For nearly twenty years, we've been clamoring like mindless, hungry ghouls for another game in the beloved Left 4 Dead franchise. It has been dormant since the 2009 release of Left 4 Dead 2, and fans have been begging Valve for a third game ever since. Like everyone else, I thought Back 4 Blood was going to finally fill that void, but it came and went, hardly making a splash. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that we actually received a really solid spiritual successor just six years after the release of Left 4 Dead 2, and it's set in a universe that I already love. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide picked up the discarded torch from Valve and carried it, and through the game's sequels, they're still carrying Left 4 Dead's torch over a decade later.
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| Image Credit: MobyGames |
Vermintide is set during the extremely controversial "End Times" era in the Warhammer universe where they were canonically killing the entire Warhammer Fantasy setting to make room for the Age of Sigmar setting. Games Workshop decided to eliminate the iconic, long-running Warhammer Fantasy setting with an in-universe event appropriately called the End Times, where the rat-like race of Skaven overtake the entire world and kill everything and everyone. The events of Vermintide take place right at the outbreak of the apocalypse, when its not yet clear that the world itself is coming apart at the seams. It's eerie hearing your group of adventurers at the beginning of the game talking about bizarre happenings and ill omens, and trying to downplay the whispers and rumors they've heard of some wicked prophecy coming true.
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| Image Credit: MobyGames |
There is a story in Vermintide, but it's really not the reason why you would play a game like this. That being said, the characters are endearing and have a surprising amount of lore and background to each of them. The plot revolves around a party of adventurers from various races, backgrounds and vocations from the Warhammer Fantasy universe who have joined together to save the Imperial city of Ubersreik from an onslaught of Skaven. The group must wade through hordes of rat-men around the city, attempt to undermine the Skaven plans, and help the human residents of Ubersreik, all while trying to root out the cause of this sudden attack. They discover that the Skaven are being commanded by a sorcerer, Grey Seer Rasknitt, who is plotting under the city streets, and he must be dealt with before his scheme can come to fruition.
The party holes up in an inn, which serves as their base of operations and a safe house of sorts. At the inn, you can choose your missions, swap between the different available characters and also change your character's loadout. Vermintide doesn't have a ton of "build-crafting" but you can obtain different weapons and trinkets for the various characters, and these can effect the character's stats and abilities in myriad ways. The characters themselves function somewhat distinctly from each other, with some characters having more melee-focused abilities, while others favor ranged or magical attacks.
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| Image Credit: MobyGames |
From a core gameplay perspective, I think Vermintide feels most similar to Left 4 Dead 2, since that game introduced melee combat into the mix, rather than it being solely focused around ranged weapons, like with the original Left 4 Dead title. The melee combat that Fatshark has crafted in this game feels heavy and visceral, like your weapons are really having to hew through the furry hide, muscle and bones of a Skaven. Too often in first-person games, melee combat can feel floaty and like your weapons are just slicing through the air, when they're supposed to be carving through a body, but the developers managed to make something unique here that I really appreciated.
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| Image Credit: MobyGames |
While the gameplay is essentially identical to Valve's iconic franchise, I think that Vermintide sets itself apart by leaning on the unmistakable aesthetic of the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Ubersreik, like most Imperial cities, looks like its pulled straight from Germany during the 1500s. The character designs feel so authentic to the Warhammer Fantasy brand too. I love the dwarf character and the Imperial witch hunter especially. The in-game world feels steeped in culture and history and like a proper video game realization of this dark fantasy world that I've loved for so long. The many similarities between Left 4 Dead and Vermintide cannot be ignored, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Vermintide is a soulless rip-off without any value.
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| Image Credit: MobyGames |
I will say that games like Left 4 Dead or Vermintide really excel at being co-op experiences, but they aren't particularly fun as single-player games. The AI party members are lacking any true aptitude for being helpful. It feels like I'm doing 98% of the killing. They'll pull you out of environmental hazards or free you from special Skaven who can trap you, but other than that, it largely feels like you're alone with three bumbling morons traipsing around you. In fact, I couldn't even finish the last level in single-player because it requires some deeper coordination with your teammates that the AI was just incapable of providing.
Vermintide, being a ten year old game, often goes on sale, and has loads of DLC missions that you can grab to extend your time with the game, if you're looking for that. I definitely recommend playing Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide if you're a fan of the Left 4 Dead games, or if you're interested in the wonderful Warhammer Fantasy setting. I will offer one major warning if you're looking to pick up this game on PC. It appears that the online population on Steam is completely gone, likely having moved on to the incredibly popular sequel, Vermintide 2 or to Fatshark's 40k-set spiritual sequel, Darktide. So, given my complaints about the often frustrating and lackluster AI teammates, I would implore you to only pick this up if you have at least a friend to play through it with, and preferably a full party of friends, as that's really where you find the magic in this genre of game.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PC
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