Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Performance issues aside, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's ferocious battles make for some of the most thrilling co-op action in years.

Darktide captures the most essential parts of its genre, though it sometimes stumbles when trying to build metagame content on top of that foundation.

Much like its endless enemies, Darktide's many small issues add up to a real nuisance - but stupendous atmosphere and vicious action just about prevails.

Though Warhammer 40K: Darktide needs more time to develop, its core gameplay is the best Fatshark has ever created.

Still, knowing Fatshark’s previous work, I’m confident Darktide will be in much better shape in just a few months’ time. And perhaps, in a year or two, after a couple of expansions and numerous updates, it may be something extraordinary. As things stand right now, it’s only very good… which is hard to complain about. A fantastic setting with tons of replayability and the same old juicy combat? There’s plenty to get sucked into, and no signs of slowing down.

"As Darktide's levels aren't grouped into acts, it's much harder for Fatshark to tell coherent stories across them"

Fatshark's bone-crunching co-op is deliciously gory and grim, but an uninspiring progression system and short, repetitive missions hold this Vermintide successor back from reaching peak rampage.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a fantastic co-op shooter that occasionally struggles under strain. The human character models don't exactly look great, but the game delivers what matters: strong gameplay and an excellent atmosphere that's a blast to play with friends.

Despite the growing pains, Darktide is a solid co-operative action game that’s great for a group of friends to play in spurts. At launch, the experience is limited in progression and variety, but the gameplay is challenging and viscerally satisfying enough to keep your attention. It doesn’t hurt that the soundtrack slaps and, performance issues aside, the graphics pack a punch. Since Fatshark is known for updating the Vermintide series over time with frequent content updates, Darktide is expected to improve as well. It may even deserve a higher score within the next six months, but I can only review what’s available now. So if you’re considering a purchase of the game, think of it as an investment that will likely pay off in a few years. It’s more than understandable, though, if you would rather wait for Darktide to meet your standards for a full release.

Warhammer: 40,000: Darktide is one of the most enjoyable games of the year, but it's tremendously rough around the edges.