Warhammer 40k: Darktide offers Left 4 Dead-style storytelling with 75,000 lines of dialogue already written

A group of Darktide undead run towards the player
(Image credit: Fatshark)

Warhammer 40K: Darktide will maintain the Left 4 Dead-inspired storytelling style its developer borrowed for the Vermintide games, with over 75,000 lines of dialogue already written. 

That comes from Edge, which spoke to Fatshark ahead of the game's big release later this year. The magazine confirms that Darktide employs the same storytelling system you get in Vermintide, which has its roots in Left 4 Dead. "We're doing an online action co-op game, so there are no traditional and great places to tell a story," game director Anders De Geer shares.

If you've been out of the loop, character chatter largely shapes the game's story during each mission. Conversation fleshes out one character's backstory and outlook on the world, develops one's relationship with another, and generally reflects what's happening with the story. 

While Darktide has plenty in common with Vermintide, the developers are taking things to the next level this time around. Darktide's dialogue, for example, is even more expansive and complicated, with 75,000 lines and counting already written. 

Some of the game's bigger design challenges, however, might surprise you. Edge explains that one of Darktide's four-player classes is eight feet high, making environmental design a pain for the developers. Fatshark mulled over a few ways they could accommodate the humble Ogryn, though the developer settled on doubling the height of doorways and adding extra space to room so they could pass through like the rest of us normal-sized folk. 

You read more about the development of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide in the latest issue of Edge, which is on sale now. 

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.

Read more
Different factions battling in Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC Omens of Destruction
"We don't want to rest on our laurels": I've spent over 2000 hours playing the Total War: Warhammer trilogy, and its latest DLC ties the bow on Warhammer 3's best year yet
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing a fully geared/armored diver standing with gun in hand as three jets soar the skies behind him
Helldivers 2 CEO says Warhammer 40k owners "would love a crossover," but "time and resources are finite and we have our hands busy"
Doom
Doom: The Dark Ages' new cutscenes exist because of fans' unlikely obsession with the series' lore: "A Doom game that doesn’t have a story is just an arcade game”
Space Marine 2 4K texture pack shots
After the success of Space Marine 2, the Warhammer people are "looking for the next one" as CEO says big successes in the franchise "are not a given"
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
"I was in that sound booth for over 500 hours": Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 actor says the RPG's 2.2 million word script made recording an absolute saga
A screenshot of Space Marine 2 showing a space marine fighting off hordes of Tyranids
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was the favorite shooter of the year, and it also made me fall even harder for my fiancé
Latest in FPS
A cropped screenshot from the pre-alpha gameplay footage shown in the 'Introducing Battlefield Labs' video.
Battlefield 6's first teaser takes me back to the days of Modern Warfare 2 lobbies and 24/7 Metro matches, proving we all crave a return to shooters' simpler times
Doom
Doom: The Dark Ages' new cutscenes exist because of fans' unlikely obsession with the series' lore: "A Doom game that doesn’t have a story is just an arcade game”
Battlefield Bad Company 2
"I am freaked out by how much might actually have been accurate": Battlefield Bad Company 3 writer unearths forgotten script
Fragpunk
Marvel Rivals publisher indefinitely delays its other hero shooter on Xbox and PS5 2 days before its free-to-play launch
One of the new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4
"Don’t gaslight me": Borderlands 4 CEO Randy Pitchford begs fans to be optimistic about the upcoming FPS, otherwise "we'll all pay the price"
thor looking into the camera with a steely stare
"Both Marvel Rivals and Overwatch are excellent superhero shooters" says the Chinese publisher behind both games as they make the move to China: "The market is large enough to accommodate both games"
Latest in News
Let's Build a Dungeon
"They will cancel their subscription and your investors will have your head": This management sim about making the perfect MMO is so detailed it lets you play your own game
Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette in Mickey 17
Although the Mickey 17 cast were at first baffled by the unique way Parasite director Bong Joon Ho works, now they want it no other way
Hollow Knight
Day 1,251: Hollow Knight's strongest soldier has been fighting the boss version of Silksong star Hornet every day for over 3 years, and watching them master the Metroidvania in real time is truly amazing
Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Monopoly movie from Margot Robbie's production company will be written by the Dungeons and Dragons movie directors
The two characters in Split Fiction dressed in fantasy gear each with a dragon on their back
2025's first standout GOTY contenders, Monster Hunter Wilds, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Split Fiction, are coming to GeForce Now
Lego Jurassic World baby dinosaur dolores
New baby Lego Jurassic World dino has not a single thought behind its eyes