Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

 PC
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 121 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 121
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 121
  3. Negative: 57 out of 121

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  1. Willar
    Dec 4, 2022
    5
    I really loved Vermintide but this game doesn't seem to learn any lessons from it. For a start it is not well optimized at all and clearly needs plenty of work. Some systems haven't been implemented yet and that is disappointing. It would have been nice to see some more variation in level design as well. As a whole playing this after Vermintide 2, it is a bit lifeless and disappointing.I really loved Vermintide but this game doesn't seem to learn any lessons from it. For a start it is not well optimized at all and clearly needs plenty of work. Some systems haven't been implemented yet and that is disappointing. It would have been nice to see some more variation in level design as well. As a whole playing this after Vermintide 2, it is a bit lifeless and disappointing.

    Hopefully, the developer continues to support it as they did with Vermintide and they get it right in the end.    … Expand
  2. O3liveon
    Dec 5, 2022
    6
    You need a group of friends to make this game worth a purchase. It's definitely worth a few hours if you have game pass, but don't buy this unless you have a couple other friends that are getting it too. Especially right now, I have had crash after crash, and numerous other bugs hit me. Which I'm usually pretty forgiving of, but I didn't have enough fun while I was playing to forgive thoseYou need a group of friends to make this game worth a purchase. It's definitely worth a few hours if you have game pass, but don't buy this unless you have a couple other friends that are getting it too. Especially right now, I have had crash after crash, and numerous other bugs hit me. Which I'm usually pretty forgiving of, but I didn't have enough fun while I was playing to forgive those missteps so easily. The story isn't bad, the graphics are great and even though the progression if very grindy I had fun enough in the few hours that I played to give it a 6. Get it on game pass, do not buy. Unless, again, you have a group of dedicated friends and are a huge Warhammer fan.… Expand
  3. Pmstz
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    Average/nice coop game in Warhammer 40000 universe.

    Btw, the cash shop is perfect. :clown:
  4. TooHigh2Die
    Dec 7, 2022
    5
    Grind fest. First 12 or so hours are a lot of fun but then you realize it's random loot in the shops with the same 4-5 weps and hardly any character depth in the skill trees. Nvm the fact you get 0 xp for killing enemies and only rewarded for clearing stages that are the same 6 levels over and over. You also have to have a pretty good PC to run this as even my 3070rtx could barely runGrind fest. First 12 or so hours are a lot of fun but then you realize it's random loot in the shops with the same 4-5 weps and hardly any character depth in the skill trees. Nvm the fact you get 0 xp for killing enemies and only rewarded for clearing stages that are the same 6 levels over and over. You also have to have a pretty good PC to run this as even my 3070rtx could barely run this at 70 frames in 1440p on LOW settings. Wait for sale if you like horde co op shooters as it's not worth full price.… Expand
  5. JeffMyNameIs
    Dec 14, 2022
    7
    This doesn't deserve the incredible hate it's getting, the gameplay is legit an improvement from Vermintide 1 and 2. Everyone mentioning subclasses in Verm forget how by the hardest difficulty settings only 1 of those subclasses was viable per character. Everyone locked into a role forever because teams couldn't be changed. So unless your friend wanted to start over with a differentThis doesn't deserve the incredible hate it's getting, the gameplay is legit an improvement from Vermintide 1 and 2. Everyone mentioning subclasses in Verm forget how by the hardest difficulty settings only 1 of those subclasses was viable per character. Everyone locked into a role forever because teams couldn't be changed. So unless your friend wanted to start over with a different character you couldn't either. It had fewer skins, fewer unique abilities for dealing with special units, and weak spots weren't as visual. Skin count count as armored etc. It's being talked about like the greatest game ever and as if Darktide is some failure, but it had tons of problems, cosmetics you had to pay for, levels were more repetitive, and late game weapon perks were all RNG too. So lets get the nostalgia glasses off. This game legit improves on issues the first had. And the cash shop works like any MMO, they are just following a standard model. It's all optional anyway, all the good players are using skins unlocked by achieving something in game (penances).

