For the curious, Darktide is a spiritual follow-up to Fatshark’s previous four-player co-op games, Warhammer: Vermintide and Vermintide 2, which are a bit like medieval Left 4 Deads but with giant rats. This one’s set in the even grimmer and darker universe of the year 40K. And it’s all quite supremely 40K, by the looks of things. We get a nice glimpse of the four classes - Psyker, Veteran, Zealot, Ogryn - blowing apart the hordes of cultists-cum-space-zombies in different ways. It’s also a first proper look at the inside of a hive, which is a kind of gnarly imperial megacity. Here are some lovely screens, while the trailer above gives you a bit of a walkthrough of how a multi-step mission might play out. There are a few weapons in play here. Obviously there’s the chainsword, a 40K staple. There’s also a lasgun for the Veteran, which is a kind of DMR-y ranged option. There’s an automatic shotgun for the Ogryn, and a couple of special abilities, including the Psyker popping someone’s head. All of this is supported by the writing of Dan Abnett, of Horus Heresy and Marvel Comics fame. I could really nerd out here but let’s spare you: basically it’s gameplay from a 40K version of Left 4 Dead. Enjoy!
