The Warhammer Skulls event is one that many fans of the hobby look forward to every year. From tabletop to novels, fans of the grimdark settings can find plenty of new models, content, and books to dive into. For fans of Warhammer's video games, often new trailers can be expected for the upcoming titles set in either the Warhammer 40:000 or Age of Sigmar universes. Warhammer 40K: Darktide is one of those games, and with a September release date set for Darktide, fans are receiving a lot more information on the game as that date approaches.
Recently, Darktide unveiled some new gameplay features and a new playable class via an interview with developer Fatshark. Now, much of that information has been shown off in a new cinematic story trailer that shows off more of the setting and narrative players will discover in Warhammer 40K: Darktide. Previously, there had been hints of the story uploaded via snippets to Fatshark's YouTube channel. However, now fans are being told plainly what has happened and why their characters are sent in to fight through endless hordes of enemies.
As many already knew through Fatshark's reveals, the players in Darktide will be teaming up to fight off a rapidly growing cult of the Chaos god Nurgle, known as the "Plague Lord" in Warhammer 40K lore. As can be expected of such a title, his servants will range from diseased "poxwalkers," which are the Warhammer version of zombies, to infected Ogryns wielding massive melee weapons and shields. Both of these enemy types are shown off in the trailer. In newly released screenshots, too, there appears to be some kind of explosive enemy that will blow itself up when in close proximity to the player.
Something else confirmed in the trailer is that the playable classes in Darktide will not be linked to unique characters like in Vermintide and Vermintide 2. For some, this is concerning because it may lead to less banter among the party as they fight off the Chaos invasion. It seems that the diversity in the characters will come from their appearances and voice lines, as each of the characters in the new trailer can be customized. Each of them will be newly initiated by the Inquisition and will likely be from the Hive City that is under Nurgle's invasion.
From the story trailer, it seems that Fatshark are deeply knowledgeable about Warhammer 40K. However, Darktide's story is not being entirely written by Fatshark, and Dan Abnett, a renowned Warhammer author, has joined the team to help develop the story, meaning that it is unlikely to have lore inconsistencies or feel out of place in the grim darkness of the far future.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide releases on September 13, 2022, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.