Warhammer 40k Darktide Imperial Edition Review (PlayStation 5)

Rating: 9.2
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · Published December 1, 2024 · Updated November 29, 2024

Warhammer 40k Darktide Imperial Edition Review, Take back the city of Tertium from hordes of bloodthirsty foes in this intense and brutal action shooter. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is the new co-op-focused experience from the award-winning team behind the Vermintide series. In the depths of the hive, the seeds of corruption threaten to turn into an overwhelming tide of darkness. A mysterious and sinister new force is seeking to take control of the entire city. It is up to you and your allies in the Inquisition to root out the enemy before the city succumbs to Chaos.

Warhammer 40k Darktide Imperial Edition Review Pros:

Gorgeous graphics.
57.52GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Officially licensed.
First-person shooter/melee gameplay.
Opening Prologue that has tutorial pop-ups and they will appear in later gameplay if needed.
Cross-play support that can be turned on and off at will.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – Imperial Edition and get:
- Loyalist Pack: Purge heresy in style with these 4 unique class outfits, 8 weapon skin patterns, one set of headgear as well as an Ogryn body tattoo.
- Mortis Veteran Portrait Frame: A cosmetic portrait frame used to pay tribute to the fallen defenders of Tertium Hive.
- Caducades Backpack: A cosmetic backpack for human characters.
- Official Soundtrack.
- 2500 Aquilas (premium currency).

You can skip all the opening splash screens.
Graphics settings – Performance or quality mode, brightness slider, fibbing, blood decals, enemy wounds, ragdoll interaction, and field of view slider.
Seven controller presets including one for Vermintide 2 controls.
The performance is some of the best with its loading times and attention to detail.
Gameplay settings – center of screen dot, and input hints.
Subtitles options – subtitles, speaker indicator, letterbox opacity, text opacity, and text size.
Accessibility settings – Hud scale slider, camera sway intensity slider, and Peril FX intensity slider.
Other settings – profanity on/off, show crafting pickup notifications, and enable portrait rendering.
Four operatives – veteran sharpshooter, Zealot preacher, Psyker Psykinetic, and Orgyn Skull Breaker. You can view info on each of them before deciding.
Loadout – primary weapon, secondary weapon, and up to three curios.
Cosmetics – head, upper body, lower body, accessory, frame, and insignia.
Impressive on-screen enemy count.
Create your character by choosing operative, the home world (Crucis/Messelina Gloriana/Rocyria/Branx Magna/Incron/Cadia/Mornax/Pavane), childhood (Agri – Toiler/Militia Lackey/Grox Prodder/Algae Farmer), Growing up (escaped to the wastes/isolated/self-reliance/forged by toil/grinding toil/outcast/visions), defining moment (spell of madness/declared a witch/the black ships/mutant incident/psychic awakening/captured/the voices), and appearance.
You can have four operatives saved.
Movement settings – hold to crouch, hold to sprint, stationary dodge, dodge on diagonal forward, and always dodge.
Open hub social area and is played in 3rd person. You see other real-world players and have access to many vendors and mission-givers.
The lighting work is top-tier.
Penance is basically the game’s own in-game achievements and can give rewards.
Character cosmetics – head, upper body, lower body, accessories, frame, and insignia.
Takes a lot of the gameplay from Vermintide or Left for Dead if you prefer.
The Hud is easy to read and a stamina bar will appear with numbers to show how you are using it.
Mission selection shows the difficulty, mission, and what order you play them in to unlock more.
Quick play option.
Cool mission loading screen for missions where you see all the players waiting.
In-game cutscenes and character interactions.
The Psykhanium is where you can do basic and additional training in the hub.
Amazingly detailed locations.
I really do like how you can upgrade each individual weapon.
Fast loading times.
Includes all the latest updates.
Earn trust (EXP) and level up your trust, you then get a talent point to put into your massive talent tree and can freely swap them out anytime. You also get access to new mechanics and scenarios as you level up.
The mission select terminal has quick play (complete with bonuses) and all unlocked levels can be selected and each has different difficulties that affect rewards.
You can play levels in any order.
Mastery levels are where every time you level up a weapon you get a point where you can then add a buff or upgrade to that weapon and add to its mastery level.
Each level has primary and secondary objectives.
All new endgame content with the latest Grim Protocol update for the game.
Mission terminal settings – matchmaking server location and private game on/off.
You can do private games if you have a full-strike team of four.
Earn credits to buy equipment at the armory exchange.
All new areas and missions added since the first release.
The game and level design really does rely a fair bit on cover-based shooting, you have a handy slide button to get behind the cover.
Each gun and ranged weapon feels unique and always offers aim-down sights.
Excellent voice work.
Such a satisfying gameplay loop.
For players that may struggle with first-person shooters, you do get a fair amount of customisation to make the experience more pleasant, the field of view slider and camera sway go a long way.
The rag-dolling and explosions of enemies look so good.
All gear and rewards are doled out at the end of a mission.
You can edit the appearance of weapons.
Full editable emote wheel.
Selecting quick play in the map (join any game) will give you a bonus exp reward.
You can heal and revive each other when on a mission.
very addictive.
You can have multiple operatives saved.
A button to have You examining your gun.
Toughness is like your shield that absorbs damage before your health goes down, you can rebuild your toughness by killing enemies with melee or by being near teammates.
A full 3D game world with 360-degree camera control.
The idea is that you replay levels to get better loot and go up the difficulties.
A lot more fun with friends but it is totally playable in solo with randoms.
I really like how the first time round you get in-depth cutscenes for interacting with vendors the first time.
It definitely feels like a more connected and alive game world.
The armory exchange lets you buy guns, items, and weapons. Again it gets better loot as you level up and has a handy compare button.
You can tag and ping ammo, health stations, etc, and hit the I need that button.
The cutscenes are movie-worthy in both content and production values.
You get a five-minute warning that your controller will disconnect if you leave it idle long enough. Random thing but I found out thanks to life.
Private game option.
The end-of-mission pop-ups of progress are really satisfying.
Running game feed showing who kills the named enemies or who revives another.
The game really comes to life when you get a crew who all work together.
Commodores Veatires is a real money currency shop bundle.

