Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide for the PC from developer Fatshark is the newest entry in to the ever growing lore chest that is Games Workshop games. This one takes us for the first time in modern gaming in to the Warhammer Fantasy realm. Its a realm of Dwarves, Wizards, Elves, Humans and Greenskins, rather than Eldar, Orks, Humans, and Chaos. That doesn’t mean there isint any crazy stuff going on, indeed this is a world in as the title suggests “the end times”. Rat like Skaven have overrun the city you play in and its up to you and team of three other heroes to drive them up and prevent the end times.
It has to be said, this game is very much Warhammer Left 4 Dead. The mechanics aren’t the same, this is a First person weapon combat games (swords and sorcery) left 4 dead is a shooter. The game itself suffer from no issue I was able to find in my playtime, and perhaps most importantly it has a ton of depth that i Left 4 dead lacks. The game has a semblance of a crafting system, a fairly deep engaging loot system that involves rolling dice. The loot system feels exciting even if it is mostly just random chance. There are items to collect for each class and three trinket unlock slots for as you level up. The forge system requires raw materials that can be collected and broken down from various weapons and other things in game. All right back to those Skaven, remember them? Rat like humanoid creatures that want to mess up your day? You the player must select from one of the 5 unique classes (waywatcher, witchhunter, dwarf, wizard, soldier) and take to one of the games 13 levels to beat back the (literal) vermintide. There is no central plot in the game, rather the developers have opted to use a hub and spoke configuration, where there is a central inn where crafting is done, missions are selected and parties are created, the party then deploys to the selected mission. Although to start off there are only a handful of missions to play, as you level up more unlock, and each has 5 difficulty levels to play if you really start to feel bored. Each level feels unique, with beautiful set pieces pulled right from Warhammer Fantasy battles. The massive Gothic town you battle in and around has a living breathing feel to it, with metal, wood, and stone that befit the motif of a fantasy battles city. I really cant say enough about how well atmosphere is done in this game, its always sort of dim, the lighting makes if feel perfectly at home in the fantasy world, and the Gothic touches really take it over the top.
