Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is one of the best co-op games around, and developer Fatshark has taken its fast-paced, frantic gameplay into the grim darkness of the far future with Warhammer 40,000: Darktide! Both games let you and your friends battle your way through hundreds of enemies on perilous missions.
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Both games are worth playing, but if you can only pick one, which is the right fit for you? We've weighed the pros and cons of both titles to help you choose. Ready your longbow or your bolter, and get ready to do battle with the forces of Chaos!
7 Darktide Allows Character Customization
Vermintide follows the exploits of a set band of heroes. While Markus, Kerillian, and the rest are certainly a charming group of hardbitten miscreants, the game's story is about them, while the player is along for the ride.
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In Darktide, you get to create a new character from the ground up. Not only can you modify their look, but you also get to choose key elements of their backstory like their homeworld and the crimes they committed that landed them on an Inquisitorial brig. The story is a bit more generic to compensate for this, but at the end of the day it's your story.
The personality you choose for your Operative during character creation will change their voice lines in-game, allowing for unique banter with every team!
6 Vermintide Has More Gameplay Options
This may change as Darktide continues to grow, but since Vermintide 2 is a few years older it's had more development. This translates to more missions, classes, and character options.
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While Darktide only has four playable classes at present, Vermintide offers three to four classes for each playable character. Best of all, you don't have to create a new character in Vermintide to try a new class - you can just switch to any of the classes you've unlocked!
5 Progression Is Easier In Darktide
Having fewer playable classes does offer some advantages, especially where simplicity is concerned. In Vermintide, you might find gear that's great for a different class than the one you're playing, forcing you to either switch careers or abandon a good drop. Darktide fixes this problem by giving players more control over the equipment they get.
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Most of the equipment in Darktide is purchased from the vendors in the game's hub, and you'll only ever see inventory tailored to your current character. Once you've settled on a build, it's just a matter of keeping an eye out for better versions of your gear and consistently crafting for the right perks!
4 Vermintide Allows Single-Player
Multiplayer isn't for everyone. If you just want to smite evil on your own after a hard day, then Vermintide is the only choice of the two games. It allows you to start missions with bot teammates - they might not be as skilled as humans, but they get the job done.
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Darktide only allows bots if a player drops, and replaces them with human players as soon as one is available via quickplay. This is great for players who would otherwise have trouble finding a team, but players who want to go it alone are out of luck.
3 Darktide Has Shotguns
Both Vermintide and Darktide have some of the best first-person melee combat you'll ever play. It's intuitive and satisfying, but at the end of the day first-person games live and die by ranged combat. In that regard, there's no comparison - Darktide is the clear winner.
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Vermintide's bows and spells offer plenty of options for fighting Chaos from a distance, but they can't compete with Darktide's array of bolters, lasguns, and, yes, shotguns. Shooting feels just as good as melee in Darktide, if not better, and those guns are a necessity against larger bosses like the Beast of Nurgle and the dreaded Daemonhost.
2 Medieval Or Futuristic?
Ultimately, the biggest factor in choosing a game to play comes down to the oldest question in fandom; fantasy or sci-fi?
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If swords, elves, and magic runes are your thing, then Vermintide provides a grimy, rat-infested world to get lost in. If you'd rather travel to the far reaches of space, then Darktide provides one of the most immersive portrayals of the 40k universe ever made!
1 Join Your Friends
If you're lucky enough to have a dedicated gaming group looking for new challenges, discuss among yourselves which game you'd prefer. Take a vote, and then enjoy leveling up and getting gear in the game that wins. These are the kinds of games that are best with friends.
If you're looking for a group to join for regular raids, both games have active communities. Darktide may be the new hotness, but Vermintide is still going strong; it was recently offered for free, and saw millions of new players join up!
Whether you're battling alongside old friends or making new ones forged in the fires of battle, both Vermintide and Darktide will provide hours of bloody fun. Whichever game you choose, it will be a blast!
Next: The Best Co-Op Games On Steam