    Where Darktide loses points for me is the dialog and story. It could have been a cool inquisitor story where you are persecuting an arch heretic. But it's more like suicide squad. Every cut scene is a call to the bridge to be called worthless and you start in rags. You don't feel like a badass inquisitorial agent, you never do. And late game the missions just get harder, you never get a cool story to kill a nemesis. Honestly the writing is bad and I think that upsets a lot of 40k fans. The characters complain about machines being worth more than people, if you know the lore you know that's insane. Of course the machine is worth a lot, it's thousands of years old and probably can't be built again. Then there is the lore breaking aspect of how no inquisitor would ever put fighters in their retinue out in rags. They have the best equipment the imperium has to offer. You'd at least be set up like a guardsman. On the other hand, the incredible outfits you can just buy also don't fit the lore for being an ex prisoner lv 1.

    Honestly the Imperial edition cosmetics should have been the standard post prolog outfits and the story should have been about persecuting an arch heretic. The Dialog should have been researched more to see what makes sense in 40k. I'd recommend that the writers be fired and new staff have the Eisenhorn series as required reading before making any more DLC.

    TLDR, the game has a solid core of mechanics that is balanced and offers a variety of viable late game playstyles and team compositions. (IMO a solid improvement on past titles.) However, dialog, cosmetics, and story are inexcusably weak. I simply cannot put this into the positive range over that. But the core gameplay loop isn't bad and doesn't deserve 0s. Probably after some hot fixes and an expansion this game will be a solid 8.    … Expand
  6. OniSenpai
    Dec 5, 2022
    7
    Todo lo que Back 4 Blood prometió que sería y no pudo ser lo es este juego y mas, porque va acompañado del Lore de Warhammer.

    El único problema, las constantes fallas en la conexión, son muy frecuentes las desconexiones que cierran el juego.
  7. steakboy
    Dec 1, 2022
    7
    Full AMD build, windows 10, purchased game through steam and tested through PC Gamepass, this game is still great. I have had no issues (contrary to many posts, so i count my self lucky). The quality of the game is still above average. With the $40 price tag i can easily recommend it to anyone. Had it been a full priced game, i would be more stingy with my scoring, but I appreciate theFull AMD build, windows 10, purchased game through steam and tested through PC Gamepass, this game is still great. I have had no issues (contrary to many posts, so i count my self lucky). The quality of the game is still above average. With the $40 price tag i can easily recommend it to anyone. Had it been a full priced game, i would be more stingy with my scoring, but I appreciate the work fatshark has made. The game play is solid, the weapondry is fun and diverse. Theres still lots the game will need to add to make it last a long time. But in the end, I still recomend it to any type of gamer.… Expand
  8. RedaxeXIII
    Dec 1, 2022
    5
    Darktide is a solid game at it's core. the atmosphere, gameplay, sound design, and graphics are all good. I have enjoyed the game so far, but like all Tide games the actual gameplay loop can get a bit tedious after playing for a while. There are more levels in Darktide than in Vermintide 2 at release, which helps keep it fresh for a bit longer. The reason this game is considered averageDarktide is a solid game at it's core. the atmosphere, gameplay, sound design, and graphics are all good. I have enjoyed the game so far, but like all Tide games the actual gameplay loop can get a bit tedious after playing for a while. There are more levels in Darktide than in Vermintide 2 at release, which helps keep it fresh for a bit longer. The reason this game is considered average to me, is simply it's not a game that should have been released just yet. The optimization is terrible. I have no idea why I keep seeing people try to make it an AMD vs Nvidia issue. Raytracing was disabled in a hotfix on AMD GPU systems today due to it crashing AMD GPU machines to desktop. The performance issues are present on both sides. My PC specs are an i9 13900k, 3090ti, game installed on a 980 evo pro, and I'm playing at 1440p 144hz. I cannot run the game stable over 60 FPS unless I turn DLSS to performance, post processing settings off, Volumetric fog to low, and Raytracing off. The load times on a 980 evo pro are also what you would accept as normal if you were still running a HDD. I get a kick out of the Nvidia selling 30 series card and giving Darktide away with it, a game they struggle to run. There are also quite a number of bugs, such as enemies just going through objects, clipping out of the map while still attacking you, frequent crashes on some systems (I have yet to crash personally), Snipers just destroying your team through walls, and being teleported back further into the map if you get knocked off an edge. The odd extra monetization was added due to Tencent acquiring Fatshark in 2021. The current shop is what you see in every game Tencent touches. Obscured costs via premium currencies, Limited time offers, costs being just a bit more than any currency pack offers, the whole Tencent special. The monetization in a free game like PoE is perfectly acceptable, but on top of a $40 game? It's only one skin pack until you've paid the full price of a $60 game, I don't think the $20 up front savings somehow makes the shady monetization acceptable. I recommend the game if you're really into the Tide games and have cutting edge hardware, but otherwise you're best off trying it out on Game Pass or waiting until it goes on sale. By the time the game goes on sale, I would be shocked if the performance issues aren't mostly resolved.

