Is Warhammer 40K: Darktide FINALLY Worth Playing?! 

After almost a year, Warhammer 40K: Darktide has gotten the most important update yet. Introducing a new talent tree, perks and a plethora of other improvements. Today we're checking it out to see if the game is finally worth playing after it's rocky launch.. Check out Darktide here! 50% off on Steam ➤ sbx.gg/darktide-actman

Fun fact: the beast of Nurgle isn’t actually trying to kill you, it was trying to play with you, but most of the times when they do this they end up accidentally killing their “new friend” by infecting them with diseases or just crushing them on accident. They soon become depressed after having a bunch of playmates die. Eventually they will cocoon themselves and turn into a rot fly, a creature that has nothing but hate and anguish in its heart. In short beasts of nurgle act like giant puppies

Character wise, the reason why there isn’t really any unique playable characters is because you’re a bunch of convicts and penal troopers sent to the meat grinder. Lore-wise, this is a universe where people die in their billions everyday. Also there’s the joke that if you’re a named character in Warhammer 40k, then you’re someone overpowered

To be fair, the characters in Darktide were suppose to be regular people, a drop in an ocean. Makes it feel a bit more on point setting wise. Also the combat in Darktide is also a bit better since you're actually encouraged to use your ranged weapons on things other than specials

From a lore perspective, playing a custom character fits with the setting rather than a named static character. This is basically due to the situation you’re finding yourself in, as an essential penal legion member for this Inquisitor that controls the ship you’re on. The average life expectancy for a Guardsman, the standard infantry man for the Imperium, is seventeen hours. A penal legion member, even less. And to give further context for what a penal legion is, it’s a formation of convicts and other people attempting to prove their worth again and fight for their freedom to atone for their sins to the Imperium. You atone those sins by dying for them. Compacted with the introduction scene with the Interrogator, following the tutorial, there’s a whole bunch of other convicts that have been brought in alongside you. There are a bunch of your characters, all out for the same goal. It helps show the grimdark nature of the setting a bit better, with that additional context.

The biggest problem with Darktide for me personally is that a lot of the missions end up feeling the same after completing them for the 500th time. I hope eventually they add entirely new areas, hell, I wouldn't mind if we got missions on different planets.

I don’t think we need a government

Advice for Daemonhost by the way, it only attacks people who attack it. If you think your squad isn't good enough to kill it, just let one person take the aggro. Also, while the Daemonhost is horrifyingly powerful, you can actually cheese it with ogryn. Grab a shield, get aggro, and hide in a corner while planted. The host will only attack you until it eventually leaves, or your team kills it

I loved Verhimtide but as a Blood Angels player on the table top I was so freaking pumped for Darktide. It released in a rough state but the updates have been great and the game is definitely in a better place than it was at launch. The music is top tier and the visuals of fighting in a hive are freaking great.

As someone who's always loved Darktide, despite its flaws, this update has been AMAZING

As an Oygren main, i felt so much pain when he threw the box of grenades on the ground rather than hitting the mutant with it.

The Warhammer 40k lore is INSANELY AMAZING. I recently started seeing the story and a RU-vidr called Luetin09 explains it with some much detail and engagement (he has a dedicated playlist). I’m just 5 videos in and already looking forward to more lol

The mods for this game are crazy and I highly recommend them. There is a mod to fix the scoreboard you mentioned. There even is a mod that let's you customize your weapons which is basically an extra feature for this game. Or a mod that lets you scream "FOR THE EMPRAH". There are so many of them that it feels like I'm playing a different, even more improved game.

In some defense for the more basic characters rather than what's in L4D2 or Vermintide, that's in line with 40K. Most people are pretty much nobodies, all of the players are just nobodies being thrown into the meat grinder that is endless war. Having characters that were more unique would push against that vision and idea. It has its faults yes, but it's very much in line with 40K.

Btw tip, you can stagger the daemon host if you have a zealot with the preacher skill, it pushes him back and keeps him from attacking if you are nearby

Game was always worth playing because the gameplay was rock solid. Update #13 now adds build depth and allows classes to play multiple roles. The future is bright.

