Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
Posted: 2016-07-07 01:05pm
Now that's a naming convention you normally don't see unless you're talking about a Dark Forces game. I searched and couldn't find a thread on the topic, please hit me if I'm just terrible at the Search function. The game came out around the end of last year. There was recently a DLC expansion for it (3 new missions). We've been playing off and on for a couple months.
The only other Warhammer game I played was Shadow of the Horned Rat, like a billion years ago. And it's funny that game also featured Skaven (rat men), which I guess are a huge deal in Warhammer. By the by: Shadow of the Horned Rat kicked my ass. Game wasn't easy. Neither is End Times.
The game is an FPS and essentially a twist on the Left 4 Dead formula with Warhammer assets. Rather than playing as 4 survivors only unique in their personality: you have class selection in Warhammer with certain classes gaining access to different weapons and gameplay concepts. All start with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. Ammo is at a premium.
There's the Dorf, Empire Soldier, Witch Hunter (HOOOOLY SHIT MAN! BLESS THIS RAVAGED BODY!), Elf/Waywatcher, and Bright (Fire) Mage. The Dorf and Empire soldier have sword (or mace/axe) and Board options which make them very good tanks, relying on block/push mechanics to keep Skaven at bay while other do most of the damage. They can however also use other weapons for more damage. The melee weapons themselves usually have different styles and hurtboxes. Such as the default attack of the greataxe being single target (or very narrow in it's attack path), but it's charged attack being a sweep: doing less damage, but hitting and stunning more targets.
I main the Bright Mage. Her mace melee weapon lacks the horizontal swipes of the sword, but does more damage and is better if you understand the block/push mechanics to setup damage. I have settled on the Bolt Staff as a ranged weapon. Its primary attack is a kung-fu fireball spam, little damage, but burns and stuns attackers. Its secondary "pulls" fire from the staff into a javelin that does about 6 billion damage, auto-locks onto a target, and "snipes" them. Contrast to the Bolt Staff. The Primary is a "Shotgun Blast" that does loads of damage up close and burns. Its Secondary shoots a BIG LAZER! that does increasing burn damage and locks up any Skaven hit.
She has no ammo (unlike everyone else), but relies on an Overcharge mechanic. Control it or vent it (taking damage above a certain level while doing so) or you explode from TOO... MUCH... MAGIC and die instantly.
Special Infected are here. Hook rats (smokers) charge you, hook your neck, and drag you off. Gutter Runners are Hunters with smoke bomb and teleport mechanics. Gas rats are essentially Spitters mixed with Boomers. They throw gas bombs which are deadly to everything. Gunners are big rats with a Mashin'gun. They have no direct analog. Black Rats are armored and are your Uncommon Infected. They require armor-penetration and or Head Shots to take down effectively. The... I guess it's a glaive, they use does a ton of damage. Patrols consisting of 6+ of them can be found on the maps and avoided or fought. Then there's the Rat Ogre: The Tank.
This game is not easy. We've wiped on easy. The difficulty is in the vein of Left 4 Dead 2 and it's sadistic AI director. Normal runs can go South easily and Hard+ just really ups the ante. Hard doesn't even have friendly-fire and you'll still get railed at times. The game can and will just pile shit on you at times because why not.
Inherent progression system built in. You gain levels by beating missions. You "roll" for new equipment, pickups during missions will increase the success chance of each dice. You can break-down weapons for parts, pray for more. Game honestly has a lot of depth here for a $30 game.
The new missions are pretty standard except one where a character has to carry a torch to cut through the darkness. Makes for intense battles in the Dungeons. If you liked Left 4 Dead, this isn't a bad buy. There is only co-op and survival through. No versus. The maps are generally split into two types: A "main Campaign" mission that is longer and offers more rewards and shorter missions such as "go and grab 8 bags of food, bring back to exit, mission over." They can take less than 5 minutes, but offer fewer rewards.
