Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a First Person CO-OP Survival Shooter experience developed by Fatshark, the team that created the Vermintide series.

Plot:
While Darktide doesn't exactly have one specific main storyline at the time of writing this review, there are overarching stories and various plot points that ties into the game's major characters, as well as many 'secrets' that are slowly becoming apparent to you as you earn trust to prove yourself worthy to the Imperium as a loyal servant of the throne. In contrast to many other Warhammer 40,000 Media in the market, Darktide focuses on the humans- Specifically what it's like to be one of them in a universe this cruel. You learn slowly about the world through many great dialogues and interactions between each players' characters. You learn what it's like to be a regular soldier in this universe, you learn how difficult life is for all the people living in Hive Cities, you learn how powerless you yourself as an individual is, but you also learn how you can leverage your cooperation with others to become something greater. It's a completely shift of perspective from the Space Marine games where you're an almighty super soldier regarded as an angel of death.

Gameplay and Multiplayer:
A hybrid gameplay of swift and satisfying Melee Combat that dices you through huge hordes of enemies, mixed up with special Elite and Specialist enemies bringing you challenges to your gameplay, as well as Ranged Combat where you have to manage your resources and ammunition as everything is quite scarce if you are not careful with how you use everything at your disposal. I have been genuinely impressed with how good and responsive the Melee Combat in Darktide feels, it's the best I've ever seen and played in this entire decade, coupled with a multitude of over 60+ weapon types across currently 4 different classes, there's so many different and unique gameplay styles that you can keep experimenting with and continually find the combinations that fit your personal playstyle. There are many ways to express how you want to play the game and survive, giving you lots of freedom and versatility so that every single match you play could just be vastly different than one another due to your own personal gear and skills setup, the various random Warzone Conditions that may be affecting the Hive World, and a large selection of randomly rotating missions with more to come in the future. To tackle the hardest difficulties of the game, you will need very good communication and awareness skills to work with your teammates to be able to survive the nightmares in Atoma Prime. As a 4-Man CO-OP PvE Survival Shooter, Darktide truly shows you that without others, you yourself is just one expendable asset which is very in-tune with the lore of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. The game strongly encourages you to focus on teamwork as the conditions you are fighting through is extremely punishing. Without allies nearby you, you lose all "Coherency" bonuses which can give you a fighting chance against the never-ending hordes of infested and cultists. Without allies watching you, you may get swarmed and pinned down without any hope of survival. In this game, you truly cannot do everything alone.

Visuals:
One can say that Darktide is like the Mona Lisa of Warhammer 40,000 Games when it comes to the art and visuals. I don't believe that I've played a single Warhammer 40,000 Game that completely nails the aesthetic of the grim dark universe nearly as well as Darktide. The environment, the world, the feel, and ESPECIALLY THE FEEL of how the whole world is just a very dark, gross, loathing mess of a manufactorum (and churches) that is controlled by religious zealots that sees you as nothing but fresh, expendable meat waiting to get slaughtered. While I don't think it's exactly 1:1 perfect, it's the closest to perfection that I've ever seen. It's 100% genuinely made by people who love and understand Warhammer with a passion, and it really shows.

Audio:
Before I nerd out more about about Jesper Kyd's amazing Game OST, which is probably one of the absolute best that I've heard this year, I need to give a HUGE shoutout to Fatshark's sound team who worked on the whole ambiance and sound effects of this game. I cannot stress enough how SANCTIFYING the sound design in this game feels. With full support for 5.1 Surround, all the sounds of the guns down to the very last cackling of the Lasgun's lasers, to the sounds of literally chopping through hordes of poxwalkers with an Eviscerator, to even just the echoes and screams of terror and madness that goes around the entire Hive Tertium, no matter how many times I just listen to the ambiance, I legitimately feel like these sounds I'm hearing are actually happening around me in the real world. They're so realistic, so believable, so high quality that I have nothing but praise to give for Fatshark's Sound Team. Please play this game with headphones to get the full experience. Aside from that, Jesper Kyd's OST really nailed the feeling of "Warhammer" down very well, with all the music ranging from extremely ominous, to a banger of a time cutting down heretics keeping your blood boiling, and really keeping your attention in the game, it's such a great, great addition that works completely in tandem with all of the other game's elements, it's just that perfect. Lastly, I can't imagine how fun it must be to do Voicing for a Warhammer Game. While the Warhammer Universe is very dark in tone, the characters' voices and most of the time over-the-top personalities really do breathe so much life into the game, making them feel relatable, and really "human" like us. The character voices in this game are so crazy, so fun, so entertaining, sometimes I just want to sit and listen to my character literally just shout "FOR THE EMPEROR" and scream endlessly as they mow down endless hordes of infested because it's just that entertaining! I haven't got to feel this way in a while ever since the Dawn of War games, where the voicing was just so extreme, so over the top, but that's what makes it so fun and engaging, and memorable!


