Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium finally gets a release date, new details

After several years of waiting, Warhammer 40K fans have finally been graced with a release date for Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium by THQ. Unfortunately, that release date happens to be quite a long ways off.

THQ announced today that Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium is currently scheduled for release on March 13, 2013. Since its announcement back in 2010, THQ have been pretty quiet about the game. Aside from a few screenshots, a video or two and a race reveal, not much has been revealed about Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium.

Fortunately, there is some good news on that front – Strategy Informer managed to pick up a whole slew of new details about the game, a few of which you’ll be able to find directly below.

Game Design Notes:

* Relic is lending a very small hand in the overall development of dmo. Winking, a chinese based developer is also on board. They helped with Space Marine as well.
* Vigil is doing 90% of the work. Most of the shared work load is art, and animation.
* Spacemarine is built on the same engine as darksiders (and darksiders 2 respectively)
* Dmo is using the same engine, with gameplay (at least combat) akin to Spacemarine.
* Contrary to what I was told, the art style is NOT like Spacemarine, rather the whole game is more like darksiders (1 & 2), very stylized. The videos released at the last E3 are fairly accurate to the current state of the art style. Less realistic.
* Revision to what I was told by the rep, is that Spring 2012 is unlikely… maybe for more announcements on the game’s progress. Though a Darsiders 2 release in spring is likely, Vigil is working on both.

Gameplay related notes:

* A crashed space hulk will be one of the zones.
* Another zone will take place on an Imperial Cruiser, and Chaos Cruiser.
* Expect several instanced missions much like WoW, as well as open world.
* It will include instanced & open world pvp.
* Players will be able to dual weild things like pistols and melee weapons… yes that means two chain swords.
* The featured chapter is Black Templars. (As evidenced by the banner art)
* The featured chaos god is Khorne, at least for playable
* Word Bearers will also take a major role in the Playable chaos faction
* Nurgle & Fabius Bile will have a big Chaos NPC presence. (I suspect not Nurgle himself, but perhaps Typhus?)
* Possible shooter/RPG mode controls, like StarTrek Online.
* Third person action, plays like Gears of War/Space Marine mixed together for shooting.
Melee is more like Space Marine/Darksiders, with the target lock on.
Blocking melee attacks is a maybe, sheilds may be NPC only.
* NPC creatures vary from: Necromunda like humans, Chaos Cultists, Dark Eldar; from Grotesques to Warriors, Chaos Daemons and beasts, Orks, Grots, Guardsmen, defected Guardsmen, most of the minor Demons, Dreadnoughts, Tyranid Warriors, Genestealers and more.
* Forgeworld things may be present. Thunderhawk, terrain sets, Aquila landers, FW-esque equipment on vehicles.
* Environments range from snowy mountains, to the innards of a crashed space hulk… from cities destroyed, and orkified, to ancient eldar cities, overgrown with nids… from ancient battlefields, littered with the carcases of Titans and tanks, to a hive city, nostalgic with necromunda…. from the halls of Imperial Cruisers, to tge desecrated throne rooms of Chaos.
* Everything is large, beefy, and sticks to 40k very well. People already invested in the background and game will progress at a snails pace, as we will be distracted by everything.

For more notes on Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium, head over to Strategy Informer.