Vermintide 2 Early Impressions

Vermintide 2 comes out in just two days! Graev and I have put in several hours into the beta (available now if you pre-purchase the game on Steam) already, and have a lot of great things to say about the game.

Here's a quick video of the gameplay for you to watch before or after I give a quick rundown of the game with my thoughts.

Game Overview

Vermintide 2 -- obviously the sequel to Vermintide -- is really a lot like the Left 4 Dead games released by Valve back in 2008/9 era.

You and your team work your way through a level while trying to survive the enemies on the map. Occasionally, enemies will comes in bigger waves or hordes to try and overwhelm you.

Each time you play, the enemies will behave differently. Whether that means hordes of monsters coming from a different direction at a different time, or the enemies being completely different. One play-through of a map was the Skaven for us, and the next play through most of the monsters were Chaos. 

You play as aHero, and one of several pre-set career paths. You can be a Dwarf Ranger, Empire Soldier, etc. These Heroes have a starting career, and each have sub-career paths which will unlock as you gain levels as that respective hero. Each Hero uses different weapons and has their own unique skills.

Together as a team of up to four players you'll combine your skills to survive the map and move on to the next. 

There's a story in there somewhere, but the real game is more about wading through a sea of enemies.

What's So Good About Vermintide 2?

Okay, so enough of the overview. Is the game any good?

Actually, quite good.

We really enjoy the gameplay. There's something so smooth and satisfying about bludgeoning a wave of skaven with a hammer, or lighting them all on fire.

Similar to Left 4 Dead -- maybe a little too similar -- there's a monster that will jump on top of you and slash you until someone knocks it off you, one that will grab you and drag you away, another that will blow up, etc. 

Coordinating with your teammates is key. If you run off alone, you're dead. If you leave people behind, they're dead.

As you play you'll get rewarded with loot caches and get access to better weapons. There's a definite element of progression, and a purpose to specialize in one character. My Empire Soldier, who I may advance down the Huntsman path later, has been a blast to play with a 2h weapon.

The weapons provide another layer of customization to play, which is welcomed. I got a two-handed sword stated right on it that it was great at crowd control. Sure enough, it was great at swinging sideways and slicing through crowds. I tried a hammer (as seen in the video) and it requires more work to wade through crowds of mobs, but was much better and smashing mobs with shields. 

So there's your hero, what career you choose, then what type of weapons you choose to wield. While you won't necessarily feel totally unique, it's nice to feel like you have at least some semblance of options.

The game is beautiful, runs great, etc.

Totally worth the $27 on Steam. You should pick it up if this is even remotely your type of game.