Recent reviews by Bob Lee Swagger

Previous Negative Review is below (and kept for context).

Today I can recommend this game wholeheartedly!

The crafting got dramatically overhauled and paired with the mastery system is a great incentive to try different builds while at the same time not depending on rng via the Servitor Store or Melk. You can easily get the weapon of your choice and make it into whatever you desire (marks, blessings and stats) as many times as you want (for a small fee of crafting ressources).

There was the addition of multiple new maps. The Penance (Achievement) system is fun and motivates you to keep going. There is a lot of interesting cosmetic unlocks. There is now a wide variety of weapons per class which is really helping with long term motiviation.

The only a few things I am still not really happy about:

1) Cosmetics and the store. I'd appreciate more cosmetics that can be unlocked via playing. Also the pricing of the premium cosmetics is too high (and there are a lot of reskins).

2) There is barely any story to speak of. There is an overarching narrative but really no story.

3) The lack of a scoreboard especially with the addition of Havoc mode (which is pushing the limits at 30/35+) is still a weird choice. I'd like to get feedback on my performance and the performance of my team. We don't need metrics like overall kills but I hold firm to my believe that "stayed in coherency", "damage taken", "interacted with objectives", "toughness healed to party" etc. would be valuable information for me as a player.

Overall 8,5/10 would def. recommend!




I've been a long time fan of the Warhammer universe (going on to 20 years of absorbing all the lore).

Vermintide 2 has a special place in my heart because I think it encapsulates the spirit of Warhammer more than any other game I've ever played. That is why it was a no-brainer for me to get Darktide. My reasoning was: if they get the Warhammer Fantasy setting they also will do great in the Warhammer 40.000 setting. And surely they will use their development of VT, VT2 and the polish these games received over the years in Darktide.

Oh was I wrong...

First of: If you are a Warhammer 40k Lore Enthusiast and you saw that Dan Abnett was involved with story and world-building be warned: There is no story!

This game had so much promise. They nailed the setting in the trailer. The music was amazing. The ambiance is amazing. They understand the Warhammer (40k) universe. But this is where the positives stop for me.

I've played this game extensively. I've run every difficulty on various character classes successfully.

This game in the current state is a shameful display of either incompetence or greed.

- They completely did away with all the good mechanics (crafting, gearing, resources etc) in favor of "rag tag" time-gated mobile-game-like- systems of having rng on a timer. Gearing your character is dependent on RNG!
- The game is not in a state where it should have been released.
- Crafting is not done. Maps are buggy. Many people can not run this game.
- Class design is questionable in some regards.
- The lack of a scoreboard at the end of a mission is ridiculous.
- Doing away numerical stats on items in favor of percentages is totally unnecessary.
- The UX is clunky at best. It still blows my mind how little thought went into it. Starting from the pre-mission screen and the alignment of buttons and portraits to the way you compare weapon stats.

This game should have never released in this state. Why they did it is beyond me.

Either they are very greedy and wanted to cash in on the pre-christmas sales. That they also stuffed this game with arbitrary "engagement" mechanics and a real-money-cosmetic store I will not further elaborate on. Or they are really lacking the skills to manage and produce a finished product.

I can not recommend buying this game to anyone. Please consider playing a Indie game. Eventually this game will be in an acceptable state and for a much cheaper price. You have been warned.

Amazing, powerfull journey. I met someone right from the start and together we pulled through. It was an emotional rolercoster I can only recommend. The soundtrack and the visuals just let you experience a story - instead of telling you.

Thank you Nyahaha for coming with me on the journey :)