First, from a lore perspective, these trials don’t feel like missions to purge heresy — they come across more as a VR simulation. This significantly reduces players’ immersion.
Second, the scope and variety are severely lacking. Unlike Vermintide 2’s Chaos Wastes mode, which offers diverse maps and environments, the Trials take place in small, repetitive arenas with no visual or structural evolution.
Similarly, the BUFF system pales in comparison. In Chaos Wastes, players constantly battle to earn currency, upgrade and swap weapons, and acquire new blessings. It also features Challenge Chests that reward powerful, freely selectable buffs. In contrast, the Mortis Trials offer none of these mechanics, representing a major step backward in replayability and depth.
When placed alongside the Chaos Wastes mode, the Mortis Trials appear even more underdeveloped and unsatisfying.
Likewise, if the September 23rd update primarily focuses on the “Mortis Trials” as its main content, it would be extremely disappointing. Right from the outset, it falls short in terms of immersion.
Yeah having some narrative evolution would be cool. Instead we just hear babble on with NPCs mostly discovering they’re in heresy or being wooed by it. Like alright its just not that compelling. The ‘this is a simulation’ trope is pretty yawn inducing in a video game (already a simulation). I basically just want to see it used as an twist reveal (the game was a dream) and nothing else ever.
There’s no stakes, there’s nothing new and some loadouts just break the game out of the gate and then turn into autopilot mode where you murderfry the monster mash of bosses that dump in with like 50% more HP in seconds. Proving that man the gameplay needs some edge from the rejects not just massacreing small battalions by themselves every couple seconds.
The whole deal with Morbius Tingles lore as well is that I feel it’s a misunderstanding of what I (and what seems to be a lot of other players) want from Darktide’s story - we want it to be about us.
Us being a way too general term, of course, but I’ve always cared a lot more about Vermintide’s characters, not only because they have depth beyond being simple unevolving caricatures, but also because we play as the main characters in the story. It’s possible to make a plot where you satellite orbit the real hero, but that’s pretty hard to do.
Darktide’s plot revolves around the supporting cast we are given no reason to care about beyond we work for them.
As for the OP, yeah. CW really feels like going on an adventure and growing stronger throughout culminating in some epic finale, while Morsel Tiles is just horde mode made somehow lamer than usual.
I thought the Mortis Trials are somewhat about us as they are there to train us to become Mortis Operatives - whatever that is.
I like the Mode but it is very repetitive. Only two Maps which aren’t good and couple of Matches and you already got to see all the possible ‘Indulgences’ and was kinda boring when it didn’t even had Auric Difficulty at first, good for penances but also sucked when you had 1-2 just doing their own thing and away from rest of team so all the enemies were scattered across map too.
The concept of simulation is cool, but the way it’s implemented feels like a missed opportunity.
With the current execution, no matter what you improve on it, it will just feels like a lesser version of normal missions. Fatshark, you could throw random bulshit into it and get away from the lore reason. so why not go wild?
imagine Sefoni trolls us with
spinning dog
floating infected
missing texture environment
silent elites
demon host spawn on your feet
invisible battery
and said its for to prepare us for the real mission
I actually think the lore explanation is fine and actually quite cool - a dangerous training simulation for special forces (mortis operative) selection program.
I just wish the maps were either procedural or had events that properly forced players to move to different sections. I also wish the enemy density was much higher and there were more maps.
And once you have completed it on highest setting then you should get some new mortis operative swag/drip to show you’re a Mortis op. Badge, frame, title and an outfit etc. you passed the test so you should get the gear.
ironically the maps themselves would have been good as 1vs1 quake3 or unreal tournament playground.
so design wise they are well done, just in the wrong kind of game.
darktide lives from its atmosphere and atmosphere is made by the illusion of vast spaces, endless pits and sky high ceilings, making you question what fkking kind of foundation is carrying all this crap and how it keeps standing at all.
that’s the beauty of 40k for me, ludicrous environments that defy common sense (and eagle statues, lots of eagle statues )
anyways, from a players perspective it “could be so easy”
just add a few multi directional airlocks that give you new “choices” which next segment you’d pop out.
that in reality the engine rolls the dice which premade room segment you get to visit aint that bad of a tradeoff if you ask me.
like an actual fun version of space marine 2’s siege mode, letting you play as long as you are able to survive with ever rotating areas (and maybe a change of biome scenery every 5-10 airlocks)
This is what happens when you decide to hyper-invest in ‘Your Dudes’ for the players but then the entirety of your development direction, character dialogue writing, and general structure kneecaps that by having seemingly been written for actual characters rather than bland archetypes.
The supporting cast are the only characters FS can ‘control’ since they decided this was the story of random rejects (please ignore the Necromunda psyker, Cadian vet, Atoman enforcer psyker, Judge zealot, etc).
In all honesty they’d have been better served just giving up on the ‘your dudes’ angle and making regular characters. It’d certainly be better than the excuse of a plot we’ve gotten so far.
To be fair, I think the main issue here is because we can create the main characters. Because we can choose their background and personality and they’re supposed to feel like disposable characters that we can RP whatever we want… they have to be generic and boring enough like that. Just like bethesda games and the characters you play as.
I don’t care for the RP and would much rather set characters like from VT2. But I know other people here on the forums have expressed how much they like to RP and making a character… but then you can’t have stories like Bardins family or interesting character flaws and moments.
I think the supporting cast is doing the heavy lifting because the player isn’t customizing them.
The vast potential of virtual space is untapped. Yes, players get incredible and sometimes cool buffs that cannot be exist “in real life”. Do the same for enemies and terrain!
Let’s say a blackout occurs. Fog. Poisonous gas starts to appear, with changing safe zones (like in the battle with the twins). Fires start, leaving only one map fragment safe at the end of the wave.
The snipers shoots nets. The mutant throws players 10 times further. The Nurgle Beast splits into two weaker slugs with 50% health, and this happens five times. A plague ogryn with a weak point only in its head, the rest of its body is invulnerable. The bomber’s fire is green and inflicts corruption. Lots of things.
But in its current form, it quickly becomes monotonous. If the new update is about MT, I won’t be too excited about it since I rarely play this mode.
I hope we get playable named characters as option in chaos wastes mode.
Kind of like legendary hunters in Hunt Showdown. they did it just fine mixing in named characters with random characters.
Roguelite mode like Chaos Wastes seems like perfect place for this addition so we wont be seeing clones running around in the hub.
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