This is a pretty bold foray into the 40k universe by Fatshark, a dev most known for their portrayals of fantasy themed games. That said, it's clear that beyond being fans of fantasy, the devs are fans of Warhammer as a whole.

This game oozes 40k style in a way that we've only really been able to glimpse before. The most successful games in the 40k universe have always been focused on the larger scale of warfare. Meanwhile, games that bring everything down to the much more personal level of an FPS have had a rough go at it. Unfortunately this game is also suffering from its share of issues, but still delivers a 40k experience that stands atop those that came before it.

So lets summarize my recommendation before breaking things down in detail. As of now I tentatively give it a recommend, only because I think it's still worth experiencing this game, especially if you're a 40k fan. The gameplay is visceral and rewarding in the execution. The artwork and overall graphical design is spectacular. The sound design is superb, not just the soundtrack but also everything else like weapon sounds, enemy yells, and voice acting. All of this though does get marred by an unstable experience, questionable progression systems, and a lazy cash shop. If you're looking for the next best horde shooter experience, I definitely recommend this. If you're looking to make this your next "forever game", I would maybe hold off before you disappoint yourself needlessly. If you're a longtime fan of Vermintide 2, the developer's previous game, the changes made all over the game may be enough to push you away back into VT2's Taal's Keep. If you just want to play a good 40k FPS, this is probably the best one yet. Lets get into some scores and some more detail though.

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The story exists, but it's pretty barebones and if you aren't paying attention to every comment the characters make you're going to miss a bunch of it. Honestly not too surprised here, VT2 also had a pretty insubstantial storyline. In VT2, they eventually started expanding the story out of game via Lohner's Journal, an out-of-game blog of sorts that details the musings of the man in charge over there. It remains to be seen if we'll get a similar drip feed of lore and story for Darktide.

If you've played VT2, then you more or less know what to expect here. The gameplay feels so good here, with most of it being largely the same as what was present in their previous game. That's a huge plus in my book, as VT2 remains my favorite game almost entirely due to the gameplay. There are a few things that both bump it up and down when compared directly to VT2 though, but overall I'm giving it the same score I gave VT2.

If you haven't played VT2, the gameplay is pretty unique compared to other horde shooters you may have played. For one, your melee weapon is extremely important as you can't really just gun down hordes with your guns without a lot of effort. Not that you should want to, as the melee combat is very crisp and visually satisfying. There are still a lot of the same issues that VT2 had though probably because they built on the same foundation as that game was. Enemies can silently appear behind you and stab you in the back. Enemies can slide to keep up with you. Some enemies can hit/shoot you through walls that you can't retaliate through. If you play carefully though, you'll find a very rewarding experience here.

So what's different from VT2? Well not much, but there's a lot more shooting, specifically in your direction this time around. Half the enemy roster has guns of some sort, and being a sci-fi universe it really wouldn't make too much sense otherwise. But every character in this game has a pretty wide array of their own ranged weapons to shoot back with. From spray'n'pray bullet hoses to surgical marksman rifles, you've got a lot more options than VT2 had. Consequently though i feel melee variety has gone down. Everyone more or less has a handful of either swords or axes to pick from, with a couple unique weapons for each person thrown in. There's no polearms or spears, no flails, and only the Ogryn gets a shield this time around.

Like I said in the summary, the sound design in this game is great. So why is the score a C instead of an A? Well, I think there are some bugs in this area that are currently hampering the score, and some of the sound cues in game could be enhanced to make auditory clarity better. Before complaining, I want to say though that the guns sound perfect to me. Boltgun is meaty. Lasguns are crisp. Autoguns are poppy. I could go on but basically I love it. I think the psyker bolts from their staffs is possibly bugged though, it sounds really loud when the bolts hit terrain, like way louder than it should. Biggest issue is auditory clarity, as I think some sounds in game could use some changes to make them more distinct.

Visually stunning game that is otherwise marred by the inherent need to be grimdark. Not saying that having the lights down low is inherently a wrong choice, but if you take a weapon with an actual good flashlight on it (not the crappy one everyone has by default) and look around, you'll notice a world of detail that otherwise looks like a silhouette under normal circumstances. But beyond that, the graphics of this game go above and beyond, perhaps to the detriment of many mid-tier systems.