Overall, I'm speaking just about nothing but praise for this game because to me, it's just that good aside from a very few nitpicky things and bugs that I'm certain will be fixed. Since the pre-release Beta which started on November 17, to the time of writing this review, I've been playing this game for over 75 hours basically nonstop. I genuinely am having so much fun, There's a certain degree of polish that I haven't felt from other games in a long time, and best of all- I've been able to play with my friends from all across the globe without crazy rubberbanding or lag, an unexpected feat greatly benefits those with international friends. With updates continuously rolling into the game, new classes being released, new maps, new objectives, and many new ways to play the game, the amount of replayability goes through the roof with this one, and I just can't wait to get back into the game again.

In short, as someone who doesn't normally play First-Person Shooters as often, I'm completely enthralled by Darktide. The game is genuinely in my opinion the most lore-accurate Warhammer 40,000 representation in just about any gaming media I've played and seen by far, literally everything from the gameplay, combat, visuals, world-building, art direction, sound design, sound effects, enemy designs, enemy variety, locations, it's just simply phenomenal. Once there's an active endgame loop of doing challenges, gear refining and all that, right now:

I want to give Darktide a genuine 9.5/10
~ Azel

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a First Person CO-OP Survival Shooter experience developed by Fatshark, the team that created the Vermintide series. [b]Plot:[/b] While Darktide doesn't exactly have one specific main storyline at the time of writing this review, there are overarching stories and various plot points that ties into the game's major characters, as well as many 'secrets' that are slowly becoming apparent to you as you earn trust to prove yourself worthy to the Imperium as a loyal servant of the throne. In contrast to many other Warhammer 40,000 Media in the market, Darktide focuses on the humans- Specifically what it's like to be one of them in a universe this cruel. You learn slowly about the world through many great dialogues and interactions between each players' characters. You learn what it's like to be a regular soldier in this universe, you learn how difficult life is for all the people living in Hive Cities, you learn how powerless you yourself as an individual is, but you also learn how you can leverage your cooperation with others to become something greater. It's a completely shift of perspective from the Space Marine games where you're an almighty super soldier regarded as an angel of death. [b]Gameplay and Multiplayer:[/b] A hybrid gameplay of swift and satisfying Melee Combat that dices you through huge hordes of enemies, mixed up with special Elite and Specialist enemies bringing you challenges to your gameplay, as well as Ranged Combat where you have to manage your resources and ammunition as everything is quite scarce if you are not careful with how you use everything at your disposal. I have been genuinely impressed with how good and responsive the Melee Combat in Darktide feels, it's the best I've ever seen and played in this entire decade, coupled with a multitude of over 60+ weapon types across currently 4 different classes, there's so many different and unique gameplay styles that you can keep experimenting with and continually find the combinations that fit your personal playstyle. There are many ways to express how you want to play the game and survive, giving you lots of freedom and versatility so that every single match you play could just be vastly different than one another due to your own personal gear and skills setup, the various random Warzone Conditions that may be affecting the Hive World, and a large selection of randomly rotating missions with more to come in the future. To tackle the hardest difficulties of the game, you will need very good communication and awareness skills to work with your teammates to be able to survive the nightmares in Atoma Prime. As a 4-Man CO-OP PvE Survival Shooter, Darktide truly shows you that without others, you yourself is just one expendable asset which is very in-tune with the lore of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. The game strongly encourages you to focus on teamwork as the conditions you are fighting through is extremely punishing. Without allies nearby you, you lose all "Coherency" bonuses which can give you a fighting chance