    TL;DR The game is fun, but should be considered as early access for now.    … Expand
  9. Gohax
    Dec 30, 2022
    7
    i will keep my review for darktide short and simple

    the game is fun as hell in terms of gameplay and visuals and i go to say that it really is heaven for 40k fans such as myself to venture into a hive city with your friends/teammates and kill nurgle followers while being treated like sht is all i could ask for but the game lacks a lot like a proper story mode subclasses maps options and    i will keep my review for darktide short and simple

    the game is fun as hell in terms of gameplay and visuals and i go to say that it really is heaven for 40k fans such as myself to venture into a hive city with your friends/teammates and kill nurgle followers while being treated like sht is all i could ask for but the game lacks a lot like a proper story mode subclasses maps options and so much more so yes the game is fun and yes i do recommend it but not right now and not at the state that this game is in if you wanna buy it now wait for the price to drop a bit or wait sometime for them to add all the missing features and then buy it

    until then this game is a solid 7 out of 10 only because of its fun gameplay loop beautiful map and music and funny/interesting dialogue between your created characters    … Expand
  10. Oshiri_Maeda
    Jan 2, 2023
    7
    Nice mechanics, good setting, funny dialogues. Pretty boring maps of dark corridors. I had no bugs what so ever since day 1.
  11. CnPx98
    Jan 19, 2023
    6
    If your reading this devs give the option to remove equipment from the scroll wheel. I only want to switch between my 2 weapons, not my grenades aswell!

    This game is a 4 player PVE co-op game like Left 4 dead. This is my 1st gripe. Why isn't there a solo mission option. When you can't find online players it fills the game with bots which are some of the worst bots I have ever seen. Its    If your reading this devs give the option to remove equipment from the scroll wheel. I only want to switch between my 2 weapons, not my grenades aswell!

    This game is a 4 player PVE co-op game like Left 4 dead. This is my 1st gripe. Why isn't there a solo mission option. When you can't find online players it fills the game with bots which are some of the worst bots I have ever seen. Its basically like playing a game that was built for 4 players but instead there is online 1. They ignore you most of the time when your requiring assist and they never get kills. Online players can join halfway through but at lower levels you can struggle to find games. Not sure if its the same at later levels thou. I live in UK which probably makes it worse aswell. In more populated countries like the states it may not be as bad.
    My second issue is the starting weapons aren't basically useless. I tried a couple classes 1 had a pistol. You had an ability which kills enemies but it had to cool down and took ages to get a kill with. So that character wasn't great to start with. I then tried veteren for a more casual experience which had a dmr type weapon which also isn't great because unless you got a team to help with the close combat you get overwhelmed allot as a melee weapon can only do so much.

    The gunplay isn't the best but its not the worst. The overall mechanics aren't to bad. Level design is alright. The game has cosmetic micro-transactions but they aren't intrusive or forced at all which is how all games should have them. People shouldn't feel pushed into spending more money on a game they paid for. If they wanna give a little extra then they will. So extra points their.

    The overall issue with this game is unless you got friends who also play this game then its really hard to enjoy. The game has allot of potential. I really wanna enjoy it more but using public lobbys is a mixed bag. When you find a game with a team who has experience with FPS games then its great. If you find a game with people who aren't so experienced or no players at all its just constant mayhem. I feel like making some extra missions that are balanced around solo experience would be great.    … Expand
  12. Hyde_333
    Feb 7, 2023
    5
    The core of this game is good, the way it has been presented is not.

