10 Reasons To Get Excited About Warhammer 40K: Darktide

Time to put down the musket and pick up a Bolter, Vermintide is coming to the 41st Millennium.

by Liam Sell
Warhammer Darktide
Fat Shark Studios

Fatshark's Warhammer: Vermintide has just had its 5th anniversary and to be honest there's a tonne to celebrate seeing as it's a supremely enjoyable hack-and-slash set in the Warhammer fantasy universe.

This turned out to be the perfect setting to explore the genre of first person zombie-horde murdering, previously defined by the likes of Left 4 Dead. With precedent for worldwide calamities, a pre-existing species of horde based foes in the Skaven, and a truly uncapped limit for madness, Vermintide and its sequel felt right at home leading the pack (and then smashing the pack with hammers).

Now with the announcement of Warhammer 40K Darktide, the series is getting a terrrifying update, taking the concept into the far reaches of grimdark space courtesy of the Warhammer 40K setting.

Focusing on what seems to be an outbreak of zombie worshipers of the Plague God Nurgle and set on a hyper-urbanised hive world, what little we know of the game so far seems to be moving in the right direction. And that direction is ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN. So grab a seat and let's get those wheels in motion.

10. Multiplayer

Warhammer Darktide
Games Workshop

In games like Vermintide, teamwork really does make the dream work, and although bots have come far in recent years they're still nowhere near as good as real players, therefore communication and coordination are essential to surpassing the harder levels and the overwhelming chaos of combat.

In short online sessions of Vermintide 1 and 2 are the franchise operating on full steam and we can expect the same love and attention to this core experience in Darktide. Fatshark has been teasing a Multiplayer VS mode in Vermintide 2 as well, with players able to take up the flea-ridden mantle of the Skaven hunters, and it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine the same feature being offered in this title as well.

Imagine the screams of your friends as you bludgeon them into the ground as a hulking rotted beast, now double that fun thought when you realize that most Nurgle characters have ridiculously stupid names (Sloppity Bilepiper being a firm fav).

Contributor

My passion for all things Sci Fi goes back to my earliest days, when old VHS copies of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet gripped my tiny mind with their big, noisy vehicles and terrifying puppets. I'd like to say my taste got more refined over the years, but between the Warhammer, Space Dandy and niche Star Wars EU books, perhaps it just got broader. I've enjoyed games of all calibre since I figured out that dice weren't just for eating, and have written prose ever since I was left unsupervised with some crayons next to a white wall. I got away with it by calling it "schoolwork" for as long as I could, and university helped me keep the charade going a while longer. Since my work began to get published, it's made all those long hours repainting the walls seem worth it.