The Warhammer licences have had a bit of a hit or miss reputation over the past few years. Ever since THQ went down and relic was bought by Sega. Blood Bowl and Blood Bowl 2, for example, have been extremely popular and had league on YouTube made about them. Games like Storm of Vengeance on the other hand…well, let’s just say they weren’t well received. So I was slightly worried about Vermintide as apart from everything else, they have the lore time completely wrong. The full name is Warhammer The End Times: Vermintide. As a Warhammer fan that blinked red lights as Games Workshop (the creators of Warhammer and Warhammer 40000) updated a few months ago to the Age of Sigmar. But I downloaded anyway because I was still really interested in the game. I was very happy with what I got. (full disclosure, I was given a review code from Fatshark).

 

Vermintide (or ratman beheading simulator 2015) is a first person hack and slash game in a similar vein of games to Left 4 Dead 2. Apart from the melee combat is better than Left 4 Dead 2. Hell it is the combat I wanted out of Skyrim. It feels so good. When using an axe, for example, the character pulls it out of the Skaven as if it did get stuck in their head for half a second. I really like that. It makes it feel like there is a lot of power going into the attacks. Other games are a bit “slash slash slash” with no power in the attacks. Vermintide, you can feel every hit and the first person perspective makes it feel like you are in the action and that you are a Ratman killing machine. Or at least until you get knocked down.

 

The main draw of this game compared to others in the genre is the loot and crafting systems. I will say that does sound a bit strange in a first person hack and slash but the way Fatshark have made it work makes it seem effortless in the game. At the end of every mission (and there is about 13) you get a set of loot dice, very Warhammer like. These dice are rolled and you will get a weapon at random depending on how many icons you get. Extra dice can be picked up during the missions. I like this loot system as it means there is more than one way to play each character. If you want to play with a sword and shield, pray to the RNG gods you get one. If you want to run around with 2 hand guns, and there is a character that can, pray to the RNG gods that you get a good pair. The crafting system works of this. You can combine a set of 5 weapons of the same value to go up a level. Similar to the trade up system in CS:GO. There is a way to add different attributes to your weapon and you can destroy weapons to salvage different crafting ingredients.

 

The mission variety is another key feature that I think makes this game great. Instead of “go here, survive for a bit, bugger off” there is several different mission. There is a mission where all you have to do is collect things. It is really annoying but I would rather have different mission than have the same mission over and over again.

 

The characters and enemy variety are also excellent. There is 5 characters to choose from and they all banter with each other. The writing and the voice acting for them is really well done and there is a few laughs. And the enemies, there is 6 types of enemies and all of them have to be handled a different way. For example, the rattling gunner focuses on one target at a time while the other characters flank and attack him. This strategy play again adds to the games potential and overall enjoyment.

 

I think the main reason I enjoy Vermintide is because I am a Warhammer fan. I think if I wasn’t I wouldn’t get as much out of it. Don’t get me wrong it is a fantastic game from a mechanical standpoint. It’s one of the best in its field. But if you are not a fan of Warhammer I wouldn’t recommend it at its starting price point. £20 is a bit steep for people that I don’t think would understand or care about anything other than the slashing. For Warhammer fans on the other hand. BUY. THIS. GAME. It is the best Warhammer game since Space Marine.

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