I want to like this game. I truly do. While I could see myself recommending it on the cheap (20 dollars including all the DLC content) to shooter fans/Warhammer fans, the title simply isn't worth its 30 dollar price tag at all. A cooperative/singleplayer L4D 2 campaign mod with various classes, the game uses the carrot of ever-increasing loot drops as an impetus to keep playing. The premise isn't to survive and make your way through the map but, instead, to complete some rote objective (destroy xyz, exfiltrate abc items in a wagon/boat/caravan). Think Dead Center Map 4 over and over and over and over. Consequently, despite the fact that the game is wonderfully atmospheric, graphically impressive, reasonably well-assembled and has moments of fun, the game can also feel suffocatingly repetitious and grindy.

To be honest, if I'm going to be playing a grindy title like this one, I'd much rather concentrate my focus on a more open, massive title like Diablo 3. While the first person elements somtimes feel reasonably good (combat), often these self-same first person paradigms impair the feel of the legitimately diverse character classes. Character movement is the most clear and egregious offender. The trailers show characters moving around, bounding, acrobatically and colorfully but this information is completely obscured in first person and perhaps a third person view would be much more effective at conveying such class variation. Additionally, the community is quite vacant, with only about 30 or so server instances populated by approximately 45 players at any given time.

With the dearth of players using microphones and a lack of clear procedural map-strategy, players mostly do their own thing and only help each other when it becomes absolutely necessary. In this way, Vermintide feels terribly lonely (and dark...holy crap, give me a flashlight!). You play alone, you level alone, you forge gear alone and only on brief crescendo events do you ever work together, with the exception of an occasional cap clear. Unlike a title like Left 4 Dead 2, where each campaign is divided into maps with clear and differentiated events that mandate specific responses/strategies, Vermintide's mapping, while pretty, is simply an uninspired, maze-like mess of constant scurrying/front-running towards the next crate full of potions.

The inclusion of treacherous terrain where specific Skaven types would have improved efficiency is just one minor suggestion that could add significant variation to the title. In light that Vermintide lacks vs multiplayer, the need for dynamic, reaction-inducing maps is oh so vital. While I only have a scant few hours in the game, the title update erased all my progress and bugs seem to be crawling in this title. The title runs reasonably well but crashes on occasion and somtimes demonstrates issues during combat, like clipping, animation glitches or the like. While blatant animation problems never occur, being unable to hit a Skaven in front of you because you've already missed twice, and needing to change your position completely to actually connect a blow, can sometimes dull the intoxication that this game purports to elicit during combat.

It's not that Vermintide is a bad game or that it's badly made. Vermintide, with the right group of friends can be good fun. The issue is that the game has deep paradigm flaws in its core gameplay that render it less than what it could be and allow so many other titles to be so much better value for the money. Ultimately, this game can be lonely, boring grind without the right group of people and even then...the game has limits.

Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere.

6.5/10.

Side note: I've disliked PC Gamer since the beginning of time. Once again they showcase what incredible noobs they are. They gave Doom 2016 an 88 but this game a 90? Wait what? Clueless wannabes.

I want to like this game. I truly do. While I could see myself recommending it on the cheap (20 dollars including all the DLC content) to shooter fans/Warhammer fans, the title simply isn't worth its 30 dollar price tag at all. A cooperative/singleplayer L4D 2 campaign mod with various classes, the game uses the carrot of ever-increasing loot drops as an impetus to keep playing. The premise isn't to survive and make your way through the map but, instead, to complete some rote objective (destroy xyz, exfiltrate abc items in a wagon/boat/caravan). Think Dead Center Map 4 over and over and over and over. Consequently, despite the fact that the game is wonderfully atmospheric, graphically impressive, reasonably well-assembled and has moments of fun, the game can also feel suffocatingly repetitious and grindy. To be honest, if I'm going to be playing a grindy title like this one, I'd much rather concentrate my focus on a more open, massive title like Diablo 3. While the first person elements somtimes feel reasonably good (combat), often these self-same first person paradigms impair the feel of the legitimately diverse character classes. Character movement is the most clear and egregious offender. The trailers show characters moving around, bounding, acrobatically and colorfully but this information is completely obscured in first person and perhaps a third person view would be much more effective at conveying such class variation. Additionally, the community is quite vacant, with only about 30 or so server instances populated by approximately 45 players at any given time. With the dearth of players using microphones and a lack of clear procedural map-strategy, players mostly do their own thing and only help each other when it becomes absolutely necessary. In this way, Vermintide feels terribly lonely (and dark...holy crap, give me a flashlight!). You play alone, you level alone, you forge gear alone and only on brief crescendo events do you ever work together, with the exception of an occasional cap clear. Unlike a title like Left 4 Dead 2, where each campaign is divided into maps with clear and differentiated events that mandate specific responses/strategies, Vermintide's mapping, while pretty, is simply an uninspired, maze-like mess of constant scurrying/front-running towards the next crate full of potions. The inclusion of treacherous terrain where specific Skaven types would have improved efficiency is just one minor suggestion that could add significant variation to the title. In light that Vermintide lacks vs multiplayer, the need for dynamic, reaction-inducing maps is oh so vital. While I only have a scant few hours in the game, the title update erased all my progress and bugs seem to be crawling in this title. The title runs reasonably well but crashes on occasion and somtimes demonstrates issues during combat, like clipping, animation glitches or the like. While blatant animation problems never occur, being unable to hit a Skaven in front of you because you've already missed twice, and needing to change your position completely to actually connect a blow, can sometimes dull the intoxication that this game purports to elicit during combat. It's not that Vermintide is a bad game or that it's badly made. Vermintide, with the right group of friends can be good fun. The issue is that the game has deep paradigm flaws in its core gameplay that render it less than what it could be and allow so many other titles to be so much better value for the money. Ultimately, this game can be lonely, boring grind without the right group of people and even then...the game has limits. Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere. 6.5/10. Side note: I've disliked PC Gamer since the beginning of time. Once again they showcase what incredible noobs they are. They gave Doom 2016 an 88 but this game a 90? Wait what? Clueless wannabes.