Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade vs Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is a strategy game from Relic Entertainment (2007) while Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide is an action-RPG FPS game from Fatshark (2015).
Quick answer: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade rates higher, 8.1 to 7.2 on the GamingPickz Score.
What each one is
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is filed under Strategy. In contrast, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide under Action-RPG and FPS.
Deep under the central desert of Kronus, a vast honeycomb of skull-lined tunnels and funeral chambers house the awakening Necron menace. Eons ago, these were the boulevards and squares of a great necropolis built to house the bones of the races who had fallen to the Necrons, and ultimately were where the Necrons themselves retire to...
Vermintide is an epic co-operative action combat adventure set in the End Times of the iconic Warhammer Fantasy world.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Setting After the Eldar on Lorn V break their alliance with the Imperial Guard during the events of Winter Assault , the Guard form a task force led by Colonel Lukas Aleksander to hunt their leader, Farseer Taldeer. The awakening of Necrons on the fringe planet of Kronus causes Taldeer to travel there with Aleksander in pursuit. The planet has been under the tenuous control of the Tau Empire for centuries, having wrested it from the Imperium of Mankind… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception The expansion was praised as an "excellent real-time strategy game", with its non-linear single-player campaign, stabilized multiplayer and additional features, and was selected by IGN and GameSpot as the best expansion pack of 2006. Most were quite surprised by the quality and size of the expansion, stating that the large amount of new content "[breathed] new life into the game". Critics cited the excellent balancing between races, saying it… (Wikipedia)
Plot
In the Imperial city of Ubersreik, an army of Skaven from Clan Fester stage a surprise attack and quickly overrun the city. Five heroes: Markus Kruber the Imperial soldier, Victor Saltzpyre the witch hunter, Bardin Goreksson the dwarf ranger, Sienna Fuegonasus the fire witch, and Kerillian the wood elf, are caught up in the attack and are forced to band together to survive the Skaven onslaught. They take shelter in an inn owned by Franz Lohner, who… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception PC Gamer played the game at PAX Prime 2015 and awarded it the "Best game of PAX", stating that "What's surprising about Vermintide, and absolutely central to its appeal, is how fresh it feels despite its deep similarities to Left 4 Dead . " Upon release, the game was met with positive responses. The game's co-operative nature received acclaim. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade | Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.2/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 9,527) | Very Positive (80%, 21,448) |
| Critic aggregate | 87/100 | 79/100 |
| Price | Not listed | $3.59 |
| Install size | — | 30 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2007 | 2015 |
| Developer | Relic Entertainment | Fatshark |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade vs Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeStrategy gameWarhammer: End Times - VermintideAction-RPG FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeStrategy, Warhammer 40K, RTSWarhammer: End Times - VermintideAction, Online Co-Op, Co-opThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade ✓Score 8.1 · 96% on Steam · 87 criticWarhammer: End Times - VermintideScore 7.2 · 80% on Steam · 79 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade9,527 reviewsWarhammer: End Times - Vermintide21,448 reviews · 15 add-ons · 30 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeNot listedWarhammer: End Times - Vermintide$3.59Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadePlayableWarhammer: End Times - VermintidePlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide (21,448 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
MultiplayerSingleplayerGames WorkshopGoreActionAtmosphericCo-opFantasy
Where they differ
StrategyWarhammer 40KRTSBase-BuildingSci-fiReal-Time
Online Co-OpDark FantasyFirst-PersonFPSHack and SlashAction RPG
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade | Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Core2 Quad Q9500 @ 2.83GHz |
| Minimum RAM | — | 6 GB |
| Install size | — | 30 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade · Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and 1 for Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide in scope?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade has drawn 9,527 Steam reviews. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide has drawn 21,448 Steam reviews, ships 15 add-ons and installs in 30 GB.
Is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade or Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade rates higher (8.1 to 7.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade or Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade or Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade rates higher, 8.1 to 7.2 on the GamingPickz Score. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.