penned by none other than Warhammer author, Dan Abnett. For the most part, upon hitting certain “trust levels”, short cutscenes will show how the Inquisition feels about recruiting you. The confidence level of these one-dimensional characters pretty much increases the more enemies you kill and the further you progress.  It’s as simple as that.

This is such a shame and a wasted opportunity because the Warhammer universe consists of so many memorable characters and events. Not to mention the countless factions that you’ll come across like the Tech-Priests of Mars, Sisters of Battle, Space Marines, and the almighty and nearly immortal Necrons. Adding in collectibles, notes, and intelligent NPCs to tell tales about Tertium before and after its downfall would’ve changed the experience for the better.

Unlike the story that’ll leave you starving, the setting is thankfully the exact opposite. From the very first time you boot up Darktide, you’ll immediately notice how much work Fatshark has placed in creating Atoma Prime, and in particular, Tertium, which is one of the cities ruled by the Imperium of Man.

They excellently nailed the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer 40K in ways that were once only confined to the books and tabletop. Even if some locations are as bright as day similar to the dangerous deserts of Mad Max, the overall tone of the game remains the same, and is in sync with the lore – grim and dystopian. The sprawling city complexes, especially the darker ones, are oppressive to the point that I couldn’t help but question the tyrannical methods of the God-Emperor himself. (Yes, I’ll be branded as a heretic!)

Each one of these locations is meticulously designed from tall towers adorned with skulls to Servitors whose bodies are molded into Medicae Stations. Just like us, these prisoners couldn’t escape their fate. Luckily, for us though, we still have the mental faculty to choose the weapons to wield and the missions to participate in, which brings me to my next point – the gameplay.

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Gameplay

In the Mourningstar, you’ll be choosing from several mission types, some of which have secondary objectives and special conditions that make encounters challenging and more engaging at the same time. For instance, the Power Interruption Special Condition will have you and your allies play in complete darkness, making it difficult to aim and shoot ranged foes.

After several hours of playing, however, the lack of mission variety slowly begins to creep up. Regardless of the type, their designs are fixed so sooner or later, you’ll end up memorizing the entire layout. What’s more is the repetitive objectives, which follow a similar formula for almost all of them. For instance, you’ll need to defend Interrogators while they gather data and fix them every now and then. I mean, how much data would you really need anyway? It’s as if Fatshark called it a day to simply rush this part of the game.

The same could be said for the 3 kinds of special conditions. After launch, the implementation became worse since the events were less frequent compared to the beta. Rather than having a special condition for every difficulty mode, these are now limited to say two, for all missions. As such, character progression is now more grindy than ever.

Character Progression & Rewards

Regardless of whether or not you successfully complete missions, you gain experience points. But this amount can fluctuate and increase if you also finish the associated secondary objectives and special conditions. Hitting the midway point of level 20 can take up to 20 hours and this is only for a single character. One mission takes about 25 minutes on average, which can certainly change based on group composition and skill.

But for the most part, you won’t feel strong at lower levels so you’d really need to make an effort and love the class you’re playing to push through. Additionally, there are no modifiers in the game that’ll make the experience less tedious, which means that you’re back to square one should you wish to try out a new class.

The rewards you get after every mission aren’t notable either. You basically acquire some money or Ordo Dockets, crafting materials, weapons, and curios, if you’re lucky. And I mean extremely lucky. The rewards aren’t generous enough for the amount of time you spend quelling the growing influence of Nurgle. But I guess that’s the price to pay in serving the God-Emperor. Due to the low equipment drop rate, you’re better off purchasing them at the Armoury Exchange. Here, at least, you have different weapons and curios to choose from even though the rolls are random.

Another way of gaining purple and orange gear is by finishing weekly tasks at Sire Melk’s Requisitorium. Similar to character progression, however, this is extremely grindy and costly. There are 5 tasks per week that’ll grant special currency to purchase rare items. Should you find them unreasonable such as getting 12 Scriptures, you have the option of rerolling to increase the chances of getting a better one.

Your very first roll will be free but for the rest, you’ll need to pay Ordo Dockets, which will cumulatively increase every time you change tasks. What makes it worse is that the rewards and currencies are not shared across your account, unlike in Vermintide 2. In effect, this pushes you to play the rest of your characters every time, especially if you wish to give them proper gear.

Classes, Abilities, & Loadout

Darktide features four classes and more will be added in the coming months. Each of them fulfills certain roles, which aren’t limited to the holy trifecta even if they lean toward specific playstyles such as supporting and tanking for the team. The bottom line is that all classes are effective in their own right when it comes to clearing hordes and putting down elites so they’re worth trying. Tweaking the way they work to accommodate playstyle changes is straightforward. No resources are needed to modify any of your passive feats so you can easily do as you please.

Some of the weapons you wield are dependent on the class you choose, meaning, only some things are available to everyone, thereby adding to their inherent distinctness. You definitely won’t see a Veteran wield a Psyker’s staff just because. Out of the four, however, it seems to me that the Ogryn got the short end of the stick since the number of weapon families available to them is few. This should hopefully be balanced in due time.

And finally, you have armor, which doesn’t have any bearing on the gameplay since its sole purpose is to make your characters look visually appealing… if that’s even possible.