Awesome vid, I finally gave this game a try last week and gotta say those first couple games were rough but once my friends hopped on and joined the fun went through the roof

Never been into warhammer, but Darktide is really fun to me.

Compared to launch, the player characters seem to have more... character. There are longer conversations with more back-and-forth. There are implications that they sometimes hang out and interact outside of the missions, and that they frequently talk to each other. I think just like Vermintide, we're going to get more and more conversations and each "personality" or "voice" for a class is going to become its own character. For example, my bodyguard ogryn has I think two conversations calling the male seer psyker voice his favorite person of the bunch.

One slight caveat, the special function existed on weapons in Vermintide as well. Saltzpyre's rapier can shoot his pistol (that has unlimited ammo but has insane damage falloff), Kruber spear and shield can do a poke attack while blocking but uses stamina, etc.

5:05 “If I don’t got a weapon I’mma pick up a rock and when I bust yo ass I’mma continue to rock.” - RIP Nate Dogg lol

Not only is there a block button with the ability to push attack when you hold it but there is a dodge button, You can use both at the same time. Use them.

The issue people have with the way levels are designed is that they feel the same, and it's because in many cases, you will go through the same areas visited in previous levels, often from a different direction, on your way through the level. You are on Atoma Prime, and it actually makes sense that you would use the same routes through areas. Cool concept, but from a gameplay perspective, it makes many of the levels feel very similar. I put in 200 hours but the end game grind wasnt very fleshed out yet so a lot of people dropped it waiting for new content to be added.

I have only recently subscribed but I have been watching your videos for …..well almost three years now and through you some how you have made me enjoy the gaming world even more just through watching the joy you have and the joy you bring to those around you.

Love the vid nice job would you consider doing a playthrough for re 4 remake separate ways or have you've played it already?

Its nice to see more horde/co-op shooters such as this and deep rock galactic get the attention and love they deserve. This genre has serious potential and it really hasn't peaked in interest since left for dead and maybe back 4 blood Edit: ROCK AND STONE

At 7:55, Dj khaled doing the pinegroove shuffle made me spit my pepsi and laugh to tears. Bravo 👏

I did enjoy the stat screen a lot, it went a long way to seeing certain builds work in either crowd control or special or monster focused killing. Sad to see that gone

I did notice I started missing the more varied and aesthetically pleasing environments from vermintide. It’s nice to see a tree once in awhile.

As a someone who played in the beta and has all four classes maxed to 30, and as a big vermintide fan, I agree that the end-mission scoreboard is sorely missed in DT. It was always nice to know how well i did in a match. Lootboxes arent that big of a deal in DT atm, bc you make and customize weapons/trinkets a lot easier in DT, although trying to find the perfect blessing on a weapon to compliment your build can be difficult but not impossible. Anyways, glad to hear you're enjoying the game, its one of my favs atm.

I picked it up this week due to the sale, tried it for the first time last night. I love Vermintide, but haven't played it in a while, so this was a nice reminder of this genre.

I do appreciate playing as particular named characters like in the left 4 dead series, but i think the character customization is quite unique in darktide, being able to pick your planet of origin, your backstory and listening to how they react to others of different walks of life is pretty awesome, i think ive had character interactions where they ask about the planet my character is from and none of the other characters knows what its like but mine. Ive never seen any other game do that before. Plus ive had several laughs over the psykers lines when he has the high pitched crazy voice. The voice actors really gave it there all and i think the diversity deserves some praise here.

An important thing to note about Warhammer is that there are two warhammer universes. *Warhammer Fantasy* and *Warhammer 40k.* Vermitide is set in fantasy, while Darktide is in 40k. They share the same Chaos Gods (Khorne, Tzeench, Slaanesh, Nurgle). But, are set in two completely different universes. Feel free to correct me, i know the basics and isn't very well versed in the grimdark future :v

I actually like the character creation and making individuals rather than all playing the same static heroes. For me that makes the environment feel more immersive.

