I haven’t played muchWarhammer: Vermintide 2since its release several years back - I played through one of the game’s campaigns with a group of friends before we moved on to the next big multiplayer game. However, when I read the news that Vermintide 2 was getting a Versus Mode spin-off in the vein of Left 4 Dead 2, I was intrigued. I mean, who doesn’t want to play as a treacherous minion of the Horned Rat?
Vermintide Versus is a 4v4 PvP game mode that has two teams alternating between playing as the Skaven and the Ubersreik Five. Just like in L4D2, when you play as the Skaven you alternate between the various specials that you face in the game’s normal horde mode. The objective of the heroes is to advance through the map, scoring points based on how far they progress, the rats have the opposite goal, needing to stop the heroes by eliminating them en route to their objective. The rats, aided by hordes of AI enemies which prove to be quite a nuisance, don’t earn points, you just prevent your opponents from scoring them.
I gathered together a group of four, none of us having significant experience playing Vermintide 2’s base game. I figured there would be plenty of players interested in trying out Versus, so we wouldn’t be at too great a disadvantage. I was proven very wrong.
Like Shooting Rats In A Field
We start as the Ubersreik Five, and figure we’ll be able to progress through the map quickly to gather some easy points. We emerge into a decaying wheat field and are immediately set aflame by the poisonous gas of the dreaded Warpfire Thrower. If you play Vermintide 2 on high settings, it’s impossible to see anything when you’re in smoke or gas, adding a chaotic element to every fight.
After stumbling out of the gas, we are immediately penned in by the chain gun of the Ratling Gunner. As we struggle to get our bearings, the ‘assassin’ classes Packmaster and Gutter Runner capitalise on our lack of teamwork and make quick work of us. Our advance had collapsed in a matter of minutes. It’s fine, though - clearly the rats must be overpowered and any points you do get on the heroes are hard-fought.
It was our turn to play the Skaven and we fanned out, ready to get the jump on our unsuspecting opponents as they emerged from their spawn point. I kid you not, these four left their starting base with each player looking in a different direction, giving them omnidirectional information. As soon as a Ratling Gunner poked their head above cover they were one-shotted by a well-placed arrow from Kerrilian.
It proved impossible to play the specials that focused on picking off individual targets because this team moved as a perfect unit, covering one another and working in tandem. Needless to say, they cut through us like we weren’t human players at all, but the AI hordes they had been facing for years in Vermintide 2. The second set of rounds didn’t go any better as we registered 10 points to their 160 or so. One of us was successful in a mad dash through the field, earning a paltry number of points before dying shortly after.
After a quick check of our opponent’s Steam profiles, our suspicions were confirmed. Each had thousands of hours on Vermintide 2, clearly their multiplayer horde game of choice. I’m more of a Darktide player, anyway. It was our first game - surely we would get better? I like to think I’m a natural at certain games, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt as helpless as I did playing Vermintide 2 Versus. In each game, we would get swiftly shut down while playing as the heroes, and then fail to impede our opponents at all while playing Skaven.
This isn’t a whinge about tryharding or opponents being leagues better, but rather an appreciation for the skill level that these people have built up over years of playing a player-versus-environment game. How often have you wanted to show off your skills in a singleplayer game in a competitive environment? These grinders have waited six years to destroy other players and if that has to come at my expense, so be it.
We weren’t going to give up on our dream of a win, though. I continued playing Vermintide Versus with a rotating cast of teammates. As a side note, you really do need a full stack of four players to enjoy the game mode, trying to coordinate over text chat is laborious and strips the fun away. After about fifteen consecutive losses, we finally made headway and managed a hard-fought draw. Both teams failed to make much progress as the Ubersreik Five, resulting in a stalemate.
In the very next game, we managed to triumph. I suspect we were playing against a team with as little experience as us, but our communication was strong and we won a closely fought contest.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the sequel to the dark fantasy action game from Fatshark. This time, the Heroes of Ubersreik must take on both the Skaven and the Rotbloods.
