Almost two years later, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is actually good

If only it had launched in this state

Fatshark

Update (September 29, 2024): The original version of this article stated that Darktide would be leaving Game Pass. However, it looks like Microsoft's announcement of this was a mistake, as Darktide has since been taken off the list of games leaving the service soon. Very good news!

---

Fatshark published the immense Unlocked and Loaded update for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide this week, completing the co-op shooter’s redemption arc – almost two years after launch, it has actually reached a good state. Combat, of course, was never the problem. In fact, that part was the only thing that kept the entire game afloat when it was released in 2022.

From progression to crafting to technical issues, the game’s state at release was questionable – naturally, that led to the player base being drained pretty quickly. Fatshark then had to deploy its manpower and resources to fixing the game almost from the ground up instead of adding new things to the experience, which in turn meant that the chances of drawing additional players into the ecosystem decreased. A devastating cycle for any live-service game.

However, you have to give credit where credit is due: Fatshark listened to the feedback, steadily implemented it, and showed impressive commitment to its creation. That’s not a given in today’s environment: Microsoft shut down Arkane Austin instead of fixing Redfall.

Unlocked and Loaded, ideally, is what Darktide should have looked like at launch – it would have been better for literally everyone. But: Better late than never, right? That could well be Fatshark’s company motto, given its two Vermintide games went through a pretty similar development.

Crafting in this game is still not outstanding, but given that the feature was somewhere between boring and actively frustrating previously, the improvements made over time have brought it into a solid place. It’s similar for all the other side systems – they aren’t world-class by any means, but they now manage to add to the entire experience and don’t detract from it any longer.

Itemization is so much better after Unlocked and Loaded with the streamlined weapon mastery system and all the talent reworks and balance changes introduced with the update look very good, too. Being able to share additional weapons across classes is great as well, opening up new ways to play for several of them.

You can read the massive patch notes for the latest update on Steam – they are so long that the devs had to release them in four parts. After this update, the title truly deserves to be ranked as one of the best Warhammer 40k games.