• Review

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Review: Ebb and Flow

Players looking for fast-paced co-op action will be swept away in the current of Fatshark's latest blood-soaked adventure.

Kevin Tucker

March 20, 2018 4:30 PM

14

The words ebb and flow are most commonly attributed to the two phases of the tides, but taken figuratively, they can also refer to the swelling and receding of just about any element of life. In the gaming world, it's fair to say that the Warhammer series has had its ups and downs: for fans, one of the high points was the 2015 release of Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, a first-person co-op adventure that saw players fighting through legions of the Skaven army. Other Warhammer games have come and gone since its release, but Vermintide has ever remained close to players' hearts, and that's exactly why developer Fatshark has decided to return to the formula with the release of Warhammer: Vermintide 2. Just like its predecessor, this new game has its high points and low points, but the fast-paced, team-based experience has a lot to offer for players eager for first-person, action-oriented gameplay — particularly those willing to overlook a few technical hiccups.

The Vermintide Rises Again

Those unfamiliar with the Warhammer franchise may not know the name Vermintide. Fortunately, its meaning is fairly literal: Vermintide 2, like the Vermintide release before it, sends players into sprawling environments with the explicit goal of cutting into a veritable tide of incoming rodent-like opponents known as the Skaven. Unlike the previous game, Vermintide 2 has also introduced enemies from the Chaos army, meaning there are more than just hideous rat men to cut down: new opponents from the Warp show up in the form of smaller, easily-dispatched Chaos Warriors all the way up to massive mission-halting Chaos Spawn.

As in the previous release, Vermintide 2's action takes place from a first-person perspective, and players are able to make use of a number of different characters, careers, weapons, and skills, the likes of which can be customized and upgraded as the player sees fit. The options on offer aren't exactly staggering in scale or quantity, but there are plenty of skills and items that players can use to figure out new and interesting strategies, especially when it comes to higher-level equipment.

More Adequate Acquisitions

Like with other games in the genre, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 players will spend a fair amount of time seeking out newer, more powerful loot. Considering the feedback given by players concerning the previous Vermintide release, Fatshark has approached Vermintide 2's loot system in a slightly different way. Players new to the series likely won't notice anything out of line, but players familiar with the previous game should feel like Vermintide 2 presents a more balanced loot delivery system.

Weapons and items mainly appear in Vermintide 2 through chests, be them overt end-mission loot chests or Commendation chests that appear when players hit certain level milestones. When opened, they provide players with a random batch of items that are either scaled by in-mission rewards or the player's overall Hero power. Like before, weapons can have different rarity levels, and rarer weapons will carry higher stats and more potent abilities. More important than equipment's scaling and various abilities are the individual items' drop rates, which flow in at a steady rate, giving players consistent rewards for every mission cleared.

Meat On These Bones

By far the most important quality to Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is its first-person gameplay. Loot and leveling would count for nothing if the fighting itself wasn't enjoyable, but I'm happy to report that it is. Actions like walking, jumping, swinging a sword or axe, even casting huge fireballs from runes placed under crowds of enemies all feel properly weighted, relatively smooth, and pleasingly immersive. Mowing down crowds of Skaven with area-of-effect attacks feels just as good as crushing their skulls with a massive hammer, and each stab and slice is presented with the sort of gory fidelity that should put a smile on players' faces.

Vermintide 2 also creates its own sort of pleasing rhythm: missions start in a quiet, secluded area, and traveling down the natural path inevitably spawns floods of enemies from a number of different directions. Strangely, the moments between hoards of monsters are those that often feel most tense, as players make their searches for items or come to terms with the challenges that lay ahead.

Unfortunately, not everything is quite spic-and-span. Though battles might feel frenetic and furious, occasional technical slips will send enemies flying or twitching in unusual ways. In at least one instance a glitched enemy became a game-breaking bug, as a Bile Troll got stuck on a bridge in such a way as to where it couldn't move or be killed. Without being able to vanquish the foe, my team was never able to get beyond the invisible barrier blocking access to the end of the mission.

Swept Out To Sea

Even with a few minor and infrequent hiccups, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 serves as an excellent platform for players keen on first-person cooperative action. The number of missions and environments, to say nothing of the different characters and classes, should provide enough content and customization to keep fans happy for the foreseeable future. As for cutting through the rising and falling ranks of the vicious Vermintide; well, it just feels good.

This review is based on a Steam download code provided by the publisher. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 available in on digital storefronts for $29.99.

Kevin Tucker

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.