Should Darktide Focus on Enemies Other Than Chaos?

There has always been an argument around Games Workshop and their singular focus on the Imperium and Chaos. This is by no means a bad choice; after all, they are the two factions that people may be able to connect the best with. This focus is on full display in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, with the players taking control of the soldiers of the Emperor while fighting against the hordes of Chaos. However, there are so many other factions that could be enemies in the game and would offer very different opponents for any inquisitorial squad.

The first faction I would consider the next best addition would be the Genestealer cults, and this isn’t much of a jump from the current foes. For those who don’t know, the cults essentially worship the Tyranid species and work to bring their alien overlords to their planet. To help them in this act, they interbreed with Tyranid Genestealers and produce several variations of mixed human and alien warriors. They could be an interesting foe that focuses on ambushing players during other missions and unleashing aliens upon them with Hybrids and Abberants. However, their play style may be too similar to the current crop of heretics.

Speaking of Xenos, there’s one faction that needs no reason to join in a good fight and would happily do so. This faction is, of course, the big green menace known as the Orks. The Greenskins of 40K are truly chaotic; they fight simply because they enjoy fighting and can piece together massive, noisy, and random weapons to fight. The Orks could bring forth diminutive grots, tiny goblin-like creatures that exist to die. Their main force would be comprised of Boyz, hulking slabs of muscle that can ignore most wounds, and Nobz, who are even bigger. Orks would offer a more chaotic foe (ironically) who would swamp the players in a horde of fire, explosions and weird Waaaagh magic.

Finally, there is one other faction that would be an interesting addition, the Drukhari. These dark Eldar are essentially evil, elvish space pirates that focus on capturing their foes to take them home for…something not very pleasant. They are masters of hitting fast and hard while also having soldiers comprised of flesh-sculpted prisoners. They could have Kabalites and Wyches engage the players as wracks and the flying scourges attack from the darkness. Their wealth of dark technology and their stunning artistic design would offer a welcome respite from the same old designs we see in the Chaos armies after a few playthroughs.

These are just a few options, but all three offer something that games like Darktide desperately need: variety. The problem is that four-person co-op shooters focus on using set maps and enemies, which can slowly become tedious over time. Now, I love Darktide, but I have certainly felt the drain recently, and it is the same feeling I had during Vermintide. However, Vermintide had two potential enemy options, which helped extend the game's life. Imagine if Darktide brought forth a wealth of different opponents for players to engage with. Maybe in one mission, you are sent to deal with a chaotic sorcerer, but then you are ambushed by the Genestealer cults. Maybe you are sent to fight a horde of Orks to stop them from destroying a reactor, only to find them locked in combat with a Drukhari raiding party. The options are endless, and they could even work as DLC.

I started this piece by talking about my annoyance at Games Workshop’s general tunnel vision. I know why they do it, but they need to consider moving on to the other groups. This doesn’t mean having games with other races as the lead (I remember Fire Warrior; that game had issues with more than just its focus), but the universe of 40K has so much to offer. There are some rumours that the Genestealer Cults may make an appearance, so maybe we will see something exciting soon. For the time being, however, we can only wait and see what Fatshark and Darktide have in store for fans.