Warhammer 40k Darktide Imperial Edition Review Cons:

Cannot play the game without having a Playstation Plus subscription, the game will just give an error message and send you back to the menu every time telling you it’s not possible to play.
Broken code lines with the code showing instead of text.
You play the game in first person and the hub is third person there is no mixing it up.
For me they still haven’t made the first play of a level easier or more accessible, it always feels like you need a shepherd to show you what to do,and the game is still bad at signposting.
When down but not out you can’t move.
Doesn’t have cross-save/progress.
When playing with randoms it feels like a racing game as everyone always tries to rush through as fast as possible which is fine once you learn the level but starting out it’s not a great experience.
If you played a lot of Vermintide then you may feel like you’re playing that game again but with modern weapons.
In-app purchases for real money purchases of bundles.
The tagging and pinging system is very basic and kind of clunky in its execution.
The game doesn’t offer any cross-save function.
You cannot skip the prologue which is really only a problem for gamers coming over from other versions.
At random times the screen wouldn’t keep its resolution.
Matchmaking times are sporadic.
Constant difficulty spikes.
Never sure when it saves.
You cannot play solo offline with or without bots.
Online play is forced on you.
So much to take in and you never feel in the know.
Early on it’s a bit bad that everyone looks the same.

Warhammer 40k Darktide Imperial Edition:

Official website.

Developer: Fatshark

Publisher: Fatshark

Store Links –

PlayStation

9/10

Graphics - 9/10
9/10

Sound - 9/10
9/10

Accessibility - 9/10
9/10

Length - 9/10
10/10

Fun Factor - 10/10

9.2/10

Summary

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – Imperial Edition impresses with its gorgeous graphics and a hefty 57.52GB download size. The game offers a Platinum trophy and is officially licensed, featuring first-person shooter and melee gameplay. The opening prologue includes tutorial pop-ups that can appear later if needed. Cross-play support can be toggled on and off at will. The Imperial Edition includes the Loyalist Pack with unique class outfits, weapon skin patterns, headgear, an Ogryn body tattoo, a Mortis Veteran Portrait Frame, a Caducades Backpack, the official soundtrack, and 2500 Aquilas (premium currency). Players can skip all opening splash screens and adjust various graphics settings, including performance or quality mode, brightness, fibbing, blood decals, enemy wounds, ragdoll interaction, and field of view slider. The game offers seven controller presets, including one for Vermintide 2 controls, and boasts excellent performance with fast loading times and attention to detail.

