Warhammer 40000: Darktide, Vermintide developer Fatshark has brought the Left 4 Dead formula far into the future.
Vermintide 2 is one of our favorite co-op games, so we have great faith in its developer, Fatshark. With Warhammer 40000: Darktide, this Swedish studio has moved from fantasy to Games Workshop’s switch to a sci-fi setting. Yes, it’s time to pick up the chainsword and fight in the grim darkness of the 41st century.
Expect to battle hordes of enemies in the claustrophobic depths of Hive City with your friends while enjoying a story co-written by Dan Abnett, author of the bestseller “Warhammer 40000.”
We played Darktide, and it looked fantastic. Scroll down for a longer gameplay video, early impressions, release date, and information on accessing the pre-release pre-order beta.
When is the release date for Warhammer 40000: Darktide?
Darktide will be available on November 30. It will be available on Steam, and Xbox PC Games Pass from day one. Originally scheduled for release in 2021, this is another game that had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are responsible for delivering the best game possible, and frankly, we need more time to achieve this goal.” Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund wrote. It’s no secret that producing games during a pandemic is difficult, and we are not immune to this.”
The first of the two subsequent postponements, from spring 2022 to September 13, was explained in a press release as being due to a simple desire for quality.” Here at Fatshark, providing the best four-player co-op experience is of utmost importance to us.”
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The game’s PC version was recently pushed back to November 30, with the Xbox Series X|S version coming out “shortly after that.” This time, Wahlund cited the need to improve the “stability, performance, and maturity of key systems.”
Early Access Beta is for all versions.
Normally, pre-ordering early access to a game requires the purchase of a more expensive or advanced edition. Still, Fatshark announced in a blog post a few days ago that anyone who buys the game early will have access to the pre-order beta.
While the game will not be complete until it is released on November 30, people will be able to play it early, starting November 17. It is unclear if progress from the beta will carry over to the full game, but Fatshark said that progress wipes might occur early in the beta.
All missions of Dark Tide: 21 minutes of gameplay
- Destinations are no longer tied to level, allowing you to play an area with various objectives.
- The loot system has also been redesigned. While some equipment is random, you can purchase weapons from the in-game store (not for real money) or set up “contracts” for specific weapons you wish to acquire through play.
- Objectives now include mini-games such as hacking (or rather skull-jacking) into the computer rather than just pressing buttons continuously.
- Mantling is also available and smooth.
- Enemy hordes are larger than in Vermintide 2.
- There is still a lot of melee combat, but guns are excellent.
- All character classes now have regenerable shields, a necessary counter to bad guys with guns. While the shields are functionally the same for each class, Fatshark has added a lore twist to each shield. For the Zealot (class), it is their faith in the Emperor that protects them. For the veteran, it is armor. For the Psyker, it’s warp power.
What has changed after the beta?
The October closed beta was well received, and according to Fatshark statistics (open in new tab), participants killed 532,438,345 imperial enemies during the period. They also died 704,323 times, which seems like a fair deal if you live in a million world empires.
Fatshark says it is taking into account the feedback it has received and will notice some changes in the final release. Players who “want to tweak mouse sensitivity, call themselves “snipers” in chat, or have general performance, frame rate, or crashing issues” will apparently be satisfied.
Who is the player character?
Darktide’s heroes are nicknamed “Rejects,” as seen in the trailer “Rejects Will Rise” (opens in new tab) released in June. They are criminals and outcasts who are recruited as agents of the Inquisition and sent to investigate outbreaks of plague and heresy in the Tertium Hive.
You can create your own “Rejects” using the Character Creator, which can be customized with a variety of faces and loadouts. Being customizable means that Rejects will not have a set personality like Vermintide’s Ubersreik Five, but there will still be plenty of fun conversations; as Fatshark explains in its development blog, the voice actors will have “thousands and thousands of tens of thousands of conversations” recorded.
There are four archetypes: Ogryn, Veteran, Zealot, and Psyker. Each archetype has its own specialized classes. In the beta version, one class per archetype was identified: Ogryn’s Skullbreaker, Veteran’s Sharpshooter, Zealot’s Preacher, and Psyker’s Psykinetics.
The Zealot Preacher class
Each class has unique skills and abilities. For example, the Zealot Preacher class has faster melee attacks and class abilities that allow them to charge targets and take them into white combat. They can also throw stumptastic grenades, which do more damage the lower their health.
In an interview with co-writer Dan Abnett, it was confirmed that each Refject starts at rock bottom as “a recruit who doesn’t want to serve the Inquisitor. I think you have everything to prove and everything to lose. The Warband will also include NPC specialists who are “the kind of things that make you cannon fodder.”
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In the Warhammer 40000 fiction, the Inquisition acolytes have many archetypes and a hierarchy of acolytes (from acolyte to proven acolyte, trusted acolyte, acting throne, etc.) that works well as a progression system. “Darktide” certainly has. There is level advancement, and character dialogue changes to reflect proficiency.
Who is the enemy?
The great villain behind it all is Nurgle, the plague god of chaos with an amazing sense of humor. Grandfather Nurgle, the god of corruption, tirelessly experiments with new strains of disease with the ultimate goal of bringing everyone into his garden, the corrupt, organic layer of existence. You don’t want to go to Nurgle’s garden.
In Darktide, we face a cult of plague worshippers called The Admonition, and they seem to be thriving. The basic horde enemy is the Poxwalker, a 40K mass of corrupt zombies that makes sense as low-level Left 4 Dead-style fodder. There are also many armed cultists, some of whom have auto guns and wear armor, indicating that they are traitor guards, but of course, they are modified with spikes, so that’s not an option.
Mutated foxhounds can be heard howling from a distance and will lunge when approached; Plague Ogryn is also adept at melee combat.
The daemons that serve the Nurgle include a minor daemon called the Plague Bearer and a major daemon called the Great Unclean One. These daemons could be the finale of the campaign, but a squad of brave acolytes has no chance against these giant daemons.
Tell us about your weapons
Fatshark excels in melee combat, and Darktide includes some familiar animations for this purpose. The iconic 40K melee weapons, such as the chainsword and power sword, are also included, as well as entrenchment tools. Zealot can use the Thunder Hammer, and Ogrin can use a large knife. These knives are overwhelmingly large, but they are blades about the size of a normal human being. Psykers can use force swords.
However, Darktide is more focused on ranged weapons than Vermintide and is likely to change the loadout with plenty of them. Autoguns for rapid-fire (including an autogun with a greyer pattern, a nod to Relic’s space marine setting), shotguns with surprisingly decent range, and more. The veterans start with laser guns, as expected, and the Zealots seem to specialize quite a bit in close combat but can use flamethrowers. Ogrin’s ripper gun (heavy auto shotgun) is also a nice hand-held weapon.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) / Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel i5-6600 (3.30GHz) OR AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (3.4 GHz)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 OR AMD Radeon RX 570
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 50 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) / Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel i7-9700K (3.70GHz) OR AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (4.2GHz)
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 / RTX 2060 OR AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 50 GB available space
- Additional Notes: An SSD storage device is highly recommended
