Video Game Review - Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Rob reviews Warhammer 40,000: Darktide on Xbox Series X…

After being delayed for just over a year, Swedish developer Fatshark has finally released Darktide on to consoles. With a completely revamped skill tree, and plenty of under the hood changes, the console release is essentially the definitive version of the Astra Militarum shooter. So with a bulk of Nurgle Cultists standing in the way, I said a silent prayer to the Emperor and jumped into the fray. 

As a Warhammer 40K fan, Darktide ticked quite a few boxes. While I gravitate to the Adeptus Astartes, playing at the Militarum did make a nice change of pace. As for plot Darktide spins it’s narrative into a self contained story away from the current story that’s currently building in the table-tops tenth edition. Taking the role of a convict, your character is conscripted into the service of the mysterious Inquisitor Grendel and falls under the command of his subordinates. From his flagship - The Mourningstar - you’ll descend into the depths of a gargantuan Hive city of Tertium to stop the corruption from the Chaos god Nurgle. However, it’s not an east task as Nurgle has infected the Hive with his own brand of disease, death, and decay. While we don’t see the likes of the Nurgle corrupted Death Guard, there’s plenty of other nasties that want nothing more than to bury your operative in the ground. What surprised me about the narrative is that it’s written by resident Warhammer (and 2000 AD) scribe Dan Abnett. Abnett isn’t a stranger to this universe and its inhabitants, and as such we get a fine crafted story that’ll certainly please even the most die-hard Warhammer 40K fan. 

For it’s gameplay, Darktide uses a similar formula to Fatshark’s previous two Warhammer games Vermintide, and Vermintide 2. Too be fair, a lot of the elements are the same as you and a team of three other players - or bots - take their choice of character class through various missions fighting off waves of Nurgle nasties. Of course for those who’ve played Vermintide, Darktide mixes the formula up by adding guns and psychic abilities. Ultimately Darktide is a hack-and-slash/FPS hybrid with each of its four playable classes having both melee and ranged attacks. This then gives an impression that each class will relatively play the same way - this is true to a point, yet each has small differences that do set them apart. For instance the Veteran class is very FPS oriented which allows you to blast away the hordes with high powered weaponry and devastating grenades, while retaining a powerful chain sword for those who get up close. 

The Psyker class is the polar opposite to this and acts as a ranged damage dealer. While the class has access to some rifles, pistols, and swords. Their main weapon is the ability to tap into the warp and pop heads, or throw blasts of warp energy about. While this is immensely fun - and powerful - overusing the ability does result in death. The third class then goes to the Zealot who’s very close combat oriented and isn’t afraid to spew the cleansing flames of the Emperor in the face of their enemies - or powerful swipes with a Power Hammer. Rounding off the class is the brute Ogryn. Acting as more of a defensive class the Ogryn comes with enhanced strength and is able to wield the heavier weapons in the Astra Millitarum armoury.

One of the things that was criticised during the original PC launch was the lack of variety when it came to unlocking skills. With the launch of the console edition, Fatshark has reworked the class talents into vast talent tree. This allows you to create some very intricate builds that centre around your chosen abilities and weapons. Accrued talent points can also be refunded at any point, so if a certain skill doesn’t gel well you can always head down another branch. Much like the table top game, each player has their own toughness and wound statistics which act as how much punishment your operative can take. Toughness is able to be replenished by dealing melee damage, or by staying within unit coherence. Personally I quite liked this idea as it’s something that’s critical to how the table top miniatures work. Coherency is expanded more with certain passive skills that only activate if your within range of your team mates. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re handcuffed to your team, but playing AS a team is largely more beneficial than being a lone wolf. 

With a universe as large as 40K, Fatshark have nailed the ascetic. Straight out of the drop ship and the city of Tertium oozes the high gothic look of the Empire. Cathedrals dedicated to the Emperor tower high into the endless sea of industrial and mechanical monstrosities that all highlight the endless chain of war and religion that powers the Imperial creed. Vast statues, monolithic structures, and hulking industrial complexes all feature as the battle zones you’ll rampage through. There’s also plenty of background images that further enhance the atmosphere and the key eye can spot half built battle cruisers, and other 40K Easter eggs - just no Astartes. It’s not a colourful world per say, everything is dark and extremely bleak. Get used to seeing plenty of muted greens and mottled reds as the Imperial ascetics bleed into every room, item, and corridor. 

Voice acting is spot on too, and every actor delivers their lines with an uppity tone that’s synonymous with the hierarchy of the Imperial Army. While it’s not prevalent in Darktide, across the many orders you receive there’s a distinct tone that failure isn’t an option and your own side would as easily execute you as the enemy. Again, it’s the bleak nature of the 40K universe, and Fatahark have captured the essence well. 

This isn’t to say that Fatshark have gotten everything right as Darktide does have a few niggling issues that stop it being perfect. To begin with there isn’t a lot of choice when it comes to cosmetic items and quite often you’ll be paired with three others all wearing the same costume variation. There’s a lot of earn-able accessories that are basically the same item, albeit with small changes such as colour and the odd knee pad. While there is more choice over on the premium store, it’s really not worth sinking real money into right now. Considering that the source material is full of wonderful and bizzare armour, it’s a shame Fatshark have played it safe. Weapons also fall under the same umbrella with vsrious assault rifles, machine pistols, and swords being available. While we do get the use of bolt rifles and a plasma cannon, I would like to see the more exotic weaponry make an appearance.

Likewise mission structure is very basic with most involving moving to a certain location, or disrupting the heretics supply lines. Nothing you do seems to have an effect on the overall control of Tertium, and the only real narrative comes from the various brief cutscenes you get for reaching certain experience milestones. Mission difficulty is also a bit sketchy with zero encouragement to play at a higher difficulty. With five levels to choose from, difficulty setting three seems to be the obvious choice. Any lower and the game becomes a cakewalk, and higher you’ll be very lucky to survive the opening encounters - even with a highly skilled team. With Darktide being a semi-live service game I’m fully expecting Fatshark to tweak common issues as the months go on. After all the developer has already listens to its player base, and this version of Darktide is already a far cry from the version I played on PC last year! 

While it’s not quite a masterpiece, Warhammer 40K: Darktide is an extremely fun game. The choice to base the game around the human element of the Empire adds a perspective that’s never really explored in the 40K universe. Where Fatshark nail the essence of being an Astra Militarum conscript, and have completely refined the combat experience that started in Vermintide, there’s also a few niggles that can be improve upon. However, I’m extremely confinement that the game we play today isn’t going to be the same experience in the coming months. Darktide is a solid foundation for the developer to build upon, and with plenty of other threats lurking in the darkness of her 41st Millennium, could we see Orks or Tyranid invade Tertium next? 

Rating: 8.5/10 

A code was kindly provided for this review

Warhammer 40K: Darktide is available now and can be purchased via the Microsoft store, or as part of Xbox Game Pass. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social