The gameplay settings include a center-of-screen dot and input hints, while subtitle options cover subtitles, speaker indicators, letterbox opacity, text opacity, and text size. Accessibility settings feature a HUD scale slider, camera sway intensity slider, and Peril FX intensity slider. Other settings include profanity on/off, crafting pickup notifications, and portrait rendering. Players can choose from four operatives: veteran sharpshooter, Zealot preacher, Psyker Psykinetic, and Orgyn Skull Breaker, with detailed information available before making a decision. The loadout system allows for primary and secondary weapons and up to three curios, while cosmetics options cover the head, upper body, lower body, accessories, frame, and insignia. The game features an impressive on-screen enemy count and detailed character creation options, including operative, home world, childhood, growing up, defining moment, and appearance. Players can save up to four operatives and adjust movement settings such as hold to crouch, hold to sprint, stationary dodge, dodge on diagonal forward, and always dodge.

The open hub social area is played in third person, where players can interact with real-world players and access various vendors and mission-givers. The lighting work is top-tier, and the Penance system offers in-game achievements with rewards. The HUD is easy to read, and the stamina bar shows usage with numbers. Mission selection displays difficulty, mission, and order to unlock more, with a quick play option available. The game includes in-game cutscenes and character interactions, and the Psykhanium offers basic and additional training in the hub. Locations are amazingly detailed, and players can upgrade individual weapons. Fast loading times and the latest updates are included. Players earn trust (EXP) and level up, gaining talent points to invest in a massive talent tree, with new mechanics and scenarios unlocked as they progress. The mission select terminal offers quick play with bonuses and selectable levels with varying difficulties affecting rewards. Mastery levels allow players to upgrade weapons with buffs, and each level has primary and secondary objectives. The latest Grim Protocol update adds new endgame content, areas, and missions.

The game relies on cover-based shooting with a handy slide button for cover. Each gun and ranged weapon feels unique, offering aim-down sights. The voice work is excellent, and the gameplay loop is satisfying. Customization options make the experience pleasant for players struggling with first-person shooters, with field of view slider and camera sway adjustments. The rag-dolling and explosions of enemies are visually impressive. Gear and rewards are distributed at the end of missions, and players can edit weapon appearances and use a full editable emote wheel. Selecting quick play on the map provides a bonus EXP reward. Players can heal and revive each other during missions, and the game is very addictive. Multiple operatives can be saved, and a button allows players to examine their guns. Toughness acts as a shield, absorbing damage before health decreases, and can be rebuilt by killing enemies with melee or being near teammates. The game features a full 3D world with 360-degree camera control, encouraging replaying levels for better loot and higher difficulties. It’s more fun with friends but playable solo with randoms. The first-time interactions with vendors include in-depth cutscenes, making the game world feel more connected and alive. The armory exchange allows players to buy guns, items, and weapons, with better loot available as they level up and a handy compare button. Players can tag and ping ammo, health stations, and more, with a button for requesting items. The cutscenes are movie-worthy in both content and production values. A five-minute warning alerts players if their controller will disconnect due to inactivity. The private game option is available, and end-of-mission progress pop-ups are satisfying. A running game feed shows who kills named enemies or revives others, and the game shines when a crew works together. Commodores Veatires is a real money currency shop bundle.

However, the game cannot be played without a PlayStation Plus subscription, resulting in an error message and returning to the menu. Broken code lines occasionally appear instead of text. The game is played in first person, while the hub is third person, with no mixing. The first play of a level can be challenging without guidance, and the game lacks clear signposting. When down but not out, players cannot move. The game does not support cross-save/progress. Playing with randoms can feel like a race, with players rushing through levels, which is not ideal for beginners. The game may feel repetitive for Vermintide players, with modern weapons being the main difference. In-app purchases for real money bundles are available. The tagging and pinging system is basic and clunky. The game lacks a cross-save function and does not allow skipping the prologue, which can be an issue for players switching versions. Screen resolution issues and sporadic matchmaking times can be frustrating. Difficulty spikes are constant, and it’s unclear when the game saves. Solo offline play is not possible, and online play is mandatory. The game can be overwhelming with so much to take in, and early on, all characters look the same.

In summary, “Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – Imperial Edition” offers stunning graphics, a rich and detailed game world, and a satisfying gameplay loop with extensive customization options. The game excels in performance, voice work, and visual effects, making it an engaging experience for players. However, it has some drawbacks, including the need for a PlayStation Plus subscription, lack of cross-save functionality, and occasional technical issues. Despite these flaws, the game provides a compelling and immersive experience, especially when played with friends.