‘Ere we go, ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go! Hordes of Skaven, zombies, and Chaos warriors are set upon us yet again. I should start off by saying I have not played the original Vermintide, but it reminds me of my adventures in Left 4 Dead. In this case there’s swords, magic, bows, and muskets.
I only know about this fantasy world through Total War Warhammer, so it is refreshing to get my virtual feet on the ground and to get up and personal with the threat of Chaos. A lot of the hero units are represented as playable classes, and everyone has both a melee and ranged weapon. It’s not always one shot one kill, however. But a blunderbuss works pretty well!
I think the combat so far is fun, fast, and furious – and not necessarily in that order. The enemy can easily overwhelm you if you’re not careful, and some of the enemies’ abilities can be frustrating for all the Rambos out there. There are some enemies with shields at the ready and they will block most basic attacks. There are some enemies that teleport before you can cut them down. There are even some Skaven with machine guns.
I had a lot of fun trying out the different characters/classes. The elf ranger isn’t as strong as the other characters, but she is agile and equipped with plenty of arrows. The dwarf is tank material and is pretty formidable. The footman is a hack and slash warrior with a claymore. The mage burns everything in sight. The witch hunter has finesse, armed with a rapier and a pair of flintlock pistols. These are just the first five classes! There appeared to be 3 per group, totaling 15 available careers.
The maps are incredible so far. I really like all 3 of them, but I think the attack on the farm is my personal favorite. The objectives are displayed by a shield icon, and your party gets highlighted in green if you’re far from them. Spoils of war is another cool loot system. After seeing what bonuses you’ve received after the mission, your loot boxes sort of upgrade. It did not take me long to upgrade my equipment, and you can see the difference in your equipment, too. Be sure to collect the tomes so you can upgrade your box!
While the game is fun, there are some glitches in its current state. I would get stuck between rocks, roots, and debris, but there was an option on the pause menu to “unstuck” myself. The ragdolls (of dead Skaven mostly) glitch out when they’re close to walls. One time I saw a Skaven corpse climb a wall and it got stuck at the ceiling. Sometimes the enemies seem to go through you when they’re attacking. The only other thing was that I couldn’t see my own health bar at random intervals.
Speaking of the health bar, there is some funny banter between characters especially if you waste a health potion on yourself. The potions are pretty good – your generic speed, health, concentration, and strength potions to help see you through the mission. I have not seen an invisibility potion, which could complement the crouching/stealth of the game. I’m not sure if that is even in demand, but it could be useful.
Vermintide 2 is definitely a good time among friends. I had the chance to log into Discord and to play with some of my friends. Forming the party is straightforward, even if you are flying solo. There is a quickplay option that finds you a party to join, and the wait time is not bad at all. I’m sure with the positive responses to the beta, more and more people will be playing.
You can pre-purchase Warhammer: Vermintide 2 for PC via Steam.
Related: Warhammer Vermintide 2 BETA Success Over the Weekend, 24 Hours Added
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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