@The Act Man, You Helped Me Get Through Quarantine, I Was So Bored, And I Came Across One Of Your Videos And I’ve Been Watching Your Videos Ever Since. I Love How Passionate You Are For Video Games And The Fans Surrounding Them. I Truly Am Grateful For A Gamer That Is Not Blind To The Effects Of “Modern Gaming”. Thank You Act Man!

The soundtrack is by far in my top 10 list of favorite soundtracks. It's so perfect

With the latest update I'm loving the game. They reworked the classes, adding 2 specs (plus the original one) for each class in the game, effectively adding 8 classes in a single update. It's now much more replayable than before.

I somewhat disagree about the cast just because the voice acting for each different archetype is top notch, especially the Zealots and Ogryns, absolute perfection. I do get what you mean about a specific cast though. Set in stone characters would help bring more personality to the overall narrative being told. Also fun fact (and SPOILER) for those who don't know: The traitor among you in the cutscenes is the Commissary vendor and after level 30 when she is revealed to be a traitor she is turned into an Attonment servitor, new character model and all. Pretty freaky stuff. On brand for the inquisition though not going to lie. I hope you dabble into more 40K Act Man, Bricky and Luetin09 are probably some go to recommendations if you want to get a grip on how crazy and wacky the 40k universe is.

"I don't know what is happening in darktide" Yeah welcome to 40k 😅

Don't forget they added a Cheer button to the communication wheel so now you can spam For Cadia like a dwarf shouting ROCK AND STONE.

I'm so happy to see the act man loving vermintide and darktide. Such fun games. Darktide is finally shining now and I hope it only gets better

You have much to learn about the 41st millennium. The game was always worth it, the update itself just gave us a lot more to chew on ^-^

Every so often I stumble across one of your videos and I'm always a little taken aback each time because I always forget how much you look like Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved by the Bell).

A counterpoint in the scoreboard conversation: I love the decision to not include one. Why? I don't get to play these games with friends very often, so i queue up solo most of the time. You know what playing with randoms can be like, with people wandering off, racing through the levels at top speed just to get through them as fast as possible, etc. Although I can see the benefits, I also feel having a scoreboard provides additional impetus to play in ways that aren't beneficial to the team in the spirit of chasing numbers. I personally feel much more focused about fulfilling my role when I'm not concerned about how I'm doing numerically.

My biggest gripe with darktide is that Fat Shark still hasn't added single player with bots a year after launch when it was promised at release. Despite this there have been dozens of shop updates over the first year of release.

I've heard about Warhammer for so many years now but have never played it at all. So it's great to see an indepth look into all.

Act Man: "I have no clue what's going on in the Warhammer universe" Bricky: >:(

"They are very in tune with their community." He says as the CM called us pearl clutchers.

the idea that your characters may look generic and there's no fixed characters is what i also like on darktide. Creating your own character and them interacting towards each other every game makes it feel like you're character has been through a lot and is expressing his/her experiences through dialogue. and the idea of you being a ex-prisoner that is now earning your rights through fighting in atoma. The mission select is also a feature i like because i like to imagine thousands of prisoners being dispatched in atoma and fighting their way, of course some doesn't survive so more ex-prisoners get deployed.

Another thing I love about the weapons is that even the different variations of the same weapons still lean towards a certain playstyle. Then there is there is the eviscerator chainsword... use the eviscerator chainsword.

The class update did a lot to create more depth to leveling but what really made me come back was the update that made a weapon or item drop after every mission. No longer is it optimal for progress to wait for the gear shop to refresh.

Love your take on what would improve Darktide, definitely feel lost on what missions I should be doing so I just do quickplay and usually get the same missions multiple times, miss the loot boxes that pushed you to challenge yourself in getting the tomes and grims, and I also miss the scoreboards. Really love the new class system though.