There are some areas that could use some work, particularly particle effects and lighting. Psyker's flamer staff is visually blinding if you're right next to it. If you shine a flashlight into an area that has directed light sources (example: floodlights) it has a weird amplification effect that washes out your view (not sure if there's some graphical settings that can fix this, haven't messed around too much here since settling on a config that is mostly stable).

Right now this is, for me, the biggest problem this game has. Honestly I can't say I'm surprised, as every time VT2 had a big update it came with a host of stability issues. So the brand new game they just launched should also have issues, and it has them alright. I mentioned earlier how you need a beefy rig in order to see how visually stunning this game is. Unfortunately the beefiest rigs still can't see that to it's fullest as graphical stability is one of the main issues plaguing the game right now. I'm on a top of the line rig at the moment and while i can play the game on it's highest graphical settings with plenty of frames to spare, that usually means crashing to desktop several times per mission. Instead I play the game at medium detail with RTX off so that I can mostly get through a full gaming session with minimal crashing. This seems to be a large focus right now for the devs post launch, so I'm hoping that as time goes on, I'll be able to push this game to its rightful limits.

See summary for overall details and thoughts.

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If you've made it this far, I'm sorry it was so wordy, but my original version of this was 2,219 characters over limit. I have complicated feelings on this game and needed to get them written out. I do genuinely believe it's a good, if not great game that is hampered by a lot of issues that are legitimately fixable. We'll see if Fatshark are willing to take the steps necessary to put the game to rights by their fans and customers. They've shown in the past a vast willingness to make big changes to benefit the players, so lets hope they continue that trend.

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Update 6/9/2025: To date, I think many of the issues above(especially the performance issues) have been addressed or mitigated in some way to where I would give this game a full recommend anyone who would enjoy an FPS horde shooter game.

