First things first.
Let me say this outright that I do like this game and I can’t deny having fun with it. But somehow I feel like it’s lacking something that the Vermintide 2 had.
Yes, I know that this is just a beta, but due to being letdown by so many betas in the recent years I always feel suspicious for these open betas.
My intention is to not complain about the game, but I do have some concerns I’d like to share.
I really loved Vermintide 2 when it game out. The game had its problems and despite playing the 
out of it I keep going back to it every now and then with my friends.
So Darktide has a lot to live up to.
So, what did I like about Darktide beta:
- Combat, just perfect. Personally I don’t really care about the range combat, because I’m somewhat jaded towards the FPS genre already. But the melee is just too much fun and that is where Fatshark excel and they’ve done it again.
- The art design. But then again it’s Warhammer 40k, so it’s hard to get it wrong.
- Sound and music design. I just love it.
And what I didn’t like about Darktide beta:
- No invert mouse option?!? There’s one for controller, but not for the mouse? Really? No sensitivity sliders either?!?
I’m sure that Fatshark will add invert mouse option to the game at release, but that doesn’t change the fact that I had to use 3rd party softwares to invert my mouse for this game, just to be able to play it. It’s so frigging annoying when companies treat the mouse+keyboard as an afterthought. - Constant performance issues. I have relatively decent rig on me, but despite that I kept running into FPS drops and stutters. My concern is that will Fatshark have enough time to optimize the game properly for the PC, as the game is supposed to launch in just ~1.5 months.
- Constant bugs/glitches/Crashes. Again, my concern is that will ~1.5 months be enough for Fatshark to polish this game properly. Bugs and glitches I can tolerate, but those CTDs (crash to desktop) are a big no-no.
- New hub area. What’s the point of having public hub area where you cannot interact with other players? Is it to show off your (paid) cosmetics? I just don’t get it and I would have preferred to have similar hub area like the Taal’s Horn Keep from Vermintide 2.
My concerns:
-
Current state of the game and release in just ~1.5 months. With how broken the game is and how little time there is until launch, will Fatshark have enough time to sort all these things out?
My concern with the current state of the game is that will Fatshark have that typical modern gaming mentality that says: “Release now, fix it later.” -
Maps. They just look the same. In Vermintide 2 almost every map had that distinctive look about them that made you know what map you were playing on. But in Darktide all the maps just look the same to me.
My concern with the maps is that will there be more distinctive maps in the full game? Or will they continue to look the same? -
Classes. In Vermintide 2 we had 15 different careers at launch, and they all felt different.
But in Darktide we’ll apparently have only 4 classes at launch, and from I’ve tested half of them just feel the same. Yes, they will add more classes to the game as time goes on, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s only 4 of them at launch.
My concern with the classes is that how long will we have to wait to get more them?
1 month? 3 months? 6 months? The game will feel really stale really fast if we have to stick with what we have for too long. -
Enemy variety and difficulty. From what I saw in the beta Darktide’s enemy variety falls behind to Vermintide 2, at least in the beta. (who knows, maybe the full game will have more)
There were several specials, but from what I saw there was only 1 mid-boss, the Plagued Ogryn (which was super easy to deal with. it didn’t really do anything). Vermintide 2 had 4 mid-bosses at launch, so I’m hoping that Darktide will have at least that much available as well at launch.
Also, the enemies lacked the same level of personality Skaven had in Vermintide 2. Darktide’s enemies weren’t all that interesting nor funny, while the Skaven in VT2 were hilarious and every special/elite had their own distinctive personality. But Darktide’s enemies had none of that.
My concern with the enemies is that will there be more mid-bosses available in the full game.
Also, will the enemies remain as interesting and fun as Skaven did in VT2 even after 200+ hours of playtime. (could we possibly get orcs in the full game? that would be awesome) -
Exploration. The maps in Darktide are big and there are a lot room to explore them. But there’s really no point in doing that. Yes, there are some relics and grimoires that you can reach, if they are active, and their locations do change. But they’re always on generic locations, while in Vermintide 2 you had to look every nook and cranny in order to find tomes & grimoires. And that is what Darktide’s exploration is lacking. There’s just no point in it.
My concern with the exploration is that is this all there is to it in the final game? Just search those relics & grimoires from generic locations when the sub objective for them is active. -
In-game store and microtransactions. First of all, I don’t like them at all. In fact, I hate microtransaction to an extent that I almost quitted Vermintide 2 when they added MTXs to
that game. And I don’t like the idea of having them in Darktide either at all. I understand that they have to monetize the game somehow to keep the servers alive, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hate MTXs so much that it almost makes me not want to buy the game.
My concern with the MTXs is that will Fatshark remain fair to the players and provide decent looking cosmetics for free? Or will the only way to get the good stuff be by paying? And what will the pricing be like? Is Darktide going to be yet another game where cosmetics cost ~15-20€ each?
Again, I just don’t like the idea of having MTXs in the game, because companies usually put the good stuff behind a paywall, while those who don’t pay only get rags from in game. And Fatshark already did this in Vermintide 2.
Conclusion
I really do like the game and I hope that Fatshark will pull it off and make the perfect game that lives up to the legacy of Vermintide 2. But from what I’ve seen in the beta, I can’t help but feel worried. There’s so little time before the release, and so much for them to do.
And I feel like the maps/classes/weapons feel lackluster compared to the Vermintide 2.
Nevertheless, Darktide is probably my most anticipated games for this year, so I don’t want to see it failing. Granted, this is only a beta and this isn’t the full game. But I just can’t help but feel concerned about it, because in the recent years betas that modern gaming companies have provided to us usually represent the full game.
I’m hoping that Fatshark didn’t go to that same route and they’ll blow our minds with the full game.
TL:DR
I like the game, I really do, but right now its somewhat broken.
And it feels lackluster compared to Vermintide 2.
(and it will have frigging MTXs…)