Brother act, you honor WH40K with your presence. More WH40K please!!!! I’d love for you to hop into this franchise (Sea of Thieves re-review and or Deep Rock Galactic review please)

Funny how I just started playing this yesterday, and now act man uploads this 😂

I too would like to have a score board in the post game screen. They could actually provide the best of both worlds with a system where you can only see the stats for your strike group. (The people you queued up with aka your party for those who don't know)

I literally just got off it, my boys and me are loving it. Thank you gamepass🙌

I still believe that Darktide requires the same mechanic in Vermintide where you can play by yourself with ai teammates that you yourself designed (that being other characters on the account) before it can be on-par with Vermintide.

"Do these stairs go up?" Fantastic reference. 10/10

im a little sad that the monetisation was not mentioned, they have had almost a year a sort it and they have added a single set of cosmetics to earn, which can be described as the "I found this in a dumpster" set but have added over 15+ cosmetics per class for a premium amount. They have now announced they are increasing the price of their new sets (while also taking out the included weapon skin like the old packs and selling it separately, so its actually even more expensive than just the price increase) because they "took more time to make", the joke being the Krieg sets have clipping errors, floating candle flames not connected to the actual candles and some of the set is just reused assets from other sets with a slightly different colour, yes "more time" indeed. this has been consistently complained about, that even the Armor sets in the class trailers, that where advertised for years are still not available to players who buy the game. That last part is key "BUY THE GAME!" this is not F2P, a full price game with a years worth of updates should not have paying customers restricted to a prisoner outfit (the one Actman uses throughout the video because unless he pays money he's going to be stuck with that a LONG time), one half decent outfit you earn (+ recolours) and a set of armour that looks like you clawed your way out of a lost and found of a charity shop. cosmetics do matter, people want to look cool and there is literally no way to do so by playing the game, only by "paying the game". They have 20+ sets per class to buy on a rotating store front (gotta use that FOMO) using magical currency used to obscure the actual cost of the items, this is literally worse than Diablo IV and not mentioned in the video. Be warned you might be buying the game, but it treats you like your a F2P overwatch 2 player, only there's no way to earn the currency you buy outfits with, so technically overwatches monetisation is better for the consumer.

I kind of like the characters in Darktide because even though they aren’t their own characters they can be your own characters. Like you can make your own story around their personality.

I will forever love Warhammer 40k. Whether its the table top game, the lore, or the various amounts of random games, this franchise will stay in my heart till I die

Been an on and off player since launch, and, although this update was great for being able to change playstyles I feel that they could've also added some new Penances (achievements, some being class specific). I'm literally one achievement from having nothing left to chase on my Veteran, I'm done with all his Redacted penances and I just want some cool, new, cosmetics to chase and earn. Other than that and crashes still happening and a few bugs here and there I'd say its a really fun game. For the Emperor!

That nightsider track goes crazy! I listen to it when I work out

Few things I want Fatshark to add. The Scoreboard. Shared Trinkets like in Vermintide. The Loot System of Vernintide. A reason to fight the Daemon. More gear sets that promote gameplay over bonkers achievements and playstyles that force you to play a certain way

As someone who regularly carries my teams through the tide of nurgle filth, I wholeheartedly agree with added a bloody scoreboard. I had a game where something bugged so that when my team all died, they spawned at the start of the level. So I tried to finish the final encounter, got through the first part but got shanked in my kidney as zealot without until death. That solo run was like an extra 15 minutes of me trying my balls off. Wish I had a scoreboard to flex the kill count 😮‍💨

An argument I would make about the custom vs pre-set characters is that with Custom ones, you get to tell a story about YOUR character. Not to mention it allow a mix and match style of squad gameplay. You and your friends want to do a balanced run of one of each character type, sure go at it. You want a full Guardsmen squad, from the same regiments or from separate worlds, gunning down traitors and heretics, no problem. You want to be part of an Ogryn sguad, we got you. I made a character for each type, then gave them backstories that complement and expand upon the ones the game has you provide. That said, I do agree that there could have been more of a storyline to follow than just: select mission, go on mission, repeat. I think we're seeing a little bit of that with the special mission given by a crew member Zora, but whether that expands and elaborates into a cohesive story remains to be seen at this time.