Victor Saltzpyre's (The Witch Hunter) dialog is hilariously fantastic. A lot of the dialog is pretty good, even the annoying Waywatcher (talking about a bomb): "It's filthy, small, and noisy. Ha! Just like a dwarf!"
The only other Warhammer game I played was Shadow of the Horned Rat, like a billion years ago. And it's funny that game also featured Skaven (rat men), which I guess are a huge deal in Warhammer. By the by: Shadow of the Horned Rat kicked my ass. Game wasn't easy. Neither is End Times.
The game is an FPS and essentially a twist on the Left 4 Dead formula with Warhammer assets. Rather than playing as 4 survivors only unique in their personality: you have class selection in Warhammer with certain classes gaining access to different weapons and gameplay concepts. All start with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. Ammo is at a premium.
There's the Dorf, Empire Soldier, Witch Hunter (HOOOOLY SHIT MAN! BLESS THIS RAVAGED BODY!), Elf/Waywatcher, and Bright (Fire) Mage. The Dorf and Empire soldier have sword (or mace/axe) and Board options which make them very good tanks, relying on block/push mechanics to keep Skaven at bay while other do most of the damage. They can however also use other weapons for more damage. The melee weapons themselves usually have different styles and hurtboxes. Such as the default attack of the greataxe being single target (or very narrow in it's attack path), but it's charged attack being a sweep: doing less damage, but hitting and stunning more targets.
I main the Bright Mage. Her mace melee weapon lacks the horizontal swipes of the sword, but does more damage and is better if you understand the block/push mechanics to setup damage. I have settled on the Bolt Staff as a ranged weapon. Its primary attack is a kung-fu fireball spam, little damage, but burns and stuns attackers. Its secondary "pulls" fire from the staff into a javelin that does about 6 billion damage, auto-locks onto a target, and "snipes" them. Contrast to the Bolt Staff. The Primary is a "Shotgun Blast" that does loads of damage up close and burns. Its Secondary shoots a BIG LAZER! that does increasing burn damage and locks up any Skaven hit.
She has no ammo (unlike everyone else), but relies on an Overcharge mechanic. Control it or vent it (taking damage above a certain level while doing so) or you explode from TOO... MUCH... MAGIC and die instantly.
Special Infected are here. Hook rats (smokers) charge you, hook your neck, and drag you off. Gutter Runners are Hunters with smoke bomb and teleport mechanics. Gas rats are essentially Spitters mixed with Boomers. They throw gas bombs which are deadly to everything. Gunners are big rats with a Mashin'gun. They have no direct analog. Black Rats are armored and are your Uncommon Infected. They require armor-penetration and or Head Shots to take down effectively. The... I guess it's a glaive, they use does a ton of damage. Patrols consisting of 6+ of them can be found on the maps and avoided or fought. Then there's the Rat Ogre: The Tank.
This game is not easy. We've wiped on easy. The difficulty is in the vein of Left 4 Dead 2 and it's sadistic AI director. Normal runs can go South easily and Hard+ just really ups the ante. Hard doesn't even have friendly-fire and you'll still get railed at times. The game can and will just pile shit on you at times because why not.
Inherent progression system built in. You gain levels by beating missions. You "roll" for new equipment, pickups during missions will increase the success chance of each dice. You can break-down weapons for parts, pray for more. Game honestly has a lot of depth here for a $30 game.
The new missions are pretty standard except one where a character has to carry a torch to cut through the darkness. Makes for intense battles in the Dungeons. If you liked Left 4 Dead, this isn't a bad buy. There is only co-op and survival through. No versus. The maps are generally split into two types: A "main Campaign" mission that is longer and offers more rewards and shorter missions such as "go and grab 8 bags of food, bring back to exit, mission over." They can take less than 5 minutes, but offer fewer rewards.
Victor Saltzpyre's (The Witch Hunter) dialog is hilariously fantastic. A lot of the dialog is pretty good, even the annoying Waywatcher (talking about a bomb): "It's filthy, small, and noisy. Ha! Just like a dwarf!"