Trailers for Warhammer 40k Darktide, the hack and slash Vermintide spinoff set in the world of Warhammer 40k, are coming thick and fast. Just one week after the ‘Rejects will Rise’ trailer gave us a glimpse at the Zealot, Psyker, Ogryn and Veteran player characters who form the game’s unlikely band of misfits, developer Fatshark released another trailer on June 9. In this trailer, released during Summer Game Fest, we’ve been treated to an extended look at Darktide’s gameplay.
The new Warhammer 40k Darktide gameplay trailer gives us far more to chew on than the one that came out back in 2020. This one appears to walk us through a single mission, to repair what the London-accented sergeant giving the brief calls “a bit of heretic sabotage”. We therefore get a better understanding of how levels will fit together, with lifts, huge vault doors and moody corridors connecting larger, arena-like chambers.
Of course, as in most Warhammer 40k games, there’s lots of killing to do on the way, and the Warhammer 40k Darktide trailer has plenty of action to enjoy. As you might expect from the Vermintide devs, melee combat looks satisfying, and there’s plenty of it, with chainswords, thunder hammers, and a stabby, stabby knife all making short work of foes. There seems to be a good swathe of ranged weapons in the game too, with lasguns, ripper guns, and shotguns all making an appearance.
The trailer also showcases a fair few hero abilities. For instance, the Psyker can use their powers to block blows, blast hordes, and pop heads, while the Ogryn can charge right through swarms of baddies. At one point a character pulls out a ‘Data-Interrogator’ hacking device that seems to be a Servo skull on mechanical legs – though this one looks more like a scripted moment than an activated ability.
The Chaos forces the heroes are tearing through appear to be the same mixture of spikey-armoured cultists and shambling Poxwalkers we’ve seen before in past trailers, as well as a Plague Ogryn that makes a roaring appearance at the end. Lots of Nurgle, in other words.
One thing to note is that the original gameplay trailer made a bigger deal of traitorous Imperial Guard foes, who were armed with ranged weapons. These do seem to show up in here at around the 50-second mark, but it’s a fleeting, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse. It seems like melee enemies are overwhelmingly the order of the day.
Warhammer 40k Darktide is due to release in September 2022. It’s had a bit of a bumpy road to launch. Originally expected in July 2021, it was first pushed back to March of this year, and then delayed another six months. Check out our Warhammer 40k Darktide release date guide for more info on the game.