“Do these stairs go up?” You’ve earned yourself a silly sub my friend. Loved vermintide and this update shows great potential. Loving it with friends.

Darktide is a rad game to play but it still needs more missions so badly. There just isn't enough variety yet. PS: You can cheese the Daemonhost if you have an Ogryn with a shield. Use the special attack (default X) to enter Bulwark stance and the host will wail on the shield until one of you dies. But bulwark stance takes no stamina and makes you take no damage, so it won't be you dying first.

I'd like to thank Fat Shark for making lore accurate Psyker hatred real with assail, watching my buddy playing Zealot desperately attempt to get the abhor the mutant penance done at lower difficulty with an Assail Psyker on the team is like watching Sisyphus push the boulder. The scoreboard would surely add more fuel to this fire and I think it'd be really funny if Fat Shark brought it back.

I dont miss the unique characters from Vermintide so much, there are 3 (?) voice actors for each class and the lines they come out with are somewhat customised based on background... But the interactions between the classes are golden. Favourite Character is the Psycher with the German accent who is borderline heretic and does an awesome rendition of the "four candles" sketch from the Two Ronnies (Vintage UK comedy, look it up). Also 90% of conversations between the Ogryn and anyone else are very entertaining. Another nugget, especially for any 40k fans out there that haven't played this yet - this is the first 40k game that has made a Bolter sound and feel like you would want it to - and I don't even think it is the most fun weapon in the game

Thanks bro. Saw this video said ok ill download it again. Yup its worth playing now.

Now even The Act Man is making a 40k video. It's like the universe wants me to join 40k.

In its current state, Darktide really is in a good place. I'm excited to see they've kept up with it.

As a W40k fan i Adore this game, i jumped into the military class and was welcomed by a series of choices for my character's background, and a selection of planets INCLUDING CADIA (The Planet that broke before the guard did) and once i got to the editor DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU CHOOSE YOU UNLOCK OR HAVE SOMETHING (Born on Cadia: purple/Pink eyes due to staring at the warp) wich Is an attention to detail i love. Then After hours of grinding It feels so good to buy cosmetics, and the weapods...CHAINSAW STABBY AND BOLT PISTOL. (Wich in lore Is what commissars use usually). You can litterally rip apart tanks too stagfered by a chainsaw to the face to respond, and the Bolt pistol makes all units shit their pants once you start firing (I'd do the same)

i actually prefer to custom characters compare to the scripted ones, because nowdays making a preset characters arent very relatable to me and i often find them annoying so making my own little lore and stuff gives more to the game in my opinion and its really cute

I’ve been having a blast with the game, it definitely needs a little extra tuning and about double the levels/missions, and a huge increase in the base game cosemetic variety. But when it gets that it’ll be the best co op game in a long time

First full priced game I have bought since the L4D2 in 2009 - wish I had waited for a sale, but due to peer pressure and how good Vermintide 2 was I thought what the heck. Clearly the game was released 12 months too early thanks to the suites! Well done to Fatshark for walking the walk, but to be honest it still needs new and different location maps, new characters and character skills. They are getting there!

One of the best things in Vermintide 2 was when me and my friend started measuring who performs the best, pushing ourselves pretty far.

I've been playing this since day one and yeah that was rough compared to noe even if I was enjoying it due to the simple joy of playing as a guardsman and just dealing with problems by applying plenty of Lasgun to them. It is much better now which is really really good to see and i am hopeful for more to come, especially more missions and areas as we're in a massive city and they can add plenty of unique areas due to that alone.

mods are something you should definitely download for darktide, they improve your experience and add stuff like scoreboards that show you how you did and healthbars for enemys

Hey bro! Another great video. Love your channel. I was wondering if you've played Armored Core 6. I recently beat it and fell in love with the game. Would love to hear your impressions. Peace!

Honestly the witch gets you even experienced im a new level 30 who just finished his first level 5 and depending on the map, it seems as if he appears in random spots sometimes

As someone with an Aeldari army, I really want more 40k games that let me play as an Eldar. My biggest complaint with 40k is just how much the Mon-kai's get the spotlight.

