8.5/10 (or 7/10 if you're not addicted to it) , Cant love it enough, cant hate it enough. Such is life in the grim dark future of Warhammer 40k.
The game started as a sloppy release at launch but the devs have been constantly balancing and updating the game. However, I suggest waiting for one or two years until the devs complete the game unless you absolutely love Warhammer 40k or co-op horde shooters similar to left for dead, in which case, you should wait for a sale.
TLDR : Successor to the highly acclaimed Vermintide 2, Darktide fails to meet expectations and yet, manages to grip you for hours at end. Core gameplay is great but everything else kinda sucks.
[b]Gameplay Loop[/b]
1. Co-op horde shooter, similar to Left for Dead combined with Melee combat mechanics like dodging, light & heavy attacks, blocking and parrying.
2. 4 free classes, 3 paid DLC classes each with talent trees of their own for build variety.
3. Large variety of weapons to choose from
4. Havoc mode provides late game replayablity. However, high level havoc missions require meta builds and weapons
[b]Performance [/b]
1. You may occasionally face performance issues even on high end PCs, albeit less frequently. However, credit where credit's due, the game is far less worse than it was at launch, the operative phrase being "less worse".
2. Servers are mehh, Vermintide 2's peer to peer hosting is surprisingly superior to Darktide's servers
[b]Complaints[/b]
1. Limited number of base classes (4 base classes and 3 sub-talent tree classes per class) compared to Vermintide 2 (5 base classes with 3 sub-classes)
2. Various features from Vermintide 2 are missing.
3. Maps often include re-used areas from other maps
4. Key updates are incredibly slow. Weapons crafting, campaign, class and weapons overhaul updates took a long time to arrive, all of which should have been part of the game at launch.
5. Class and weapon balance sucks ass. Late game progression requires heavy dependance on meta builds.
6. Devs have failed to keep a considerable number of promises. Some promised content was cut right before release such as the ability to earn premium currency through playing the game
7. Campaign is lack luster and arguably absent besides the a few cutscenes for setting up mission objectives. Terrible story building considering Fatshark's use of Dan Abnett's big name for story writing as promotion strategy
All in all, its unfortunate that a game with limitless potential is being killed by the leadership of the Fatshark. C'mon fatshark, all you had to do was follow Vermintide 2's example and modernize the core gameplay.
