Warhammer 40,000: Darktide brings the grimdark universe to life in a visually striking, co-op horde shooter that blends intense combat with RPG flair.
It was a genuinely unique experience stepping into Warhammer 40,000: Darktide because the Warhammer series is something I really haven’t had a lot of experience with. I dipped into Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide way back in 2015 when I was still pretty interested in games like Left 4 Dead, and always liked how different it was. But for a series with actual TOMES of lore behind it, I always felt a bit hesitant to jump into it.
But as a critic and general gamer who is always looking for interesting new experiences, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide definitely intrigued me. What looked like a more intensive extension of Vermintide I was eager to jump into a new co-op experience like this. And honestly, it got its teeth in me and didn’t let go—Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a brutally good time.
Now, for one reason or another, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide seemed to slip past CGM and never got a proper review, however since it did release officially in 2022, this review is going to be a bit more condensed—focusing primarily on the recently released PlayStation 5 version.
What drew me in right away was how Warhammer 40,000: Darktide begins by giving players pretty interesting character creation options—allowing them to choose their class, home world, background, and—since they start out as a criminal, their convicted crime. It immediately adds a nice RPG flair to the game that connects it to its tabletop roots.
“What drew me in right away was how Warhammer 40,000: Darktide begins by giving players pretty interesting character creation options…”
And while it doesn’t really affect character growth—or much of the gameplay proper since this is a horde shooter with light RPG elements—it adds a nice little touch of personality to each game as how you create your character seems to influence how they interact with each other during each mission. Similar to Vermintide or even Left 4 Dead, characters will often talk amongst themselves during missions, and their dialogue adds a nice bit of levity to the otherwise dark and brutal game.
I found myself leaning towards the glass cannon Psyker, and because of how I made him he was always rambling to some unseen and unheard character he referred to as “My Beloved.” He was always teetering between half lucid and half insane and almost every line of dialogue from him was either pompous or the mad ramblings of a lunatic and I loved him.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is Suicide Squad by way of Warhammer. You play as an inmate in an Imperium prison until an attack by raving Heretics leads to your escape. The Legion sees use in you and decides rather than to execute you, instead to send you on missions to wipe out the Heretics overrunning the hive planet of Atoma Prime.
“What I like about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is how distinctly different it feels…”
Even if you don’t know anything about Warhammer, much like I said in my MechWarrior 5: Clans review, the Grimdark universe is presented with such earnestness and charm that you get pulled into it pretty quickly. It’s so over-the-top that it flips around to being silly, and it’s honestly so captivating. Almost every tutorial has a somewhat lengthy cutscene explaining how basic systems like shops and upgrades work, but in the most Warhammer-ey way possible and I loved it.
Gameplay in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is more similar to Vermintide than Left 4 Dead in terms of mission structure and player abilities. Players choose one of four classes—the well-rounded Veteran, the melee-focused Zealot, the mind-melting Psyker and the Tank Ogryn. Each character is distinctly different, so players really need to work together if any team is too lopsided—since there’s no class requirement when filling a team.
Players run through levels mowing down hordes of Heretics, hitting waypoints where they either need to complete small objectives or survive against the horde for a determined amount of time. What I like about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is how distinctly different it feels, primarily to how not every enemy is some flavour of zombie and more powerful zombie.
Don’t get me wrong, the standard enemies are quite zombie-like, however, they charge at you with swords or melee weapons and actually require you to be present for the first-person melee combat. But this is balanced out by enemies that wield guns and will utilize cover and Elite enemies that run the gamut from powerful soldiers to horrifying monsters.
“Being a PlayStation 5 release, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide does make some use of the system’s hardware.”
It adds a level of strategy and awareness that far exceeds Left 4 Dead and even Vermintide to a certain degree—which always felt a little bit like a frag-fest with occasional pauses to rescue teammates from Insta-stun special enemies. This is expanded by the way players can customize their characters with different melee and ranged weapons, as well as a Skill Tree that awards passive abilities and alternate special abilities.
Although I will warn would-be warriors on the PS5, getting access to any of the higher-level stuff is a GRIND. This is exacerbated by the way the game has three in-game currencies—one for purchasing weapons and cosmetics and two for upgrading weapons and Curios. Even fairly simple cosmetic items cost a LUDICROUS amount of in-game currency and unless you’re actively finding it on missions, you’re rewarded with so little of the currency you need to upgrade weapons that it starts to become a real slog. On top of that Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has a rotating premium store with its own premium currency because OF. COURSE. IT. DOES.
And honestly, while I was enjoying my time with Warhammer 40,000: Darktide I can’t deny it does start to get a bit repetitive and stagnant directly because of the intense grind. After two years and two new system releases, this was clearly the design Fatshark wanted, and I can’t help but feel like if the game was more balanced and more generous with its rewards, there would be much more incentive to stay with it.
Being a PlayStation 5 release, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide does make some use of the system’s hardware. The game runs incredibly well with minimal load times between booting the game and getting into matches. It utilizes some of the DualSense features making fun use of the Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers, so every shot fired or sword swung feels chunky and brutal. Although they still couldn’t figure out how to make gyroscopic aiming work, and I’m starting to think no developer ever will.
I will say, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide makes full use of the PS5 GPU because holy cow is it an absolutely gorgeous game. The world of Warhammer is filled with such striking imagery and seeing it come to life in such a way was genuinely mind-blowing. Every moment, every piece of architecture is overflowing with details accentuated by stark lighting and bold colours. The soundtrack, while somewhat minimal does a good job highlighting more intense moments not with sweeping orchestral scores, but a heavy 80’s synth that really suits the strange techno-baroque hellscape that is Atoma Prime.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide isn’t exactly a perfect experience, but it’s one I definitely found myself enjoying. If you’re a PlayStation5 owner, and you’ve been itching for a good co-op horde shooter, I think you’ll definitely like this one. It’s different, intense and visually stunning; just prepare yourself for a pilgrimage-worth of grinding.