My biggest gripe with Dark Tide was Fat Shark's baffling decision to make it an always online Server Connection game rather than a Peer to Peer game like both Vermintides before it and every other co-op horde shooter. There's been many moments where due to being on iPv6 internet, the game just becomes downright unplayable as my character ice skates in random directions I don't want to go in and has seizures every time I try to swap weapons, attack, or use any skills. They added iPv6 support but it didn't fully solve the issue because when the servers are high traffic, the numerous shared iPv6 addresses that connect to the game make it unplayable again. So I'm basically limited to playing Dark Tide either very late in the evening or very early in the morning otherwise I can't even function better than a paraplegic toddler.

i was just searching for warhammer 40 and see a video of you, now im happy :)

13:25 you can physically hear actman resist the urge to say "a sense of pride and accomplishment"

I said this in a community post but just because you are sponsored by company that "allows you to speak your mind" doesnt mean your arent influenced by said sponsorship. Companies will not work with you if you end up trashing the game and calling them out on their practices. So there's an expectation of grace and pulled punches when money changes hands

Love the 40k universe so I was gonna get this game regardless. But definitely needs more maps, to me that’s the most noticeable thing along with having the same shoot the tentacle and blast the eye situation.

Should be noted that a few annoying things and missing features are available via mods on PC like scoreboard, true level (every level achieved past 30), music selector in the Morningstar, etc. it’s also an incredibly easy game to mod

I think this review is mostly in step with how I feel. If they brought back the loot box system and individual stats at end of game, I think that’d solve my major detractions. One thing I definitely want to see in future DLC, though, is a variation on the settings for levels. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt like I’m playing the exact same location over & over again. It makes playing for hours on end a little boring, so I turn it off earlier than I might have with Vermintide in the past

Another 40K game I think you would like is BOLTGUN. It's heavily inspired by classic DOOM and has great shooting mechanics!

The game is so fun to play! Got me into the entire Warhammer 40K universe as well. Played this game during the beta, clocked in a lot of hours. thinking to myself ''damn, the full release is gonne be crazy''. but it was pretty much the same thing, kinda burned myself out on the beta. Playing a little bit again here and there after the patch and its very ejoyable again. Seems to be in a decent state.

It is a show of true honor and respect to the emperor, to spaz out in elevators/scan-room

1. There are grimours and scriptures. 2. The randomized weapon reward you get at the end of a mission is effectively a loot box.

I think the Cast vs. the Customs boils down to people really wanting to Role-Play in the Warhammer universes. It was one of Darktide's most requested features. What annoys me is there is no Novels based on the group from Vermintide which I think Black Library (Games Workshop's publishing wing) are really missing out on, considering how fantastic the Gotrek & Felix, and by extension the Gotrek Novels are. I get it player expression might not match up to "Lore Accurate" Vermintide, but the characters have fantastic dynamic and have that good Warhammer brand of macabre humour.

Yes it's a bit grindy. But if you peel it back and get around to learning everything it's rewarding. Enjoying my time with it gonna play it for a lot longer.

You can actually stagger the Demonhost with the support ability of the Zealot. (The one where you pull out a cricifix type object and scream "REPENT HERETIC".) It doesn't work perfectly well since you have to sit in its face to have an effect. But yeah, it is possible. Some friends told me you can push the DH off the ledge if there is one this way. Haven't managed yet to pull it off though. Also, yes, I agree with all points. Darktide is a blast to play especially with frens. But oh it can be so much better and I hope it becomes so much better.

I actually prefer Darktide because the tome/grimoire mechanic is different. I mostly play with randos so I really didn't like dealing with them in vermintide. Besides it's too much for my small brain to remember where all of them are. I just want to fight hordes and bosses. But I agree with the other criticisms, I would definitely like a scoreboard to see how I perform.

I gotta say, I am loving darktide… I am hoping they have more content as time goes on. It’s so fun

Bro is turning into The Ad Man 💀