As someone who’s not played a Warhammer game in some time now, I was optimistic about Warhammer Vermintide 2. Not knowing if this game would be my thing or not, I grabbed some fellow gamers and jumped on.
If like me, you’re not sure whether Vermintide 2 will satisfy your bloody thirsty needs, I’m pretty confident this Warhammer Vermintide 2 review will answer your questions.
I didn’t expect to enjoy Vermintide 2 as much as I actually have done over the past few days. It wasn’t until I had played a game or two and started racking up some gear I really realized how much I was getting into it.
It definitely has an air of Left 4 Dead about it, and somehow reminded me of a much more brutal take on Dungeon Defenders in the way the gear can be collected, broken down, and enhanced.
Warhammer Vermintide 2 is relentless, with wave after wave of hellish enemies swarming you. It’s an adrenaline-fueled adventure that keeps you coming back for more.
Warhammer Vermintide 2 Review: Heroes
Vermintide 2 offers five playable characters. Each of the characters has up to 4 careers that you can unlock as you level up.
- Markus Kruber is a Mercenary by default when you start with his playable character. Other careers available include Huntsman, Foot Knight, and Grail Knight.
- Bardin Goreksson is a Ranger Veteran, offering brute force to take down enemies. Bardin’s careers include Ironbreaker, Slayer, and Outcast Engineer.
- Kerillian is a Waystalker and is my personal favorite to play in Warhammer Vermintide 2. She can open up the Handmaiden and Shade careers.
- Victor Saltzpyre is a Witch Hunter Captain. Victor can delve into the Bounty Hunter and Zealot careers.
- Sienna Fuegonasus is a fiery Battle Wizard with Pyromancer and Unchained career paths.
As you complete missions in Warhammer Vermintide 2, you’ll receive equipment that you can equip via your hero’s inventory. If you hover over the equipment you can compare your currently equipped items and those that you’re interested in equipping.
Talents can be activated as you level up, allowing you to customize your character’s skills even further. Once you’ve filled up your talent bar during a mission, you can press F to activate your equipped talent.
If you’ve got spare equipment that you don’t plan to use, you can scrap your items in order to turn them into useful items. These items can be combined to enhance your equipment.
This is where Warhammer Vermintide 2 really reminded me of playing Dungeon Defenders. You can equip cosmetic items that won’t affect any of your talents or equipment. These are purely for cosmetic purposes and can be purchased via the in-game cosmetics store using real money or in-game coins.
Warhammer Vermintide 2 Review: Combat
There are plenty of weapons available in Vermintide 2, each offering its own unique feel and balance. While hammers hit hard, I don’t personally use them as I have an affinity to bows and daggers (you can probably tell I often go for archers or stealth characters).
Choosing a weapon doesn’t feel like one is more powerful than another. I really like this aspect of the game, especially when playing with other people. It never feels like any one player has the upper hand.
The combat itself, however, doesn’t go as deep as the weapon selection. Ultimately you can choose to hit an enemy’s head to deal more damage, block and dodge, or use a slower weapon to deal more damage.
Most of the fights I’ve been involved in, when I’ve run out of arrows, have consisted of being swarmed by enemies, aiming as best I can, and dodging incoming hits.
However, as you increase the difficulty in Vermintide 2, there does need to be a lot more coordination. While the game does overall present a hack-n-slash feel, there are times that require a little more planning.
Warhammer Vermintide 2 Review: Chaos Wastes
The Chaos Wastes expansion is free to anyone who owns the base game. It’s by far the best update to date, providing plenty of content and gameplay.
The Chaos Wastes expeditions allow continued progress from existing characters. You can bring over talents and levels, enabling you to grow even further.
After a successful run, you’ll be handsomely rewarded with Emperor Crates that definitely feel worth the investment on the Chaos Wastes pilgrimage.
When you begin an expedition in Chaos Wastes, you’ll see an interactive map allowing you to choose a zone to jump into. You and your team will have to vote on the route you want to take in order to reach the goal which is the Citadel of Eternity.
If your party falls or you leave the expedition, you’ll fail the entire thing. Harsh, but a great immersive experience that I personally really enjoyed.
Your talents and weapons from the base game will carry over to the expedition. Your weapons will be reduced to common quality, which can be enhanced within the game using Pilgrim Coins.
It’s a simple concept that leaves you wanting more. You need to balance the spending of your Pilgrim Coins in order to progress.
If you can resist the temptation to spend your coins, you can save them up and use them on shrines that offer up curated boons based on the type of shrine you’ve reached.
I felt like the only disappointing aspect of the free update was the lack of a new enemy race. However, looking past this, Warhammer Vermintide 2 Chaos Wastes presents an exciting rogue-lite addition to this grueling and challenging game.
