Our full Warhammer 40k Darktide review will have to wait until we’ve had more time with the latest build (or until the Omnissiah wills it), but I’ve seen a lot of the horde shooter these past two weeks through the pre-launch beta. I’ve been purging daemonic growths from smelter facilities, hijacking ammunition shipments, and summarily executing arch-heretics in abandoned underground train stations. Nonetheless, developer Fatshark has insisted that we not use this build as the basis for scored reviews, so to be clear: my impressions so far are based on an incomplete beta build of Darktide.
Normally, such a disclaimer might be a red flag, but by all appearances Fatshark has simply been doing exactly what it claimed to be doing and using the pre-launch beta to stress-test its multiplayer infrastructure, identify bugs, and gradually roll out more content for its latest co-op game. On which note, it’s important to say right upfront that I’ve had a rough ride on the technical end of things.
The Darktide system requirements are on the steep side, but my PC’s Ryzen 9 3900x and RTX 3080 Ti ought to be more than enough to handle whatever any contemporary game throws at it. That hasn’t generally been the case, unfortunately: over the two weeks I’ve spent with Darktide, the majority of my runs have been plagued by persistent crashes that have often resulted in lost progress.
However, there is hope in the darkness beneath Tertium. Fatshark has deployed several patches and opened an experimental branch which, combined with the collective troubleshooting power of thousands of early access players sharing tweaks on the forums, resulted in a much more stable experience by the time the beta wrapped up yesterday.
That was quite a relief, because when it’s working properly, Darktide is a blast. While you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re in for if you’ve played Vermintide or Vermintide 2, Darktide’s shift to the grimdark Warhammer 40k setting comes with enough meaningful changes to more than justify the trip.
You play as one among a throng of ‘rejects’ – convicts brought aboard an imperial inquisitor’s ship, the Morningstar, to run Dirty Dozen-style missions in the Hive city of Tertium, which is showing the telltale signs of Chaos infestation. There’s no cast of pre-baked characters like Vermintide’s Ubersreik Five, and instead you’ll pick a class, customise your appearance and voice, and choose a name. Then it’s off to the Morningstar, where you’ll select missions, buy gear, and eventually take on additional contracts for special rewards.
Missions come in seven varieties that range from maintenance jobs to straight-up assassinations. However, all of them involve fighting through the warrens of the underhive, making your way through maintenance tunnels, dank sewers, and ancient promenades long-since covered by new layers of the city.
These are invariably filled with jibbering, violent gangs of Chaos-touched enemies. In another departure from Vermintide, your team of four rejects can consist of any combination of character classes, and they all can hold their own in the swarming melee scraps that can break out at any time. Periodically you’ll also run into tougher mini-boss enemies like plague ogryn and beasts of Nurgle, and these will always require teamwork to take down.
While team composition is much more freeform this time around, Darktide does not relent in its emphasis on teamwork. Rushing ahead – or worse, falling behind – risks ambush by special enemies, like trappers or plague hounds, with no one nearby to rescue you. Darktide adds a new incentive to stay together, too: sticking with teammates increases a buff called cohesion that boosts your healing and defence.
The four classes play very differently (check out our Darktide classes guide for more info), but only after you’ve put enough time in to level them up. As raw recruits, they’re distinguished primarily by their special abilities, but as you gain trust levels, you’ll earn the right to purchase new specialised gear and the ability to modify your build with unique buffs. It wasn’t until I hit level eight with my psyker psykinetic that I gained access to my first staff, which fills my ranged weapon slot and allows me to cast powerful bolts of warp energy. It’s rewarding to feel a class begin to open up and develop its unique abilities, but getting to that point with each of the four can be quite a slog.
I’ve loved every new weapon I’ve picked up along the way, from a lowly latrine shovel to the incredibly satisfying boltgun. The forces of Chaos are still ruing the day my ogryn skullbreaker requisitioned his first grenade launcher: I’ll hear the scream of an approaching horde, brace up, and plonk a few explosive rounds right into the centre, blasting poxwalkers and dregs into showers of toxic ichor and maggots. That’s the kind of thing that never gets old.
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.