Rats to the left of me, rats to the right of me…
Before we dive into the meat of this review, I should probably point out that I have quite the history with Games Workshop’s Warhammer fantasy world. When I was young’un, I pushed painted plastic soldiers around a tabletop, before graduating to roleplaying in the dark and gritty Old World in the excellent first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. So I know the setting pretty well.
It’s also a setting that few games have really managed to get right. And while we’re all hoping that Creative Assembly can do just that with the epic Total War: Warhammer, Swedish studio Fatshark has brought the Warhammer world to life on a much more intimate scale, with the implausibly named Warhammer: Vermintide – The End Times.
The name ticks a lot of boxes, and not all of them are now all that relevant. The End Times event was a cataclysmic series of changes to the established and decades old setting of the Old World that ended with its destruction; a whole new game and setting was released this year that was the successor, so anyone getting into Vermintide and wanting to play some Tabletop Warhammer will miss out.
Warhammer is obvious, and Vermintide… well, play the game for a few minutes, get almost literally buried under a pile of stinking ratmen, and you’ll see it’s pretty much a spot on descriptor.
Vermintide takes place in the city of Ubersreik, a sprawling town in the Riekland of the Empire. Think a very gothic, fantastic version of Germany in the high middle-ages, all puffed-and-slashed doublets, greatswords, and rudimentary black-powder weapons. The Empire is a place of nearly endless, dangerous forests, so its towns and cities tend to be cramped, walled, and come complete with a ready siege mentality.
Which turns out to be handy, because the game begins with Ubersreik under siege. But it’s no conventional army attacking; rather, it’s the once-thought mythical Skaven, humansized vermin that tunnel beneath the world’s surface, and utilise all kinds of twisted magic and technology to extend its underground realm. They’ve stormed up out of the sewers and taken the town by surprise, so that only small pockets of resistance now hold out.
Which is where you – and three complete strangers/mates – come in. From your base at the Red Moon Inn, its innkeeper tasks you with missions about and around the town. Go here, save some food; go there, destroy a Skaven thingy; explore the sewers and just kill lots and lots of giant bipedal rats.
Vermintide is – essentially – Left 4 Dead with an interesting new re-skin and weapons.
However, don’t for a minute think that this is meant to be a reductive take on the game. If you’d ask me before Vermintide came out if a fantasy version of L4D would be cool, I’d say hell yeah, and if you told me it was going to be Warhammer, I’d be having a little nerdgasm. It’s a legitimately solid concept, and it’s one that Fatshark has executed admirably well.
It’s also taken the concept further, by adding different character types, changing the focus from ranged weapons to melee (though ranged weapons are still very effective), and delivering a remarkably addictive loot and semi-crafting system. If you thought L4D was addictive, you’ll be all over Vermintide like a Halfling on a crate of sticky-buns.
There are five available characters, each with their own backstory and weapon-sets. The Empire Soldier and Witch-hunter both use an array of large hammers and black powder weapons, while the Dwarven Ranger gets more axes, as well as crossbows and pistols and some pretty nasty guns that are effectively small flamethrowers. The Bright Mage is very interesting – a fire wizard with a range of direct and area attacks, and a mechanic that sees her at threat of blowing herself up the more she uses her powers. Then there’s my personal favourite, the Wood-elf Waywatcher. She brings a range of fast bows and slicing knives and swords to the table, and tends to have arguably the highest rate of fire.
One of the things that keeps the game fresh is seeing the different mixes of characters – you’ll only ever have four out of the five, and the canned banter between characters is also rather enjoyable. You’ll discover that the wizard and the witch-hunter have a history together, and not a good one; the dwarf uses a lot of his native language, and thankfully the game’s loading tips include a good smattering of dwarvish words. The uniqueness of the weapon sets and play styles, on top of the banter and different character combinations, provides a freshness that the game’s 14 maps may not otherwise supply.
That said, those 14 maps are all very well-realised, though some are on the small, and therefore somewhat repetitive side. They range from maps set in and around the city, all leaning buildings, gabled roofs, and dank cobblestones, to ones set outside Ubersreik, complete with farms, forests, and piles of dead civilians. Some of the most challenging maps are those set underground, since here it’s actually much easier to become cut off from your allies. But they all capture the feel of the Old World wonderfully, utilising designs and aesthetics straight from the models of the tabletop game itself.
These maps are plenty atmospheric even empty, but get the game’s AI director to start throwing Skaven at you, and they become downright terrifying. Like L4D, this AI ‘chooses’ when best to throw a horde of easy to kill slave-rats at you, or when to send in a lumbering Rat Ogre. All the usual enemy types are there, plus a few new ones. The man-catching Packrat pulls party members helplessly away, while Poison Wind Globadiers pepper the map with areas of stinking, poisonous gas. But you’ve also got the Ratling Gunner, who targets one party member and guns for them no matter what – and doesn’t care if it guns down hordes of his own fellows.
Possibly the tensest of the special enemies are the intermittent Stormvermin patrols. These heavily armed and armoured Skaven march in a column of eight or so, to a particular chittery cadence. If you hide, they may pass you by, and if you get into a fight with them it will be tough. So it’s always handy to keep a grenade handy.
The game’s equipment includes not only each characters’ two signature weapons, but healing potions, strength and speed potions, and explosive and incendiary grenades. Ammunition (unless you have a magic item – I’m looking askance at you, dwarf and wizard) is limited, too, so when you find an ammo stash it’s a thing of joy.
In fact, that pretty much sums up the game. It’s a rat-blood-spattered, chaotic, and ultimately very fulfilling game, that manages action and excitement, with the ever-expectant promise of bigger and better weapons, while also living up to a very rich setting.
In fact, it just may be the best Warhammer game yet published, and if Fatshark can keep the game fresh it’s one that’s going to be hard to put down. DAVID HOLLINGWORTH
VERDICT
Amazingly true to the source material, with combat and action aplenty, and lots of rewards (loot!) for repeat play. Vermintide is the rat’s whiskers.