[h1] Summary [/h1] This is a pretty bold foray into the 40k universe by Fatshark, a dev most known for their portrayals of fantasy themed games. That said, it's clear that beyond being fans of fantasy, the devs are fans of Warhammer as a whole. This game oozes 40k style in a way that we've only really been able to glimpse before. The most successful games in the 40k universe have always been focused on the larger scale of warfare. Meanwhile, games that bring everything down to the much more personal level of an FPS have had a rough go at it. Unfortunately this game is also suffering from its share of issues, but still delivers a 40k experience that stands atop those that came before it. So lets summarize my recommendation before breaking things down in detail. As of now I tentatively give it a recommend, only because I think it's still worth experiencing this game, especially if you're a 40k fan. The gameplay is visceral and rewarding in the execution. The artwork and overall graphical design is spectacular. The sound design is superb, not just the soundtrack but also everything else like weapon sounds, enemy yells, and voice acting. All of this though does get marred by an unstable experience, questionable progression systems, and a lazy cash shop. If you're looking for the next best horde shooter experience, I definitely recommend this. If you're looking to make this your next "forever game", I would maybe hold off before you disappoint yourself needlessly. If you're a longtime fan of Vermintide 2, the developer's previous game, the changes made all over the game may be enough to push you away back into VT2's Taal's Keep. If you just want to play a good 40k FPS, this is probably the best one yet. Lets get into some scores and some more detail though. [hr][/hr] [h1] Story - 4/10[/h1] The story [i]exists[/i], but it's pretty barebones and if you aren't paying attention to every comment the characters make you're going to miss a bunch of it. Honestly not too surprised here, VT2 also had a pretty insubstantial storyline. In VT2, they eventually started expanding the story out of game via Lohner's Journal, an out-of-game blog of sorts that details the musings of the man in charge over there. It remains to be seen if we'll get a similar drip feed of lore and story for Darktide. [h1] Gameplay - 9/10 [/h1] If you've played VT2, then you more or less know what to expect here. The gameplay feels so good here, with most of it being largely the same as what was present in their previous game. That's a huge plus in my book, as VT2 remains my favorite game almost entirely due to the gameplay. There are a few things that both bump it up and down when compared directly to VT2 though, but overall I'm giving it the same score I gave VT2. If you haven't played VT2, the gameplay is pretty unique compared to other horde shooters you may have played. For one, your melee weapon is extremely important as you can't really just gun down hordes with your guns without a lot of effort. Not that you should want to, as the melee combat is very crisp and visually satisfying. There are still a lot of the same issues that VT2 had though probably because they built on the same foundation as that game was. Enemies can silently appear behind you and stab you in the back. Enemies can slide to keep up with you. Some enemies can hit/shoot you through walls that you can't retaliate through. If you play carefully though, you'll find a very rewarding experience here. So what's different from VT2? Well not much, but there's a lot more shooting, specifically in your direction this time around. Half the enemy roster has guns of some sort, and being a sci-fi universe it really wouldn't make too much sense otherwise. But every character in this game has a pretty wide array of their own ranged weapons to shoot back with. From spray'n'pray bullet hoses to surgical marksman rifles, you've got a lot more options than VT2 had. Consequently though i feel melee variety has gone down. Everyone more or less has a handful of either swords or axes to pick from, with a couple unique weapons for each person thrown in. There's no polearms or spears, no flails, and only the Ogryn gets a shield this time around. [h1] Sound - 7/10 [/h1] Like I said in the summary, the sound design in this game is great. So why is the score a C instead of an A? Well, I think there are some bugs in this area that are currently hampering the score, and some of the sound cues in game could be enhanced to make auditory clarity better. Before complaining, I want to say though that the guns sound perfect to me. Boltgun is meaty. Lasguns are crisp. Autoguns are poppy. I could go on but basically I love it. I think the psyker bolts from their staffs is possibly bugged though, it sounds really loud when the bolts hit terrain, like way louder than it should. Biggest issue is auditory clarity, as I think some sounds in game could use some changes to make them more distinct. [h1] Graphics - 8/10 [/h1] Visually stunning game that is otherwise marred by the inherent need to be grim[b]dark[/b]. Not saying that having the lights down low is inherently a wrong choice, but if you take a weapon with an actual good flashlight on it (not the crappy one everyone has by default) and look around, you'll notice a world of detail that otherwise looks like a silhouette under normal circumstances. But beyond that, the graphics of this game go above and beyond, perhaps to the detriment of many mid-tier systems. There are some areas that could use some work, particularly particle effects and lighting. Psyker's flamer staff is visually blinding if you're right next to it. If you shine a flashlight into an area that has directed light sources (example: floodlights) it has a weird amplification effect that washes out your view (not sure if there's some graphical settings that can fix this, haven't messed around too much here since settling on a config that is mostly stable). [h1] Stability/Performance - 4/10 [/h1] Right now this is, for me, the biggest problem this game has. Honestly I can't say I'm surprised, as every time VT2 had a big update it came with a host of stability issues. So the brand new game they just launched should also have issues, and it has them alright. I mentioned earlier how you need a beefy rig in order to see how visually stunning this game is. Unfortunately the beefiest rigs still can't see that to it's fullest as graphical stability is one of the main issues plaguing the game right now. I'm on a top of the line rig at the moment and while i can play the game on it's highest graphical settings with plenty of frames to spare, that usually means crashing to desktop several times per mission. Instead I play the game at medium detail with RTX off so that I can mostly get through a full gaming session with minimal crashing. This seems to be a large focus right now for the devs post launch, so I'm hoping that as time goes on, I'll be able to push this game to its rightful limits. [h1] Overall Score - 7/10 [/h1] See summary for overall details and thoughts. [hr][/hr] If you've made it this far, I'm sorry it was so wordy, but my original version of this was 2,219 characters over limit. I have complicated feelings on this game and needed to get them written out. I do genuinely believe it's a good, if not great game that is hampered by a lot of issues that are legitimately fixable. We'll see if Fatshark are willing to take the steps necessary to put the game to rights by their fans and customers. They've shown in the past a vast willingness to make big changes to benefit the players, so lets hope they continue that trend. [hr][/hr] Update 6/9/2025: To date, I think many of the issues above(especially the performance issues) have been addressed or mitigated in some way to where I would give this game a full recommend anyone who would enjoy an FPS horde shooter game.