Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Review - A FPS Survival Co-op Like No Other

very good
key review info
  • Game: Warhammer: Vermintide 2
  • Platform: PC
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  • Gamepad support: Yes  
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Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is not something that you can describe when your friends are asking about it. And this is good news because the second iteration of Vermintide is a fresh take on a very stale genre.

I'm starting to think that Games Workshop gives a license to build something in the Warhammer universe to pretty much anyone. Someone comes in and wants to create a real-time strategy; they say sure, go right ahead. Another wants to make a turn-based strategy on a ship in space. Sure, why not? is the usual answer. It doesn’t matter if it’s Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000.

The guy bringing the pizza sees all the commotion at the Games Workshop headquarters and figures out that there are no restaurant simulators in the Warhammer universe, and he goes for it. I’m not sure about the last one, but I would love to see a list of the rejected projects. It can’t be too long.

A fighting pit. You know what's going to happen
A fighting pit. You know what's going to happen

The result is a particular feeling in the community that there are simply too many games with the Warhammer name, and they are diluting the entire experience. It also means that many of those games are bad, and it can make people think that anything that comes out with the Games Workshop stamp has a good chance of being poorly designed.

So, what the prognosis doc?

When a game such as Warhammer: Vermintide 2 comes out (and that applies to the first one as well), it can get lost among other ones that haven’t been all that well received. Even if the developers used the Warhammer universe properly, not everyone would be willing to take the risk.

Fortunately, Fatshark managed to find the right balance between what they wanted to make and what the people wanted to play. And, to be fair, using Warhammer as a platform for a Left 4 Dead-type game is not something that the community wanted in the first place, but instantly decided they like the moment they played it.

Suddenly, doves!
Suddenly, doves!

It turns out that people actually want to fight endless hordes of rat-like creatures in a co-op experience. Sure, the first game in the series was considered to be innovative, but it also lacked proper balance, at least in the beginning. Things got better along the way, but it was clear that a second attempt would have been much better.

Story and gameplay

If you’re playing Warhammer: Vermintide 2 for the story you’re making a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, it has one and it’s pretty interesting, although don’t expect the plot to be entirely original. Let’s not forget that we didn’t play Left 4 Dead for the story either.

I keep mentioning Left 4 Dead because this is the most direct comparison that can be made. I have to admit that Vermintide 2 is more complex, and it offers a kind of variety that is missing from Valve’s games.

We have to keep in mind that the game is based on the Warhammer fantasy universe and not Warhammer 40,000. Even if Games Workshop seems to be handing out the license to everyone, they do keep the story going, for whoever is interesting, linking products such as the regular table-top with the latest PC games.

It’s also important to mention that Fatshark has a team from Games Workshop working with Fatshark, so you know that it’s going to stick to canon if you really care about it. On the other hand, if you only want to slaughter wave upon waves of enemies and get some loot, you can do that without knowing anything about the story.

Too many enemies!
Too many enemies!

I’m not going to pretend that I’m up to date with the story, but I can tell you that even if you don’t know anything about the characters and the story, it will offer a bit of context. Basically, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 resumes after the end of the first title, with the main heroes captured and imprisoned.

If you play the short prologue, that has something like 20 minutes of gameplay that acts as a tutorial, you’ll know that Markus Kruber, one of the heroes, escapes. He witnesses a ceremony for the opening of the Skittergate portal, which can bring the Rotblood army and the Chaos Champion Bödvarr Ribspreader. The setting for the time period is the End Times, which seems to fit all too well.

Following the short prologue, players will be able to choose one of the five heroes, which have various powers and skills. They share only one thing, and that is the use of a main melee weapon and a ranged weapon.

They are very different, which means that a proper party will need to cooperate in order to survive. And the one thing you will notice immediately is that surviving is really difficult, especially with large swarms of enemies.

Headshot!
Headshot!

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an FPS, and the initial experience with the character leads you to believe that you’re going to be playing in an orderly fashion, with enough time to block and counter the enemy's moves. When you’re surrounded by a dozen of enemies from the Skaven clan, all the strategy goes out the window.

I’m not saying that you can’t be methodical and careful with your strikes and strategy, but it’s not as simple as you would imagine. If anything, the learning curve for the game is a little bit too steep, even if you’re not a beginner. And I have to repeat this. The co-op part is not just for show. You’ll have to work with other people to survive and be triumphant.

Items and loot boxes

One of the main differences from Left 4 Dead is the loot system that allows characters to become progressively better and more powerful. Yes, they are using loot boxes, but it’s not what you think.

In Vermintide 2, the economy is a closed system, which means that loot boxes are only awarded based on merit. Get better and access higher level tiers. The closest comparison would be Diablo 3, although the item system is not nearly as complex.

Loot boxes done right
Loot boxes done right

We also have to mention that the inventory system seems to be perfect for an RPG, allowing users to craft and to disassemble items. It’s great, especially for people that want a little more depth. If you don’t want that kind of experience, you can just use the inventory to equip new items, and it should be more than enough.

It’s safe to say that it’s a loot-driven game, but in a way that doesn’t affect the balance of the game. Simply put, you have to be good to advance through the levels, and there are no compromises. And you need to cooperate if I didn’t make myself clear already.

Graphics and sound

The visuals in Vermintide 2 are striking, to say the least. It’s a gorgeous game, and the attention to details is second to none. You probably think that it's using Unreal or some other known engine, but you would be wrong. It’s actually using the Autodesk Stingray Engine, and you don't hear that often.

Unfortunately, the Autodesk Stingray Engine is being discontinued, so it’s likely that a third game in the series will have to use something else. That’s a shame since it was well optimized for the PC and it worked flawlessly even on a relatively older Intel i5 with an Nvidia 970 GTX.

All levels are gorgeous
All levels are gorgeous

As for the music, it was composed by none other than Jesper Kid. The name might sound familiar because he worked on Hitman, Borderlands, Darksiders, and many other projects.


The Good

  • Interesting gameplay mechanic
  • A large number of items and weapons with a really good inventory
  • Loot boxes earned with skill and nothing more

The Bad

  • A steep learning curve
  • Sometimes there are too many enemies
  • Not enough healing potions available

Conclusion

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 took me by surprise because I didn’t think that the recipe used in the first game could be improved in any significant way. I was wrong. Fatshark managed to add a lot of depth to the survival genre, in a way that transformed it and made it their own.

What I didn’t like was the brutal difficulty, especially for people who were just getting the hang of it. The prologue is easy and seems to set the tone, but the actual levels are much, much more difficult, especially when there are a lot of enemies. The animations are no longer smooth, their hits are impossible to predict or to parry, and most of the time you die overwhelmed.

The fact that the long-range weapon is more or less useless, and it either fires lots of projectiles with little to no damage or fires a powerful shot and takes an eternity to reload, is not helpful. Players have to cooperate perfectly and to get a little bit lucky, especially for the first few levels.

In the end, if you fancy going for better loot, fight more powerful enemies, and unlock all kinds of cool items, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 seems like a dream come true. Even with the bugs and the slightly unbalanced system, it’s a game that still tricks me somehow into playing just one more map.

story 7
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 9
audio 8
multiplayer 8
final rating 8.5
Editor's review
very good
 

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (38 Images)

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