Title: Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide First Impressions
Author: PikeyZA
Recovered Author: PikeyZA
Published Date: 2015-10-01
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2015/10/warhammer-the-end-times-vermintide-first-impressions
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170917064119id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2015/10/warhammer-the-end-times-vermintide-first-impressions/
Recovery Confidence: high

- PikeyZA

- 2 years ago

- 4 0

If you’re at all familiar with the Warhammer universe then you’re probably as excited as I am by the sheer number of Games Workshop games coming out in the next year. From blasting tyranids in a derelict vessel’s corridors in Space Hulk: Deathwing to commanding massive armies of each faction in Total War: Warhammer, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. However one of the forerunners of this slew of GW games is Vermintide (Warhammer: The End Times), a co-op FPS heavily influenced by the undisputed top dog of co-op gaming, Left 4 Dead 2.

Blending traditional FPS elements with an impressively tactile melee system, Vermintide pits you and three friends against the Skaven hordes in an attempt to stave off their invasion of the city of Ubersreik. The End Times are coming and your small band may well be the last hope for the city and it’s inhabitants.

First of, let me make a disclaimer. I’m a nerd. Not a cardigan, dubstep and non prescription glasses nerd… a real nerd. From painting miniatures to weekly D&D sessions, I do it all and do it proudly! So it suffices to say that I am a little biased towards this game as it combines two of my favourite pastimes, Warhammer and first person gaming. There may be some fanboying at times in this article. You have been warned.

Vermintide is set in The End Times, a time period in the Warhammer universe in which the Chaos gods are wreaking havoc the length and breadth of the Old World. The Skaven (a race of bipedal ratmen) have been stirred up into a frenzy, spewing forth from their warrens in a final attempt to lay claim to the world’s surface.

The game sets you up in the city of Ubersreik, recently engulfed by the Skaven hordes, as one of 5 playable characters (Waywatcher, Empire Soldier, Dwarf Ranger, Bright Wizard and Witch Hunter). Although the characters are preset, they do have customisable elements that you can tinker with to create a character that best suits your play style. All characters have a melee and ranged weapon set available to them, so there’s not as much of a massive distinction between warriors and mages as you might find elsewhere, although you’ll quickly find that rushing the Bright Wizard into the front lines of combat is going to end up pretty much as expected, one dead wizard!

Combat is fast paced and extremely satisfying, especially when you’re crushing puny rat skulls with an enormous Warhammer or flinging fireballs into an approaching rat pack and watching their bodies burn as they fly through the air like squealing fireworks! The Skaven have replaced the traditional zombie hordes made famous by the Left 4 Dead series, and they function in similar fashion. Be prepared for waves and waves of Clan Rats and intent on ripping your flesh from your bones, with occasional special units skulking around the edges of battle and causing chaos with their unique attacks. Gutter Runner Assassins leap onto teammates and pin them down while giving them a good prison style shanking, then roll away and vanish into the shadows if threatened. Poison Wind Globadiers throw AoE gas bombs into your group, blinding and choking you. Rat Gunners unleash streams of death from their gatling guns (“ratling” guns, hur dur). The Packmaster attempts to separate you from your group with his hook pole (he’s a bit rapey and I don’t like him). The monstrous Rat Ogre charges into you, shrugging off attacks and beating you to a bloody pulp. Patrols of heavily armoured elite Stormvermin pose a huge danger if they discover you, their training and equipment vastly superior to their cannon fodder brethren.

You can go from moments of relative calm to a heart pounding battle in the space of a few seconds as Skaven Clan Slaves pour down from walls around you, constantly flanking and attacking your squishier members. All in all it makes for a wonderfully tense gaming experience. Never feeling safe is a theme that the game brings to the fore and it does so very well indeed!

Globadier

Clan Slave

Gutter Runner

Rat Ogre

Rat Gunner

Pack Master

Stormvermin

Clan Rat

When it comes to the game’s ambiance, Vermintide hits the nail on the head. They’ve managed to capture the dark and dingy atmosphere of a medieval town over run by evil, with suitably ominous music (no shock with Jesper Kyd at the musical helm) and some exceptional voice acting. My personal favourite is the Witch Hunter (voiced by Tim Bentinck) as his arrogance and nasal tones bring across the perfect image of a sneering imperialist. However all character voices are very well done, even the Skaven themselves have been voiced beautifully and I can’t even imagine how many throat lozenges James Hogg went through while recording their dialogs!

I’ve put a decent amount of time into the various stages of the BETA’s and have enjoyed it immensely. It has run very smoothly (even when playing with people in the US and UK over our lovely SA lines) and as a co-op experience it is challenging enough to test you at the higher difficulty levels, but still a lot of fun. The various player characters feel very well balanced and whether I’m smashing rat skulls with a Warhammer or roasting the little bugger with fireballs I have found it to be enjoyable across the board.

Vermintide is being developed by Swedish studio Fat Shark Games, who have done a great job so far. Their efforts in promoting Vermintide have been excellent, with a lot of the devs getting involved with the community via Twitter, their own forums and the r/Vermintide subreddit .

Vermintide is currently in public BETA and will be released on the 23rd of October. It is available on Steam for $29.99 (Standard Edition) or $44.99 (Collector’s Edition). Although at the time of this article they are both on sale at 10% off. Seriously, what are you waiting for, GO AND GET IT NOW!

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PikeyZA

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Article Tags:
First Impressions · First PErson · FPS · Games Workshop · Gaming · L4D2 · Left for Dead · Skaven · The End Times · Ubersreik · Vermintide · Warhammer

Article Categories:
Video Game Feature
