Rattashooty
Vermintide – or, to use its Fully Licensed Intellectual Property
name, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide – is a co-op
shooter that borrows heavily from Valve’s Left 4 Dead
series. It borrows so heavily it feels larcenous, really, but
damned if it isn’t a great homage. And if you’re tired of
zombies, well, here we have rats.
In the world of Vermintide, the end
times are extremely nigh. A tide of
angry ratlings, the Skaven, have risen
up to swallow the realms of men. In
the city of Ubersreik, a plucky band
of mismatched heroes fights the
vermin menace. From their base of
operations, the team ventures out
into the city’s filthy streets to save the
world from a ratty apocalypse.
Vermintide is in
many ways Left 4 Dead
with a Warhammer
skin. Characters yell
out the locations of
ammunition dumps
and bandages, cry out
when a rush of Skaven
is on the way, and beg
for help when they’re
injured. Some missions involve
gathering barrels of fuel and
depositing them in a getaway vehicle.
You know that swoopy camera move
that pans over every L4D stage, then
zooms into the back of your
character’s head? Vermintide does
that, too. However, the meat makes
Vermintide its own experience.
Five distinct characters battle
Skaven, each with their own
strengths, equipment, and playstyles
Between missions, players choose
gear sets that change how characters
play. Weapon classes have different
characteristics, but individual
weapons have special abilities or
damage boosts. Getting a sword and
shield combo can give a new player
the ability to play the role of party
tank. Getting a new, more powerful
warhammer can be cause for
celebration, an excuse
to load up the first level
and try it right away.
But while the five
heroes play in very
different ways, as a
team the characters are
forced to work together
in a tight group due to
the danger of being
alone – it’s easy to get surrounded or
overwhelmed by a pack of Skaven,
and only a friend can revive you.
Spit and poliSh
Vermintide’s combat shines with the
polish of expertise. While limited
ammo stocks force ballistics to the
background, and controlling angle or
direction doesn’t change a swipe into
a stab – the heroes simply attack,
charge up for a special attack, block,
helps sell the power and solidity of
the combat. Great sound design adds
to the brutality.
Vermintide is also a beautiful game
– or, at least, a beautiful rendition of a
town hip-deep in rat shit. In the first
level, my entire team stopped to stare
across the rooftops of Ubersreik
bathed in the light of a full moon.
Later, the magic in a mage’s tower
twisted the architecture inside until
doorways inexplicably led to
upside-down ceilings, and ratkin
poured up horizontal stairways set
into the walls.
The only thing that truly
disappoints me about Vermintide is
the Skaven themselves. As a group,
they’re a fine replacement for Left 4
Dead’s wobbling zombie hoards. As
individuals, though, the special ratkin
are a paper-thin gloss over L4D’s
special infected. The Rat Ogres have
lost their prosthetic sword-arms and
multiple heads and been watered
down until they’re just furry,
large-toothed versions of the zombie
Tank. The Pack Master, whose sole
job in Warhammer lore is to keep Rat
Ogres from killing their own allies,
instead skulks around alone looking
for heroes to drag away: the ratkin
version of the zombie Smoker.
However, my quibbles with the
rats are separate from my love of
fighting these vicious critters:
absolutely every bad guy in the game
is a joy to conquer, run from, and kill.
Heroic comebacks against
unbelievable odds and acts of great
sacrifice are commonplace.
Vermintide is smart, chaotic, and
beautiful. It’s a game that has got me
hooked on Warhammer Fantasy
fiction in a way I wasn’t before. It’s
difficult, bloody, and it’s my favourite
co-op game to come along in years
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