Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, is the newest mission-based squad-centric wave survival game by FatShark, the developers behindWarhammer Vermintide 2.For anyone unfamiliar with either of these games,other titles such asLeft 4 Dead,Back 4 Blood, or evenDeep Rock Galaticalso work as a fair comparison.
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In it, a squad of 4 players is dropped into a mission, told to get to the end of it, and must shoot or cut their way through hordes of enemies to do so. But, in particular, the comparisons betweenVT2andWarhammer: Darktideare apt, given that they’re both made by the same developers. And, whileVT2has 5+ years of update history over Darktide, here are just a few things this new entry seems to be improving upon already, as players already got a taste offrom the release trailer.
7Isolating Players From The Rest Of The Squad
First, let’s talk about howDarktideis just fantastic at intentionally separating players from each other. In games likeDarktide, a player being on their own, at least for a decent stretch of time, is usually a death sentence. Even the tankiest of characters are nothing when a Scab Trapper fires a net at them.
So, it’s crucial to stick together, which is exactly why the game itself tries to separate people and where most of the difficulty of the game comes in. WhileVermintide 2also does a pretty good job of this,Darktide, at least so far, just does it more often and in more creative ways, such as:
Of course,Vermintide’sSpecial Enemies did a lot of these things too, but because ofDarktide’slevel design and enemy spawns, it happens more often in this newer title.
6Using The “Coherency” Mechanic To Convince People To Stick Together
The Coherency System inDarktideis incredibly well-thought-out. At its core, it’s basically just a system that rewards players with stacking Auras for sticking close to each other, which is very simplistic.
But, because there are literal gameplay benefits, many of the Talents include Coherency buffs, and Coherency by default buffs Toughness regeneration, public lobbies are so much more bearable. While it was always important to stay in formation inVermintide, there weren’t any actual in-game stat buffs associated with it, making it easier for new players (who will probably be experiencing the gamethrough Xbox Game Pass) to ignore their ally’s “stick close” advice.
5Resource & Ammo Scarcity
Withranged combat being such a core mechanicofDarktide, especially in comparison toVermintide 2, ammo scarcity has so much more impact. There were a good number of ranged classes inVermintide 2with Careers like Bounty Hunter, Ranger, and Huntsman. But, that game was designed around melee combat so ammo was either plentiful or not important. Additionally, ranged combat was incredibly strong for a while afterVT2came out, and has subsequently been nerfed multiple times.
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InDarktide, players are constantly scrounging for any ammo packs at all, and Med Kits or Ammo Boxes are even more important. Plus, characters like Ogryn or the Veteran are almost always fiending for more grenade boxes. Overall, the scarcity and, by extension, happiness a squad feels finding a bunch of ammo inDarktideis amplified so much more than inVT2. And, that’s not even including the painful resource management that comes from trying topick up a Grimoire mid-mission.
4The Impact Of Weapon Sound Effects
With the weapons, both melee and ranged, seen in Darktide leading up to its release on November 30th, 2022, the pure “oomph” that all of its weapons have in terms of their audio is absurd. That isn’t to say that guns and weapons didn’t have satisfying sound effects inVT2, but there’s a hard limit to how many different ways FatShark can make the act of iron-hitting flesh sound.
InDarktidethe technology is so advanced since this isWarhammer 40K, and there is a myriad of new ways to make satisfying sound effects with things like Chainswords, Ripper Guns, Bolters, Lasguns, and more. For example, Ogryn Skullbreaker’s grenade-box throw, which is literally just him throwing a heavy metal box full of grenades, makes such an impactful “thump” when it flattens an elite enemy that players are using their grenades a bit haphazardly as a result.
3The Cruelty Of Its World
This next one is both a compliment and a complaint, as the world ofDarktideis so much meaner thanVermintide. InVT2,hordes were similar to something like the hordes of zombies inWorld War Z, just a gigantic wave of chaos and flesh coming at the player in one or two directions at most. InDarktide, hordes are still scary. But, what’s truly scary is how many different directions they constantly come from all at once and how difficult that is to deal with,even from a co-op standpoint. Enemies don’t just spawn from doorways or down hallways anymore. Rather, they’ll drop suddenly from floors above, from the ceiling itself, or seemingly from nowhere at all.
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Because of this, the world as a whole inDarktideseems to be so much more ‘against’ the player, which works tonally since 40K is one of the most grim-dark settings out there. But, from a gameplay standpoint, FatShark could stand to adjust enemy spawns so that things are a bit more consistent.
2The Sheer Level Of Gratuitous Gore & Particle Effects
Now, this next aspect is a pretty small part of either game, at least in the grand scheme of things. But, when it comes to games all about slaying hundreds (maybe even thousands) of enemies per level, impactful levels of grime and gore matter.
And, for the most part,Vermintide 2has plenty of fancy particle effects, blood, and guts. Still,Darktideis just on another level. The maggots that fly out from the Poxwalkersas the Zealot slams into them, the blood mist spraying out of enemiesafter the Sharpshooter empties a full Lasgun clip, or even the still-sputtering flaming neck stump that remains after a Psyker gets a Brain Burst kill on an Elite, it’s all just too much in the best of ways.
1The Mourningstar Vs Taal’s Horn Keep
And lastly, it needs to be mentioned that the Hub Area ofDarktide, AKA the Mourningstar ship, is fantastic in its design. The Gothic cathedral architectural style of itjust screams “Imperium of Man"and the fact that it’s always populated with a decent amount of other players that are also currently playing the game makes the hub feel alive.
That said, as far as functionality, Taal’s Horn Keep inVT2is so much better. Players can practice their skills, test damage, access all the shops in one small area, or just explore all the nooks and crannies of the castle all while waiting for the rest of their party to get ready. That said, with time, the Mourningstar could easily surpass the Keep if FatShark puts the work in.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktideis available now on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass.
