Bit of a mixed bag where Darktide is at from the closed beta imho.
CPU: i5 7500
MB: H270 PC MATE
32GB RAM DDR4
GeForce RTX 3060TI 8 GB
Good:
It seems to crash less than the beta (which was very frequent for me), the hub is more stable, and I don’t lose connections nearly as often during games.
When it runs well, it can be quite fun.
The heavy laspistol is a much better psyker starting weapon, along with the push ability.
The psyker class itself’s UI for warp management is a huge improvement over the first version.
The boss battles are pretty good. Challenging, but not overwhelming most times.
But…
Bad:
It still crashes enough times at some of the most aggravating moments (like right as you finish a mission and the elevator doors are closing to end the map) that about 25% of my play throughs get lost. Combined with the relatively slow progression and 20-25 min a map, and that’s kinda tough to tolerate in a game that’s supposed to be launching as stable in a couple of weeks. There’s not a real pattern either. It’ll crash on elevator doors opening, or running to the end and switching weapons, hitting an elite with an axe during a non horde moment…the only real pattern to what seems to cause it is that it’s frequently near the end of a map.
DLSS: There is no setting I can use that produces anything higher than 35 fps, and frequently dips into the 20’s with anything other than standing still at HD. 2k, forget it.
Non DLSS: I can get 50-60 FPS at HD with Medium settings, but it really struggles once hordes start spawning, dipping into 20’s again once a flamer or bomber starts throwing things. My CPU is a bit older, I get it, I’ve already followed the directions about the CPU bottle neck in the dev’s thread and it hasn’t made any appreciable difference. Relative to the closed beta, this now seems somehow slower and less reliable in the graphics engine department.
Ammo: For a more ranged focus game, it is ridiculously easy to burn through ammo, even on sedition. Even with upgraded weapons that do more damage, and landing headshots, anything other than the lasrifle feels like you’re shooting spitwads. The autogun has so little ammo, such high recoil, that it feels very useless as an accurate long ranged weapon, and both the autopistol and laspistols work substantially better as mid to close range weapons.
If the psyker is intended to be an elite killer vs mob clearer, their head burst ability’s targeting system has got to make it easier to pick elites out of a mob. It always seems to prefer the trash around it unless you’re extremely lucky. Dating myself here, but I always felt that Kerillian’s VT1 trueflight bow targeting system was fantastic at balancing picking an elite or special out vs targeting a trash rat.
I’m a huge fan of both vermintides, and it’s really hard to not compare the level of polish on games that have been around for a while now to darktide and wonder if this is going to get there anytime soon. I wouldn’t call this “stable” yet either, and I have no intention of of heavily investing time to advance in a game that crashes late into missions 20-25 minutes long, 25% of the time. Looking at Vermintide 2 running at the high end settings with a comfortable 80+ FPS in DX12, it’s hard to not get a bit frustrated at overall graphics performance. I’d have more feedback on the gameplay itself but I’m going to have to decline for a bit and hope some additional fixes get put in to the game over the next few days before it officially launches.
Despite the disappointment reflected above, I still have a lot of hope for Darktide.