Warhammer: Vermintide 2 – Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Review

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Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Review by UnidesTristan

Score 8/10

Introduction

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the second in the series from Fatshark, the minds behind Krater and War of the Roses. Vermintide 2 is a melee focused co-operative game in the same vein as Left 4 Dead. Waves upon waves of man-sized rat people, hell-bent on your destruction, are upon you in an instant and you must work in teams of 4 through each stage, collecting artifacts called Grimoires, Tomes, and ravaged pieces of art that later appear in your hub castle, toward the exit. There are also daily, weekly, and event-based quests that can be completed, as well as challenges, to obtain loot chests for random gear rewards. There are four different difficulty levels to choose from (recruit, veteran, champion, and legendary), each dropping higher powered equipment.

Playable Characters

Players have the choice of 5 playable characters: 3 men and 2 women, each with 3 separate career paths which choose their skill. These heroes are Siena, the battle mage, Markus, the mercenary, Bardin, the ranger, Kerillian, the stalker, and Victor, the jack of all trades. Each character can choose from one career to start, but a new one becomes available when you hit level seven and again at level 12. Each characters’ level is independent, but you keep levels while switching careers within a character. This brings the playable character count to an attractive 15.

My personal preference was to play as Victor, the bounty hunter, controlling the battlefield while one-shotting mini bosses is gratifying and gratuitous, with limbs flying everywhere while my vision becomes clouded with black rat-blood. Monsters still flail around after they lose their heads and can be dismembered in many entertaining ways. They react to different area damage genuinely. If you shoot them in the shoulder, they will fall back a step and wince on that side. This makes the combat feel like your aim matters greatly.

Grading Impressions

Sound: 9

There are a lot of distinct sound layers here with consistent ambient sounds of the apocalypse. Each character has voice acting that can be controlled by the player with preset commands and responses. Different enemies make different sounds, and you can hear death coming by listening to auditory clues. This makes it easier to warn teammates about a Fire Rat or Pole Rat without having to spot them.

Graphics: 9

I play with high level graphics and have very few graphical stutters. The graphics are awesome. You can see the background battle scenes in great detail, and up-close things are beautiful. Fire and explosions look amazing as well, without being too over-emphasized. Guts hang out of enemies when you chop them up, and blood covers your vision as you start slaughtering.

Gameplay: 8

The four-player cooperative gameplay style is familiar and similar to other games of the same genre. This works well when everyone understands the goal, sticks together, shares potions, and communicates. I especially have fun when everyone has a microphone and we all use them. Even just chatting is fun while slaying troves of rat people.

Storyline: 4

I may be missing something because the storyline seems to be mostly poor, with the game offering one paragraph setups for why you are on a map. Perhaps this has something to do with not having to complete them in any particular order or maybe to speed things up for players, but there is no real narrative to speak of. If you go online and read the updates, you get a bunch of lore about the game that just doesn’t seem to be available in the game. This is really disappointing, because the Warhammer world is so diverse that they could have really fleshed out some cutscenes to watch on your own time or something to go with the story and make you feel like you really have some sense of belonging to the world.

Replay Value: 10

If you want to jump into a game really quickly without worrying about too much delay between battles, Vermintide can scratch that itch. Quick play options allow jumping in without selecting any options or stage or waiting for teammates. If you don’t want to wait for team members, you can always just start, and the game will auto-fill with bots to run the three other characters automatically. The variation in playable characters lets you choose which type of playstyle you would like to take up for a particular level and lets you change freely between levels. The only restriction is that only one of each character can be selected. You can’t have 4 Victors.

Conclusion

I really have enjoyed playing Warhammer: Vermintide 2, even if it lacks a suitable story. The variety of gameplay styles keeps it fresh. The sounds and visuals of the battlefield are visceral and fitting. Strong teamwork elements can have you making friends all hours of the night. Finally, you can get lost for hours playing with a great group of people who work well together. I highly recommend Vermintide 2 for any fans of the Left for Dead franchise or anyone looking for a gratuitously violent quick action slaughter-fest. 8/10

Pros

-Amazing sound and graphics
-Cooperative gameplay can be great
-Quick play and lobby setup for quick action
-Runs at high settings without much taxation on my system
-Makes you feel powerful as you mow through hordes of rats

Cons

-Hoards can pass through each other
-Falling behind when experienced players don’t wait causes death
-Most players I’ve encountered don’t use mic
-No story so-to-speak
-Sometimes, at lower levels, it seems the game is dead; no players are matched

Written by @UnidesTristan

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Good

  • Amazing sound and graphics
  • Cooperative gameplay can be great
  • Quick play and lobby setup for quick action
  • Runs at high settings without much taxation on my system
  • Makes you feel powerful as you mow through hordes of rats

Bad

  • Hoards can pass through each other
  • -Falling behind when experienced players don’t wait causes death
  • Most players I’ve encountered don’t use mic
  • No story so-to-speak
  • Sometimes, at lower levels, it seems the game is dead; no players are matched
8

Great

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