Warhammer 40K: Darktide Close Beta Impressions
This past weekend Warhammer 40,000: Darktide launched it’s Closed Beta. Here are some first impressions.
Did you get to play in the Closed Beta for Darktide? I did. And it was pretty much what I expected — which is to say it was a blast! But I kinda figured that the studio behind Vermintide I & II would have a handle on how to make a 40k version. It’s visceral, gory, and Grimdark. Fatshark pretty much nailed it.
Darktide – First Impressions
Let me just get this out of the way as well. This isn’t a sponsored thing and Fatshark isn’t paying us to talk about Darktide. I signed up for the Close Beta just like everyone else and waited for my entry. Eventually I got in and had a run at the game. I only got in a few games with a full squad but it was a lot of fun. I gave the Zealot a go as well as the Psyker — But my teammates played the Sharpshooter and the Ogryn.
So I did get a good vibe of the different classes. I still want to go back and try the others out and I also want to get more into the build-crafting/unlock system as I didn’t get a chance to really dive deep into the game — but more on that later.
My first impressions are all good. The only “bad” thing was the lack of a mini-map in the corner. But that’s really more of a game style choice than a detriment. Oh and the social space was kind of odd…but I’m sure that’s just because it was a beta. It was strange to see random players pop in and even if you were with a squad you didn’t get in the same instance for that space (as far as we could tell).
Aside from those two minor things the core game loop itself is a lot of fun. If you’ve never played a co-op shooter like Dead Island, Vermintide, or even Left4Dead…well, those games all kind of influence this one. And that’s a good thing. You and your squad are dropped into a mission and have to proceed through waves of goons to the various objectives. Once you complete the objectives you then have to extract. This all sounds waaay easier than it actually is.
I’m a veteran of lots of FPS games and this game isn’t exactly easy. You can also scale up the difficulty as needed/wanted by taking on tougher missions. The rewards are typically new gear, various character upgrades (like ability unlocks/auras) and credits which you can spend on more stuff. Keep in mind this was the Closed Beta so I didn’t get a chance to really explore all that stuff — but I can’t wait to go back.
Unsurprisingly, this game does borrow pretty heavily from the core mechanics of Vermintide — again, not a bad thing! There is clear progression and that’s great. This game does have that “end game” of progressive character development and then harder and harder missions.
But how was the actual gameplay? Fun! You’re basically going to face off against hordes of Poxzombies/cultists at first. And scattered throughout those hordes will be tougher enemies with guns/armor/abilities. The Netters were particularly annoying (but in a challenging way). They could launch a net that knocked you over and your friends had to release you before the horde pummelled you down. There are various foes like that in the mix.
The combat is visceral. You’ll have a gun but you don’t have infinite ammo. So, while it’s very tempting to blast everything, you’re going to want to swap to your melee weapon. And that’s where the game gets a lot of things right. FPS Melee combat can be a bad experience…But not in Darktide. Fatshark has done their homework and really made the Melee feel impactful, brutal, and fun.
Melee has various attacks/blocks/counters/abilities all based on the class and the weapons. I can’t really get into too much detail as I had limited time with them but just swinging your weapon felt fun. Blocking allows you to shove enemies as well. You’ll use your stamina bar but it’s a great way to “break the tide” of the horde as they are charging. This creates some space and allows you to swing away.
The gunplay is also pretty fun. I wish I had more time with the various guns as well. The ones I used were the SMG and the Pistol. The SMG was very much a “spray and pray” gun while the pistol rewarded accuracy and patience. I really wanted to try out the Ogryn’s single shot shotgun, but I’ll have to wait until next time.
One of the things that really stood out to me was the health system in the game. You basically have two health bars: One is your “toughness” and the other is your actual health. Depending on the difficulty your health bar may have different sized “chunks” and when you get KO’d you’ll lose a “chunk” to corruption. This can be removed at a Medicae station but those have limited charges. While your health bar is corrupted you’re max HP is limited.
The toughness bar functions more like a “shield” mechanic. What’s really cool about it is how you refill the gauge. The first way is just by going in for Melee kills. Each kill grants you “toughness” back. It rewards aggressive, in your face-gameplay. The other way (and the one I thought was really neat) was for maintaining “coherency” with your squad. While you’re within range of another squad member (or members) you regained toughness. The more members nearby, the fast you gained it back. You also have buffs you give to your squadmates for being in coherency. The mechanic really emphasizes staying together and working with your team. Can you go off on your own and explore? Sure. Will you pay for your solo mindset? Probably. I liked this trade off!
So what happens if you get KO’d? Well, your team can rez you — if they get to you quick enough. If they can’t, you’re “Captured” for a bit. Your character is taken out of action for a bit and eventually you respawn at a different location. Your team then has to get to you and free you from your bonds. Then you’re back in the fight. So just because your down doesn’t mean you’re out permanently.
The environment was fantastic. There were terrain pieces that looked exactly like terrain kits from GW. All of the environments I got to check out were suitably Grimdark and it felt great to wander around. Darktide has that air of oppressiveness that you should expect in a game from the 40k setting. Overall, I think Fatshark absolutely nailed it.
Darktide is slated for a November 30th release. You can pre-order now if you would like. Personally, I’m going to pick this one up. I think it’s going to be a great video game night option for me and my crew. You can play solo (there are bots) but it’s a lot more fun with friends!
This is Grimdark GTFO with more action and a Vermintide underbelly — It’s a winner in my book!
