Review for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 08/03/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 18/12/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 11/07/2018
The universe of Warhammer is perhaps one of the best fantasy worlds ever conceived: deep, bad enough and developed, enlarged and enriched in tens of years of existence of one of the most loved strategists ever. As a consequence, even in the world of videogames there have been numerous attempts over the years to adapt such a successful brand (both fantasy and in its futuristic version 40.000, of which we recently reviewed Gladius: Relics of War), obviously concentrated in the genre of the strategists, with very rare experiments in other videogame sub-branches. Three years ago Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide broke this trend, throwing its head into the world of first-person titles and today the "Left 4 Dead in Warhammer sauce" comes to its second episode, already released on PC at the beginning of the year and now on Xbox One (and immediately included in the catalog of Xbox Game Pass): Introducing Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
Second work by the Swedish studio of Fatshark, Vermintide 2 refines and refines the original adventure, presenting itself in much more effective form and substance, particularly on consoles: while the first game, in fact, especially on Xbox was conceived really badly, with a port clearly done quickly by a positive PC version instead (for example with writings almost illegible from a TV), this sequel, however, full of news and improvements , surprised us positively with the Xbox One X's 4K.
The theory of chaos
The biggest news, at least for fans of Warhammer and its rich lore, is the presence of a second enemy faction. The story of Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - although certainly not central to the gaming experience - directly follows that of the first episode, with five unblemished and fearless heroes allying to defeat an unspecified threat of the Skaven (one of the races of Warhammer, in practice, giant rats armed to the teeth). This time, however, alongside the overgrown rodents there will also be the terrible creatures and formidable fighters of Chaos. An addition not only visually cool (some monsters like the Scion are animated in a phenomenal way), but also very useful to increase the variety of the clashes, the many battles to the white weapon that you will face in the Fatshark production.
The gameplay loop of this sequel has hardly changed from the already excellent first episode: first person view, wide levels to explore (there are 13 this time, but you will replay them several times), and a lot of patience required, because many mice will arrive at you from the most accessible level of difficulty (the game is quite complex, but perhaps slightly easier than the first). This does not mean that there are no news, but they are more concentrated in other areas of the game.
Loot, what a passion
For example, in Warhammer: Vermintide 2, although you can only select the same five heroes, the developers have added many new options: First, each character has three skill trees available, unlockable by playing; in practice three classes with different powers for a total of 15 different characters, or almost. Very good addition, although it takes much too long to unlock them, as the progression system, at least at the lowest difficulties, is a bit slow. Everyone can therefore find their own way to fight, also thanks to the varied weapons that can be equipped to the characters; many times in productions of this type between different equipments the appearance and maybe the power change at most, but in Vermintide 2 equipping a different weapon class completely changes the approach to the game. For example, the sorceress (best hand down character for us) scrolling through the weapons can shoot fireballs or maybe a Super Man-style beam or maybe even a fire bomb.
You will then collect hundreds of these weapons: the game introduces an intricate loot and crafting system, unsurprisingly: on the other hand, there is now loot in everything these days. But in truth it satisfied us somewhat. Completing the challenges or missions will reward loot boxes (there are no microtransactions!) containing weapons, armor and accessories of varying degrees of rarity. You will then be overwhelmed by swords and bows with different powers, in a somewhat confused way; Luckily, crafting will come to your rescue here, where occasionally you will be invited to recycle some of the aforementioned objects to make a better one with the materials obtained. Fatshark has really thought of everything and Vermintide 2 is very nice and complete in every aspect.
Finally, we want to underline how the game really lets itself be watched, especially on Xbox One X, where it is also presented in 4K. In the face of very brief frame-rate drops in some areas specifications, the artistic direction and the graphic detail of Vermintide 2 have nothing to envy to great triple A games: especially the lighting and the textures of the buildings have left us amazed. Not bad for a fairly small development team.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is not a revolution, but it improves its predecessor in every element, adding content, showing off a good technical realization and confirming its good playability. If you have some friends and are looking for a new challenge, try it: we remind you that it is also released on Xbox Game Pass.
► Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an Adventure-Indie-Shooter game developed and published by Fatshark for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 08/03/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 18/12/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 11/07/2018
