One area where it manages to differ from L4D2 is an upgrade system that incentivizes replaying levels in order to get better loot via random awards, but if the core action isn’t entertaining the first time through, the lure of possibly getting a slightly better sword is nowhere near enough to make me go back in and spend more time.Īs far as the online functionality goes, I will say that it performs well. It’s all too close for comfort and nothing is done better in Vermintide. With the sheer number of enemies and the way they swarm with brain-dead AI, the ratmen could easily pass as zombies if a player squints. When players come across boxes of ammo or health packs, they call out and alert their teammates. When walking through a level, the party’s banter fills in the characters. The first time it struck, I thought it was a ‘smoker’ straight out of Valve’s game. There’s a huge tank rat, one that shoots poison, and one that chokes and incapacitates a teammate. Speaking of which, the tougher rats with deadlier abilities are carbon copies of the types found in (wait for it…) Left 4 Dead 2. It doesn’t help that the attacks feel fairly weightless, as well - there’s never a devastating blow or a satisfying crunch, it’s just lightly whacking a lot of fodder mobs and the occasional ‘special’ rat. It’s visually impressive to see such huge numbers of enemies, but I often just pointed myself in a direction and mashed the attack button until things stopped moving. Taking on small numbers of rats is fine and gives players a chance to be a bit more strategic with combat, but things ramp up quickly and before long there are so many rats onscreen that it’s nearly impossible to tell what’s going on. It starts off promisingly enough, but my biggest problem with Vermintide is that it’s just not enjoyable to play. The group then proceeds through a level and kills roughly ten million rats before reaching the end. Unfortunately, the things that the devs get right don’t outweigh the things that fail to shine.Īfter selecting a character, the player can either go online to join a game, start one for others to join, or sally forth accompanied by three bots. In some ways, the game manages to punch above its weight.
The medieval setting is appealing (if too drab-colored) and the number of enemies that can appear at once is truly shocking. To give credit where it’s due, Vermintide sports graphics that are a step above what I would expect from a budget-priced title. There are five classes to choose from, but they all function more or less the same with each having a light, heavy and charged melee attack, a ranged attack, a dodge, and a push that shoves rats back. The only thing a prospective player needs to know is that an army of ratmen are swarming a city, and the player is part of the group sent in to clean the place up. I’m no expert on the worlds of Games Workshop, but familiarity with the lore is not required. Vermintide is a multiplayer-focused first-person shooter set in the Warhammer universe. So, now that I’ve allowed myself the shortcut and L4D2 vets know all they need to know, what about everyone else? It’s so close, in fact, that if someone had told me that Vermintide was actually a L4D2 mod, I wouldn’t doubt it for a second. No, I say this because it feels like the exact same game.
#WARHAMMER VERMINTIDE XBOX ONE REVIEWS FREE#
To people who’ve played Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2, feel free to skip the rest of this review because Vermintide is just a lesser version with a furry skin on top. I don’t say this because the games are similar, or because they have elements in common. However, in rare instances, it’s nearly unavoidable.Ĭase in point, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide. Doing so is a shortcut that doesn’t say enough, and isn’t helpful to people who haven’t played the game being used as reference. When reviewing, I don’t often like to use one game to describe another. WTF What’s up with all the empty treasure chests? LOW Getting swarmed and having NO idea what’s going on.