The Medieval Exterminator Sim

Warhammer: Vemintide 2.

- Salehuddin Husin (GameAxis)

Right off the bat, Vermintide 2 assumes you’ve played the first game. Thankfully, once you’ve cleared the prologue, missing background knowledge no longer becomes much of an issue.

After fighting through swarm after swarm of ratmen (which is basically what the Skaven are), you’ll slowly get to know the characters and their personalities. There are only a few cutscenes scattered throughout the stages, so much of the story is delivered through the loading screen briefings, your actions, and the bits of dialogue in-between.

The Vermintide games borrow heavily from Valve’s popular Left 4 Deadseries. Your group of four will have to run through a largely linear level while swarms of Skaven attack, ambush, and do their best to stop you from reaching your goal. One boss fight or set-piece battle later and you’ll have to fight you way out to the escape point.

What Vermintide 2 gets very, very right is its combat. You have five playable heroes, each giving you a different kind of playstyle. You may choose the complicated fire mage Sienna, who must balance use of her power or risk overheating and blowing up; or the hot-blooded Bardin, who does much better when he’s fighting right in the thick of things.