    The game released unfinished and with a myriad of bugs. The amount of content on launch is really not worth the asking price. Some elements of the game aren't finished (like crafting) and the user interface leaves a lot to be desired (mission selection is very limited). To say I am dissappointed is an    The core of this game is good, the way it has been presented is not.

    The game released unfinished and with a myriad of bugs. The amount of content on launch is really not worth the asking price.

    Some elements of the game aren't finished (like crafting) and the user interface leaves a lot to be desired (mission selection is very limited).

    To say I am dissappointed is an understatement. Fatshark is capable of better, and should have done better with this game.    … Expand
  13. Lizarino
    Jun 18, 2023
    5
    Things the game does really really well:

    The graphics, effects and style are amazing Soundtrack is top tier, gun sounds are great The maps are really atmospheric Things the game did poorly: Terrible fps Very frequent crashes Big, clunky UI Disconnects and multiplayer issues happen a lot Not enough maps / areas, feels way too repetitive The mission select is terrible, random    Things the game does really really well:

    The graphics, effects and style are amazing
    Soundtrack is top tier, gun sounds are great
    The maps are really atmospheric

    Things the game did poorly:

    Terrible fps
    Very frequent crashes
    Big, clunky UI
    Disconnects and multiplayer issues happen a lot
    Not enough maps / areas, feels way too repetitive
    The mission select is terrible, random missions on random difficulties with timers
    Only 4 classes, they feel very samey
    Progression is just bad. Having to play multiple hours with a horrible weapon to level up enough and then hope you get it in the shop. Class talents feel very weak and unrewarding for a game like this
    Added a premium cosmetic store on launch but didn't really fix many of the big issues the game had.

    Most of those can and probably will be fixed with updates, the game could be great eventually but the progression and lack of anything interesting for classes will make it hard for me to want to play it much more.    … Expand
  14. jcyphmr
    Jun 14, 2023
    5
    I was hyped for this game but I got bored in about 20 hours. There just arent enough maps very grindy , and repetitive I never had that many performance issues that others complained about but that has consumed the developers time and resources. One new map has been added after waiting months for updates. This game could be really fun and polished in a year's time but the population ofI was hyped for this game but I got bored in about 20 hours. There just arent enough maps very grindy , and repetitive I never had that many performance issues that others complained about but that has consumed the developers time and resources. One new map has been added after waiting months for updates. This game could be really fun and polished in a year's time but the population of players has already greatly declined.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Most Discussed PC Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 24, 2024
    80
    You can also enjoy the game on your own, as the game searches for mission partners automatically, or you can play against a bot. However, since it is mainly a coop action, it will always be better with friends. [Issue#324]
  2. DarkZero
    Feb 21, 2023
    60
    All of these details come together to form a fairly lifeless game – one with all the fixings and foundation of another epic showcase but without any of the polish or love that is so evident in the team’s previous undertaking. Now I know for a fact this game is going to be incredible. I have confidence in Fatshark; they’ve earned that by showing how much they care about their work and their player base. But, right now, in its current state, there’s simply no way I can call it a worthy successor. The gunplay is wonderful and I’ll no doubt continue to dip in here and there, but longer sessions quickly become dull and there’s no real hook, no grand finale, to motivate me to push on. I can’t wait to see what it’ll become but, in the meantime, I think I’ll take a look back and revel in the masterful predecessor, Vermintide 2, and all of the juicy extra content I never got to dive into. TL;DR Age of Sigmar > 40k.
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  3. GameCritics
    Feb 13, 2023
    70
    Darktide has a lot going for it — a beloved IP, crunchy gunplay, and a gorgeous presentation. Sadly, it’s not the endlessly-playable showstopper some had hoped, instead offering a repetitious gameplay cycle made more apparent by slow progression and little mission variation. It’s clear Fatshark has further plans for their latest endeavor and it may yet reach its full potential after a few patches and expansions, but for now it’s best to set expectations.
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