Popular author Dan Abnett is known for penning stories in a variety of different properties, including Marvel, DC, Judge Dredd, and more. However, one of his biggest contributions has been to the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, with the author working on huge projects such as the Gaunt's Ghosts, Eisenhorn, and Ravenor series'.
Revealed by a new trailer over on developer Fatshark's channel, Abnett's latest contribution to the universe will move to a new format, with the author working on the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide video game. The announcement came alongside an array of new details regarding the squad-based shooter's narrative, with the novelist teasing it'll be a distinctly human story.
The clip – which clocks in at around three and a half minutes long – begins with Abnett revealing the core reasoning behind Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's focus on human characters rather than the various species present on Atoma Prime. According to the author, human characters are the "heart and soul" of the entire Warhammer 40,000 universe and the vulnerability they face when fighting the franchise's lineup of iconic creatures makes them ideal for a tense, horror-focused experience. The author also highlights how this has been a big theme in his writing and something he's loved to explore in prior projects, specifically noting his work on Gaunt's Ghosts, which focuses on human infantry.
Abnett then goes into more of the game's actual plot, discussing how the player will start Darktide as a prisoner that's eventually recruited by the Inquisition, a police force serving under the Imperium of Man. They'll need to embark upon missions for their new faction, gaining trust and unlocking new equipment as they battle against various threats lurking on Tertium's streets. According to Abnett, the entire game has been something very different for the author, claiming that although he's been writing about the franchise for nearly two decades, he's never been able to see his take on the world be fully explorable in the realm of a video game.
A more substantial interview can be found over on Steam, seeing Abnett talk about where new Warhammer fans should start if they intend to catch up on the series' lore and the major influences behind his newest dive into the IP. Although this will be the writer's first Warhammer game, it won't be his first project in the medium, with Abnett having worked on Alien Isolation and Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor in years prior. Darktide isn't the only Warhammer game on the horizon, with Total War: Warhammer 3 also slated to launch later this year and the recently announced Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood, & Teef coming in 2022.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is slated to launch later this year on PC and Xbox Series X.
Source: Steam