Warhammer: End
Times – Vermintide
RRP: $29.99 | Website: http://www.vermintide.com/
D
uring your first few hours
with Warhammer: End Times
– Vermintide, it’s difficult to
shake the feeling you’ve been here
before. It’s glaringly obvious that
the development team at Fatshark
has drawn loads of inspiration
from Valve’s Left 4 Dead series,
and the two games are functionally
similar in many ways. That feeling
of familiarity doesn’t dissipate
much as you delve further into the
first-person action of Fatshark’s
game – but thankfully Vermintide
has enough unique features that it
stands out as a distinctly appealing
experience.
In the game, you and up to three
chums join forces to battle your
way through 13 levels set in and
36 The OverClocker Issue 36 | 2015
around the Warhammer Fantasy
town of Ubersreik. The town’s come
under siege by an overwhelming
Skaven threat (the Skaven being a
race of humanoid rat people), and
naturally this grim situation calls
for some thrilling heroics. That’s
where you come in.
There are five characters from
which to choose, each offering
their own distinct way of dealing
with the Skaven scourge. The
game’s combat mechanics are
heavily skewed towards beefy
melee skirmishes, but all of the
characters also carry a ranged
weapon of some sort. There’s a
Dwarf Ranger, a Waywatcher, an
Empire Soldier and a Witch Hunter.
The fifth character – and my
personal favourite – is the Bright
Wizard. Most of her damage is dealt
at range via various fire-based
attacks, and while she doesn’t
expend ammo the way the other
characters do, she’ll quite literally
explode if you overuse her magical
abilities. Playing as her requires a
unique balancing act as you attempt
to keep your damage output in tune
with your health. She’s a blast to
play (as are the other characters),
and learning how to best utilise
each character’s strengths is key to
ensuring the success of your team,
especially at the higher difficulty
settings.
Mission objectives are
fairly diverse, and while the levels
follow a fixed path, the placement