Warhammer: Vermintide II Ultimate Ed. (PS4)

The world of Warhammer has a deep lore that spans different mythologies tied to battles between different races of creatures. From the Space Hulks in the future of 40K to the Chaos Barbarians, and Skaven rat folk of End Times there is no lack of source material for the games that come to console or PC. Here in "Warhammer: Vermintide II", for example, we find a sort of medieval horror taking root in a kingdom under siege by the Skaven, and Chaos Barbarian armies. As foretold by King Sigmar darkness always returns, and none know this better than the odd assortment of heroes, and heroines whose fate is tied to this episodic sequel. Thankfully they escape the prisons, and looming execution at hand. Ultimately banding together in a fight against the Vermintide, and their efforts to usher in the Chaos.

At the heart of it all "Warhammer: Vermintide II" is what we call an ARPG, or action RPG. It is a melee, and ranged combat brawler done in a first-person perspective giving the player the illusion that they are the hero or heroine they chose to play as. Aside from being an ARPG the game also borrows looter elements from other game genres creating an interesting loop of gameplay that is good for those who want short rewarding sessions. As one of several fully named heroes or heroines of different classes, and races you will be tasked with taking on random missions with optional difficulty settings that reward your efforts accordingly. At Taal's Horn Keep, the game's main hub, you will be micro-managing said character/s. Suiting them up with earned cosmetics, gear, and weapons as well as single use items before sending them out to complete challenges, quests, and main missions in no particular order, or in order as you see fit.

Accessing the quest, and challenge information within Taal's Horn Keep is done via Orkil's Tome. A book which houses a menu containing a detailed listing of quests, and challenges of the daily and weekly sort. Each with their own set requirements for earning the loot chest rewards that come in different rarities depending upon feat, and difficulty setting. Not far from the Tome lies a mission map which acts as the matchmaking lobby, or mission starter for the online, and offline versions of the game. Here you can choose quick play for random missions with optional difficulty settings, or custom where you can select both the mission, and the difficulty. Aside from those two options is a more rewarding option that will allow you to choose a reward, and have your team of live, or AI co-op partners play through a mission for it. With this option though comes a preset difficulty, and a reward based upon that difficulty setting.

Once chosen you will head to the Bridge of Shadows within Taal's Horn Keep to begin. It is here you will be given the mission objective via a voiced, and subtitled lore intro. The mission objectives vary. Some will have you fighting through mobs, and eventually facing off against a beefy boss character. Others will have you solving platforming puzzles, and even rescuing prisoners among other challenging things. As the objectives vary so too do the environments, and enemies. To face whatever threat before you you'll have to make use of your melee, and ranged weapons as well as the healing items, and potions that buff the character. Each character comes complete with their own unique passive skill, and career skill. That, and some perks that are complimentary to team effort. Your attacks are fairly basic with melee swinging, and ammunition depleting projectile shooting. With melee you can also block though. The career skill, which builds up over time, can only be used when highlighted. Some career skills are team helpful while some are good for clearing mobs of enemies or doing big damage to the bigger foes.

Weapons, and skills aside each character that levels up through mission completion will also unlock talent skills that add a trio of ability buffs per tier to choose from. To choose one you must first unlock the talent tier, and earn a talent point you can spend on it. Talents include things such as different ways to heal or deal damage among other character specific things. When it comes to stat boosting character equipment you'll find weapons, and items that come in different color rarities with different attributes tied to them. This includes some damage valued weapons with illusion perks that make the weapon even more powerful in combat. All items can be equipped one per equipment slot, or can be broken down for crafting.

Crafting gear, and weapons is also a part of the gameplay loop. It can be done at the forge at Taal's Horn Keep like everything else. The forge will allow you to break down each item or weapon into a variety of different ingredients that can be used to strengthen weapons, modify weapons, craft weapons, create dusts for certain features, or add illusions to any weapon or item in your inventory. Of course the rarer the weapon or item is that is broken down the rarer the ingredients you will get.

Whether you are crafting or looting the finer equipment you will find that your performance matters. Each mission will have you, and three other characters/players trying to stay alive as you complete the objective/s required of you. Once you've completed the mission it will reward you loot chests, and strongboxes of different rarities based upon factors such as characters remaining. Along with the rewarding factors comes a tally of overall per character/player performance. Totaling up each players/characters kill count, kill prowess, and weapon efficiency. Where each player/character exceeds in comparison to the others will be circled by a green mark. Needless to say the better you play the better the rewards. Tack on the quest, and challenges listed back at Taal's Horn Keep, and you can easily reap triple the cache of loot.

The Verdict ...

Warhammer: Vermintide II, is a looter I could see myself getting into. It's combat is fun, and frantic. Chaotic at times. The loot loop is also very rewarding, and makes you want to keep at the grind to find the best equipment for your favorite character. Aside from the mentioned mechanics the game also looks decent enough, and is smooth enough for the most part. That being said I experienced some game crashing bugs, and was booted to the dashboard for simply opening up a loot box. That in mind do note that the developer has been issuing patches, and will no doubt keep up with it as they have just released a new expansion. This particular bundle includes two expansions plus the main game. That's a prologue, and all the missions therein. Not the newest expansion. For what you get this bundle is good for those just picking it up. The lore, though involved, will not lose those who are Warhammer unfamiliar. Sure some names might not mean as much, and places might not hold as much weight, but action-wise it's a fun game with enough content to warrant the retail price tag. I do approve of it, but hope that bugs get fixed.