Warhammer 40K: Darktide’s character creator shakes up the Left 4 Dead genre

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war — and war often means grunt work, the absolute worst gigs where it’s a wonder anyone’s left standing at the end. Warhammer 40,000: DarktideThis book is about the deadly missions and the lost souls who must navigate them.

Darktide fits snugly in the Left 4 Dead-alike genre, much like developer Fatshark’s previous games, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide Warhammer: Vermintide 2. You have four people who must work your way through the level to restart the cooling mechanism of a vital factory or kill rebel leaders. You are at risk of being overwhelmed by the hordes and countless mutants.

The term Hero here is relative. You must first create a character before you can enjoy the thrill of cutting down heretical filth and a justeous flamer. Darktide sticks with the formula of four players, made up of four classes: a powerful Psyker; the pious, flamethrower-wielding Zealot; a deadly sharpshooter Veteran; and the hulking Ogryn.

Fatshark

The fun is only half of DarktideYou can give the characters a spin to choose your favorite. Each class can have a different grenade slot. A grenade slot can be used to pop skulls, but each class has its own. For example, the Veteran is able to use an ordinary explosive grenade while the Veteran can throw stun grenades at their enemies. Everybody has both a melee and ranged weapon, with different strengths. For example, the Veteran has a pulse rifle while the Psyker uses a revolver.

However, unlike most Left 4 Dead-alikes, which usually feature predetermined characters with their own scripts and abilities, there’s room to maneuver within those boundaries.

Before you jump into the action, there’s a prelude where players select their home world, some life-path choices, and one of three archetypal personalities. Your sharpshooter could be an exhausted veteran, tired patriot or loose-cannon whore. CertainDid you commit some murders? This isn’t a Mass Effect-style RPG where your character makes a massive impact on the world around them. You are actually a very small, forgettable part of a vast system built upon endless war.

Despite their relative unimportance, though, it’s still refreshing to be able to pick their name and past and not be stuck with a static cast. While some characters may be martyrs or victims, others should serve this terrible prison sentence because of their horrible deeds. My Psyker had a perfect life. But when she heard the Warp’s loud voices, it was declared a witch. My Zealot, on the other hand, stumbled upon a cult and tried to bring it to her superiors’ attention, only to be betrayed and banished.

There are four types and three archetypes so you can bounce between each other with barks. A particularly harsh Zealot won’t be nice to anyone (since they’re all heretics) and an Ogryn can be a brainless brute or a good friend. These combinations lessen the tedium after you’ve cleared a level dozens of times. Sometimes, two class members may slap each other. It’s tough to get along in the world of Warhammer 40K, especially when some of your party members can summon demon lords with their terrible powers.

Unfortunately, the aesthetic options aren’t all that varied — they always tend to result in rough-faced, short-haired people with deep facial folds and textured skin. The first match is in basic prison clothing. Once that matches, you can unlock more luxurious threads. This is very in line with the Warhammer mythos; we’re not exactly on a spa day. After the difficult backstory selections, however, visual options remain a bit disappointing.

It’s also not clear if any of these fun character creation options pay off down the line, or if they’re just here for flavor. Either way, I’m excited to dive back into DarktideWhen it launches for Windows PC users on November 30. I already miss my Psyker, and even if there’s no grand fate in store for her, at least it’s fun to pop brains and blast away my foes.