Not even the Inquisition could hide the fact that Darktide had a rough launch. Crashes, performance issues, a crafting system that actively hated you... and more bugs than in Nurgle's Garden. Those were dark days.

But four years and many, many updates later, the question is: has Darktide finally clawed its way back to the Emperor's light, or has it truly fallen to Chaos?

Video version of this review (~10 minutes)

Is It Really Warhammer 40k?

The first thing Darktide absolutely nails is the sheer Warhammeriness of it. This isn't a game that's ashamed of its source material. It recognizes that Warhammer 40k is profoundly, gloriously stupid, yet also extremely cool. That's how you get awesome stuff like upside down churches hanging from the ceiling of a multi-layered cake of a city, or absurd nonsense like some dead guy being turned into a radio - and that's considered a good fate in the Imperium.

And the more over the top it gets, the better it is. My favorite map, purely on vibes alone, is No Man's Land. You're running through ruined trenches, planes are bombing targets just out of sight, and all the while you're fighting around a beautifully ugly Leman Russ tank in all its boxy glory. It's grim and depressive, but with just enough bravado to make it feel exciting - and that's really Warhammer 40k in a nutshell.

But for every high speed train you get to fight on, there's three missions that are just endless poop-brown and gun-metal gray corridors. After a while, even heresy starts sounding like a nice change of pace compared to another trip through the sewers.

But does this mean the maps are bad? No. They're all quite fun, and I really do mean all of them - even the sewers. But much like an Admech priest with all of his limbs still intact, there's definitely room for improvement.

Welcome to Warhammer 40k

Is the Combat Fun?

But what doesn't need any changes is the combat. When I say Darktide has the best melee combat of any game I have ever played, I'm not saying that because someone is polishing their bolter near my head. It's damn near perfect - just the right balance between being fast & visceral and slow & tactical.

Once you wrap your head around it, you can smash through hundreds of enemies like you're the Doom Slayer. I especially love how instead of fearing a gunline of enemies you can run directly at them, Matrix dodge through a hail of bullets, and then use their insides to repaint the room. It's that moment where someone with a heavy machinegun goes 'oh crap' and starts running away that makes the whole thing deeply, deeply satisfying. So after playing Darktide, I can definitely see why the Khorne boys have so much fun.

But this sort of power does not come free as Darktide is the very definition of 'easy to learn, hard to master'. There aren't many buttons to worry about - it's mostly just attacking, dodging, blocking and occasionally sliding. But how you combine those four will decide whether you'll have time for a bathroom break or just blitz through anything the game throws at you. And once you get good at it, the power trip is unbelievable.

My only real gripe is that despite a wealth of insane - and insanely cool - weapons to choose from, Darktide hasn't done much to explore the crazier side of Warhammer 40k. But since every weapon is fun to use and surprisingly unique, it's less of a complaint and more of a wishlist. Because let's be real, vaporizing a plague hound mid-flight with a Meltagun would be sweet!

I love big swords and I cannot lie

Solo or Multiplayer?

But since this is a challenging game, how does it actually play with randoms, and can you even go at it alone?

Unfortunately, solo play isn't really a thing. You can add it through mods, but since the bots are about as useful as soap in a Nurgle convention, I wouldn't recommend bothering with it.

For the best experience you'll want real people, and thankfully that mostly works great. The game has a large enough playerbase that you can find games even at three in the morning - and don't ask me how I know. While the Darktide crowd isn't quite as cheerful as the Deep Rock Galactic stans, I've had mostly positive experiences. It's just a bit quiet, since everyone is too preoccupied with not getting chucked off the map to strike up casual conversation.

But about that 'mostly' - there is a cursed layer in Darktide. A difficulty bracket where the players are good enough to have plans, but not good enough to actually execute them. This is the appropriately titled Heresy difficulty, and it's the only place I've ever seen genuine toxicity. So much like a pox burster, just kinda push them aside and let them stew in their own filth.

The only toxicity you see should be slathered on your blades

How Much Content is There??

But what about the updates? Is Darktide still being actively developed? I'm happy to say the answer is yes... albeit about as quickly as a Great Unclean One. There's a semi-exciting patch every quarter, with a really juicy one coming once a year. And as it so happens, one of those dropped recently with a brand new game mode in tow.

That update has brought Darktide up to four distinct game modes: linear missions which are the game's bread and butter, a horde mode with some light roguelike elements, the new Expedition mode which is basically Helldivers 2 at home, and my personal favorite - Havoc.

Havoc is most easily described as World of Warcraft's Mythic Plus. A set of progressively harder modifiers that push you to not only master your own class, but learn how to play as a team - because that is the ONLY way you're going to survive the - insert drumroll - Darktide. It's great stuff, and something I'd highly recommend you try once you're comfortable with the combat.

But besides being a bit slow - which I don't particularly mind - there is one problem with Darktide's updates: they often feel unfocused. Instead of taking one concept and polishing it until it shines like the Astronomican, the team prefers to bounce around.

The upside is a wider variety of content, like the aforementioned roguelike mode. The downside is that the roguelike mode will probably never reach its true potential since the team has already moved on to the Helldivers 2 Expeditions. And while I'd love to be proved wrong, chances are those too will get shelved once they inevitably move onto the cooking sim.

But don't get me wrong. None of the game modes are bad. They simply can't be when the basic gameplay is this much fun. So just treat the side stuff as an occasional treat, rather than something you'll sink hundreds of hours into.

But if you do want to zone out and suddenly lose a hundred hours, the normal missions are almost infinitely replayable. The AI director in charge of them is an unhinged lunatic who will throw absurd hordes at you, but never in numbers that make it feel impossible. It's surprisingly fair for someone who is constantly plotting your doom, and honestly, I really respect that.

Boom!

What's the Monetization Like?

And speaking of plotting your doom, how is the monetization? Does Darktide try to fleece you for all you're worth, or can you have fun with just the base game?

On the good side, all major updates are free. So as a brand new player you'll instantly have access to a ton of different and genuinely fun content - and for a game that goes on fairly deep sales, that's some bolter-sized bang for your buck.

The cosmetic store is another story entirely. The skins are expensive and rely heavily on FOMO, so if there's a piece of armor you really like, there's no indication of how long you'll have to wait for it to cycle back. Maybe it'll be a couple of weeks, or maybe it'll be a couple of months. But thankfully, at least it's all optional.

As for the two new classes, they're around 10 bucks each and a pretty good deal in my opinion. The Arbiter is a Judge Dredd cosplayer who can eat an absurd amount of punishment, while the Hive Scum is a drug-addled murder-hobo who can practically fly across the battlefield. Great fun if their playstyle appeals to you - but not something you actually need to buy.

The cash shop just doesn't work well...

Would I Recommend Darktide?

Which leads directly into the most important question - would I recommend Darktide? Absolutely. For a game that launched in such a rough state, it's genuinely remarkable how good it is now. Without even a shred of exaggeration, it's one of the best shooty-slicey games I've ever played. I know that sounds like cheap praise, but it really is true.

So if you're in the mood for screaming about the Emperor while charging at hordes of cultists with a comically oversized Relic Sword, Darktide is absolutely worth playing. I've already put 1000 hours into it, and I'll probably add hundreds more before I'm done.

And if you’re ready to take the plunge, I've got guides covering everything from build tips to gameplay strategy. Thanks for reading!