Combat

In terms of Darktide’s combat, Fatshark delivers. Alongside the applause-worthy setting, you won’t be disappointed with how cohesive, fluid, and responsive the melee and ranged fights are. The encounters are exhilarating and highly engaging to the point that it’s really hard to stop playing. From how swift the Power Sword feels to smoothly slice the enemy’s head off to the way in which the Bolt Gun just annihilates them, it’s all so well-made to bring forth a highly impactful experience. I can’t think of any other FPS and hack-and-slash besides Destiny 2 and Vermintide 2, respectively, that comes close to Darktide.

Moreover, the implementation of ranged combat is done excellently to provide players with another option for destroying Nurgle’s followers. I just love switching between weapons and choosing from so many of them as they change the way encounters play out. For instance, if I wanted to move faster up close and personal, then using the Dueling Sword over the Force Sword as a Psyker would do wonders for me. Additionally, movement is a huge part of the game, allowing for multiple techniques to whittle enemies down. Suppressing to force them to take cover or sliding to slice them to pieces are all possible. There are basically several options available for different kinds of playstyles.

To add to the fun factor of exploring the cityscapes of Tertium and blasting away at enemies like there’s no tomorrow, every character has their witty and humorous banters based on their backgrounds chosen in Character Creation. These include your home planet, defining moments, and reasons for capture, which only affect dialogue during missions. It’s a very good approach to making light of the situation despite the inherent darkness of it all.

The Mourningstar

The last part of the gameplay is the Mourningstar or hub. Aside from purchasing items and trying them out here, you can also engage in crafting and buy cosmetics from the shop, which are some of my biggest gripes in Darktide. Aside from upgrading the rarity of weapons and curios, and gaining a few blessings or perks as part of the process, there’s not much you can do. This is because refining items, earning blessings, and rerolling blessings have yet to be implemented in the game even after its launch.

In the shop, you’ll see the best-looking cosmetics, which don’t affect gameplay and progression and can only be purchased with real money. I mind this because it’s up and running. It’s ironic to see that the story and crafting are both incomplete whereas the shop is more or less operational.

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review – Audio, Visuals, & Design

In terms of visuals, Darktide is an excellent-looking game, one that successfully brings forth the grimdark future of Warhammer 40K. To add to this is how repugnant Nurgle’s followers look, making the environments feel more unsettling and horrific. Although together with the locations, I would have wished for increased variety considering that players will be spending dozens of hours in the game. In Vermintide 2, for instance, there are multiple biomes including but not limited to open forests, claustrophobic caves, and dreary villages.

Next is the game’s audio, which is its most stellar aspect. The music’s rhythmic and drumming style complements the exhilarating sound effects of the actions you and your enemies make. This is especially noticeable when hordes and elites are nearby, signaling their arrival and your impending doom. The audio cues are on point with the combat encounters themselves so much so that you’ll need to pay close attention to them. I just love how impactful and influential these sounds are to help make critical decisions in Darktide to prepare for the worst.

For instance, the escalating ticking sound of the Poxburster is something to be very cautious about since it’ll suddenly jump and explode to surprise you. And what about the discordant music that accompanies the Beast of Nurgle as it trudges along the metal floors? The voice acting is equally commendable, and definitely adds to the charming banters and battle cries of characters in missions.

Darktide’s performance from the beta until after launch continues to suffer at high and low graphical settings. More often than not, I experienced framerate drops and crashes even when there was not much happening in the game. These are unfortunately random, making the circumstances tough to pinpoint. Luckily, however, I did not experience crashes while rewards were being handed out, unlike some other players.

Replayability, Multiplayer, & Pricepoint

Darktide is highly replayable, mostly due to the classes you can try out. Although I can’t help but question that the bloated mission, progression, and rewards systems have all contributed to this. Nonetheless, I admit that it continues to be a very fun teamwork game worth your time, more so when you’re playing with a good group of people and friends. It’s almost next to impossible not to clock in at least 30 hours of playtime given how addicting Darktide is. Moreover, there are various difficulty modes to further challenge yourselves. To succeed, heavy coordination as well as the best feats and gear available are an absolute must, boosting the hours you’d end up playing.

With this in mind, the standard pricepoint of USD 39.99 is a fair ask if you don’t mind missing some basic features as well as the grind of leveling up your characters. To me, the overall gameplay, combat, audio, and visuals are worth experiencing, especially if you’re new and interested in the Warhammer lore or if you’re a long-time fan. But if you’re keen on the story and you’d prefer to wait until all features have been implemented, then it’s probably best to wait for a sale.

Final Thoughts 

This hack-and-slash FPS seems to still be in Early Access, and therefore needed more time in development. Because of the lack of features, I can’t help but wonder if Fatshark was truly ready for the game’s release. The way missions are structured, which has stripped the narrative elements present in Vermintide 2, in some respects this game is a downgrade versus other Fatshark titles.

Despite the fact that it was obviously not ready for release, Darktide continues to be a feast for the eyes and ears as well as a delight when it comes to decapitating and dismembering enemies. For the most part, I wouldn’t even notice the time flying by while playing, because I was having so much fun with the game. There is definitely an addictive element to Darktide, even if there is a bunch of grindiness involved.

To sum it all up, Darktide will need several more months before it will be completely polished. Hopefully, by then, a well-thought-out story, a less tedious progression grind, and fully-functioning crafting features will be available. The game has the potential to be great but it’s not going to happen over night, even if we continue to slay heretics in the name of the God-Emperor in the meantime!

What did you think of this Warhammer 40K: Darktide Review? Have you started playing it or are you waiting for a sale? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game! If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out The Callisto Protocol Review SPOILER FREE – Exactly What You Expected! and Midnight Suns Review After 100 Hours Played.