Warhammer 40,000 is an expansive franchise. Originating as a tabletop miniature wargame in the ?80s, it’s one that I have always been curious about, but have never quite known where or how to get into. As somebody that enjoys painting miniatures for other games like Dungeons & Dragons, the detail on those little space marines brings me incredible joy whenever I get to see them in action. So as someone going in totally blind, let’s see how Darktide, the franchise’s latest video game, treats us.
Right off the bat, this game looks lovely! The aesthetic is dark, industrial, and dirty, with religious undertones and heavily mechanized structures. The art style isn’t hyper-realistic, but is still incredibly detailed. It’s almost a shame that during gameplay you’re encouraged to blast through the environments so quickly. Luckily, every once in a while the cinematics will feature a slow motion sequence which really grabbed my attention. I think my favourite thing about the environmental ambiance here is the music. Most of it consists of synths, drums, and choir-esque singing.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is an online first-person shooter. You’re thrust into missions consisting of four-player strike teams. You can choose between starting a mission from the beginning, or jumping into “quickplay” to fill out existing games that other players have left. If I wasn’t trying to get a grasp on the universe, I feel I would probably use quickplay more often. If you’re just starting out and happen to join a mission with some higher-level friends, you won’t feel completely useless because the enemies scale to the player. High-level players will get higher level enemies, and the enemies for the low level player will be scaled appropriately. Difficulty can be changed for the mission as well, placing a minimum level on joining a harder mission and giving you more enemies to fight in general.
As somebody that’s completely new to the series, I would appreciate a single-player campaign in this style, so I can just take my time and enjoy the lore a bit more. I like to get invested in stories and characters, but this is not that type of game. It focuses on putting gameplay first, which I admit is incredibly satisfying. The melee weapons feel punchy, and on occasion you’ll get to see a head or a limb fly off. Regular, individual enemies are easy to take down, but not too easy. The difficulty came from the number of enemies you have to deal with. They come out in hoards and can be overwhelming, but I appreciated the challenge, and never found myself too frustrated.
Overall, I could see Warhammer fans and fans of first-person shooters enjoying Darktide much more than I did. It’s fun, but I feel the Warhammer aesthetic was mostly just a coat of paint for Darktide. I’ll likely find myself returning eventually, but preferably with friends.
