When the original Verminitide released three years ago, it reopened the vast gap in co-op gameplay that Left 4 Dead had vacated some time ago. The idea of surviving an entire series of levels that’s part of a campaign was a brilliant idea that hadn’t been utilized for quite some time. The difference with Vermintide is that it is high-fantasy based in the brutal world of Warhammer.
Hordes of the End Times
For the original fans of part 1, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 continues the story of the end of the world of Warhammer. Originally it was the Skaven, or Rat-men, causing havoc throughout the first game. This time around, the sequel has added the Warriors of Chaos into the mix. Not only are the Skaven running amok throughout Vermintide 2, their massive horde has doubled with the addition of these insane cultist warriors.
As you fight and progress through the different levels, the AI director, similar to the Left 4 Dead one, will adjust the enemy encounters and situations based on your playstyle. For instance, at times you will encounter just Skaven or Warriors of Chaos. In other instances, you could encounter both at the same time which makes the gameplay harder; the Skaven and Chaos do not attack you in the same way. While the Skaven will try to overwhelm you with numbers and sometimes unique and beefy units, the Chaos can take a lot of punishment with their lower amount of units.
Unique Enemies and Bosses
The Skaven horde has gotten tougher but is still fairly similar from the previous version of Vermintide, with the added change of new special units and bosses. One of the newly added units is the Plague Monk for the Skaven, and unlike the normal Skaven slaves and Clanrats, the Plague Monks are fast and have near unblockable attacks because of their speed. Be patient and know when to parry when fighting these things, because they will wear you down.
The Warpfire Thrower is another baddy that they’ve added to the Skaven. It’s a flamethrower unit that can take you out within a few moments if you don’t get out of the way of its green warpfire. These things are just as bad as the Ratling Gunners, but since they’re close combat, they do massive amounts of damage.
As devastating as the Rat Ogre was in the first game, the Stormfiend is much deadlier. It’s literally a Rat Oger encased in armor with twin flamethrowers on its hands. The only weakness? The brain-beast merged into its spine. Do not take this thing lightly or it’ll be the last thing you regret.
The Warriors of Chaos are entirely new units altogether. They have Mauraders that are very durable footmen and two or three of them can swarm you if you’re not careful. There aren’t as many of them as Skaven, so make sure you’re working with your teammates when fighting them off.
The Chaos Sorcerer and Rotblood Sorcerer are the best unique characters in the game in my opinion. One creates a whirlwind that affects the environment, while the other sneaks around and targets a single party member and drains their life away. You have to change your gameplay when encountering them as sticking together and staying apart can be costly.
Chaos boss units have also been added to the game which provides more variety for boss battles. One of the two is the Chaos Spawn which is completely fast for a boss. It actually focuses on one of the party members and attempts to run it down before trying to eat it. Make sure to stay out of its way!
The last boss is the Bile Troll. This is a towering behemoth that spits acidic puke all the way across the map. At the same time, it swats at you with its gigantic axe. These things can also heal very quickly, so your team has to make sure that you put on the pressure and tear at its life as fast and quickly as possible. I’ve actually been caught in a fight with a Bile Troll that lasted almost ten minutes since it kept regenerating.
Gameplay, Characters, Classes, and Crafting
The same characters are still within the game and have the same style of relationship. Saltzpyre, Kruber, Kerillian, Goreksson, and Sienna are still killing and burning the hordes together. The best parts of the original Vermintide was the banter between the characters, and that hasn’t changed. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 shows that they’ve all developed more so as a cohesive group. This is especially displayed during the prologue of the game where it reteaches you how to play.
Controls and gameplay are fairly similar with the exception of special abilities granted by the classes that you play. The different classes really give this game a lot of variety with the combination the talent trees which either boost your damage, control the field, affect your weapons, or change your character dynamic in regards to stamina and range. Every game you play will not be the same as the next because of this. Once you access all the character’s classes, it will affect the field of play completely different than another player.
There’s also a targeting system that coincides with the armor of the enemies. Naturally, if you do headshots, you’re going to do more damage. Some enemies, like the Chaos Warriors, are completely decked in armor from head to toe. So attacking them head-on is futile unless you attack the head. That’s when you do the most damage to the enemies and sometimes you can one-shot them if you have enough of a damage output. Word of advice: don’t attack shield. Mmmkay?
The crafting in the game is fairly simple. When you break down weapons and items you attain, you get the base materials for them that you can utilize to craft new weapons. Of course, the higher level the weapon, the better the output of materials you’ll achieve. This goes with the creation of weapons and items as well since there is a percentage of status effects that could be applied to them after creation.
With the different characters, classes, talent trees, crafting, and AI director adaptation, the game is never the same experience. The players you encounter online won’t always choose the same class as another player, and if they do, each player has their own style. As I said, it’s always going to be dynamic.
Graphics
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an absolutely beautiful game. The texturing that’s currently being utilized is amazing, especially since I’m running the game at max on my PC gaming rig. You can see the gore and the rot when you encounter the Chaos Spawns or the human lotus sacrifices in some parts of the levels. There’s a lot of gore and it’s all beautifully textured, as gross as that sounds. Also, the environmental effects that are scripted make for spectacular scenery coupled with the lighting. At one point, you’re at the maw of a destroyed city as everything is crumbling around you. It’s bloody gorgeous!
Final Reaction
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is one of the best, if not THE BEST multiplayer game that I’ve played in quite some time. The different varieties of gameplay is a huge plus for this sequel and has actually kept me coming back to the game again and again. The multiplayer games are easily accessible online, and I haven’t had any issues connecting or disconnecting from a server. The only gripe I do have is when the host just leaves mid-game and that kills all the progress you just accomplished. Other than that, the game is extremely fun on all levels and completely worth every penny.
Rating: 4.5/5 Atoms
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