against the never-ending hordes of infested and cultists. Without allies watching you, you may get swarmed and pinned down without any hope of survival. In this game, you truly cannot do everything alone. [b]Visuals:[/b] One can say that Darktide is like the Mona Lisa of Warhammer 40,000 Games when it comes to the art and visuals. I don't believe that I've played a single Warhammer 40,000 Game that completely nails the aesthetic of the grim dark universe nearly as well as Darktide. The environment, the world, the feel, and ESPECIALLY THE FEEL of how the whole world is just a very dark, gross, loathing mess of a manufactorum (and churches) that is controlled by religious zealots that sees you as nothing but fresh, expendable meat waiting to get slaughtered. While I don't think it's exactly 1:1 perfect, it's the closest to perfection that I've ever seen. It's 100% genuinely made by people who love and understand Warhammer with a passion, and it really shows. [b]Audio:[/b] Before I nerd out more about about Jesper Kyd's amazing Game OST, which is probably one of the absolute best that I've heard this year, I need to give a HUGE shoutout to Fatshark's sound team who worked on the whole ambiance and sound effects of this game. I cannot stress enough how SANCTIFYING the sound design in this game feels. With full support for 5.1 Surround, all the sounds of the guns down to the very last cackling of the Lasgun's lasers, to the sounds of literally chopping through hordes of poxwalkers with an Eviscerator, to even just the echoes and screams of terror and madness that goes around the entire Hive Tertium, no matter how many times I just listen to the ambiance, I legitimately feel like these sounds I'm hearing are actually happening around me in the real world. They're so realistic, so believable, so high quality that I have nothing but praise to give for Fatshark's Sound Team. Please play this game with headphones to get the full experience. Aside from that, Jesper Kyd's OST really nailed the feeling of "Warhammer" down very well, with all the music ranging from extremely ominous, to a banger of a time cutting down heretics keeping your blood boiling, and really keeping your attention in the game, it's such a great, great addition that works completely in tandem with all of the other game's elements, it's just that perfect. Lastly, I can't imagine how fun it must be to do Voicing for a Warhammer Game. While the Warhammer Universe is very dark in tone, the characters' voices and most of the time over-the-top personalities really do breathe so much life into the game, making them feel relatable, and really "human" like us. The character voices in this game are so crazy, so fun, so entertaining, sometimes I just want to sit and listen to my character literally just shout "FOR THE EMPEROR" and scream endlessly as they mow down endless hordes of infested because it's just that entertaining! I haven't got to feel this way in a while ever since the Dawn of War games, where the voicing was just so extreme, so over the top, but that's what makes it so fun and engaging, and memorable! Overall, I'm speaking just about nothing but praise for this game because to me, it's just that good aside from a very few nitpicky things and bugs that I'm certain will be fixed. Since the pre-release Beta which started on November 17, to the time of writing this review, I've been playing this game for over 75 hours basically nonstop. I genuinely am having so much fun, There's a certain degree of polish that I haven't felt from other games in a long time, and best of all- I've been able to play with my friends from all across the globe without crazy rubberbanding or lag, an unexpected feat greatly benefits those with international friends. With updates continuously rolling into the game, new classes being released, new maps, new objectives, and many new ways to play the game, the amount of replayability goes through the roof with this one, and I just can't wait to get back into the game again. In short, as someone who doesn't normally play First-Person Shooters as often, I'm completely enthralled by Darktide. The game is genuinely in my opinion the most lore-accurate Warhammer 40,000 representation in just about any gaming media I've played and seen by far, literally everything from the gameplay, combat, visuals, world-building, art direction, sound design, sound effects, enemy designs, enemy variety, locations, it's just simply phenomenal. Once there's an active endgame loop of doing challenges, gear refining and all that, right now: I want to give Darktide a genuine 9.5/10 ~ Azel