Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a co-op-focused action game experienced from a first-person perspective.[1] Set in the Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, players battle cooperatively against the Chaos army and a race of rat-men known as the Skaven.[1][2] The game features five different characters to play as. These characters are divided into 15 different careers, each with a unique set of skills and abilities.[3] After players complete missions, they receive rewards through a randomised loot system.[4][3]

The base game comes with 13 missions,[5] with two extra missions available through purchase of the "Shadows over Bögenhafen" DLC.[6] There are four difficulties to choose from when selecting missions: Recruit, Veteran, Champion and Legend.[7] A second DLC titled "Return To Ubersreik" which re-creates maps from the first game has been released. [8]

A third DLC, the game's first expansion[9] titled "The Winds of Magic" released in 2019 for PC; though was delayed for consoles. The expansion brought with it the introduction of a new caste of enemies, the Beastmen, who are in search of an artifact known as the 'Herdstone'. The new expansion also introduced several new weapons, a challenge mode known as Weaves, a new difficulty by the name of Cataclysm and a new map. The expansion received mixed reviews due to lackluster reception to the new Weaves mode as well as balancing changes that were introduced with the expansion. The second season of the expansion, originally planned for December 2019, was pushed back to 2020 in order to assure quality testing. This second season introduces 'Lohner's Emporium of Wonders', which is a cosmetic shop that allows players to purchase cosmetics using a new in-game currency known as Shillings; which is earned from doing content in the game. The second season also introduces a quick play mode for Weaves as well as balance changes to the mode, and three new maps revisiting the Drachenfels, the first DLC from the original game, for free for Winds of Magic owners. This announcement also announced that Winds of Magic would be ideally releasing for consoles before 2019, with developer feedback stating at the latest it would be released within January 2020. [10]

The game is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe during the early days of the End Times. The game follows the Heroes of Ubersreik from the first game against the Skaven hordes of Clan Fester and their new allies, the Rotbloods (a Chaos Warband dedicated to Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease and Decay). The expansion, "Winds of Magic", also introduced the Beastmen, a herd of Chaos mutated humanoids, in search of an object known as the 'Herdstone'.

Vermintide 2 was developed by Swedish video game studio Fatshark.[4] Vermintide 2 was announced in August 2017. The game's worldwide reveal occurred on 17 October 2017.[11] The game was released for Windows on 8 March 2018.[12] The game was released for the Xbox One on 11 July 2018 and is available at no cost to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.[13] The game was released on the PlayStation 4 on 18 December 2018.[3]

The game received generally positive reviews from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic.[14] Tom Marks, writing from IGN, wrote positively about the game, comically praising it on the creative forms of dismemberment that the players can participate in against the "ratmen", one of the primary antagonists of the game, and lack of microtransactions, which he compares favorably against Star Wars: Battlefront II.[18] PC Gamer declared the title the best cooperative game of 2018.[20] Destructoid called it "an improvement over its predecessor" and praised the "beautifully designed sprawling levels, more varied enemy types, an addictive loot system, and a whole lot of character skills to try out"[21]

The game sold over 500,000 copies in four days after the initial PC release.[22] It had sold over 1,000,000 copies four weeks after the PC release.[23]

• Official website