On Thu, 03 Nov 2022 21:44:13 -0400, Mike S. <
Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:
On Thu, 03 Nov 2022 18:50:14 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
Nice catch. Thanks! :D
Yeah, nice one rms. Thank you. I am not sure this game is for me but I
am curious enough to try it soon.
I'm of mixed opinions on the Vermintide series. I played the first
game more than I did the second, but Vermintide 2 really just seemed "vermintide 1", but more.
I generally prefer cooperative shooters over competitive ones. "Left 4
Dead" was revelatory to me; it reinvigorated my appreciation of online
FPS games. And at its heart, "Vermintide" is "Left4Dead" except with
rats instead of zombies, so I really should love it. But I'm lukewarm
to the games.
In part, it's the setting. I've never been the biggest fan of the
Warhammer franchise (fantasy or 40K), and the series' increasingly
grim tones just don't appeal to me. The sometimes steampunkish aspects
of the game are also a turn-off. I just have more fun blasting zombies
than rats, I guess.
But it's also the gameplay. I loved the simplicity of the original
"Left4Dead"; four near-identical characters, seven guns (three of them upgrades), and five enemy types. It was a game that was easy to dive
into. You didn't have to worry about min-maxing stats and
weapon-types, or creating the 'perfect build'. You started a match,
picked a character based on cosmetic appeal, grabbed a gun, and
started blasting.
"Vermintide" added to that basic system with stats and upgrades, and
hidden items and all sorts of superfluous junk that - I felt -
degraded from that simplicity. If I pick a Witchhunter, will that
match up well with a team of Bright Wizards? Have I leveled up enough?
Will the AI-director bless me with the ammo and trinkets appropriate
to my class (and will it all be common stuff or something leveled up
and useful?). Will my loadout be appropriate to the monsters, or will
the AI director throw ogres at me now that I'm kitted out to fight
ratmen?
It turned the game into something more akin to a "World of Warcraft"
raid than a quick pick-me-up battle. It also meant that playing with
randoms was almost impossible; you needed your own squad with whom you
could plan and prepare beforehand. One of the best things about
"Left4Dead" was how it forced strangers to work together, and that's
lost in "Vermintide."
TL;DR: "Vermintide" isn't a bad game. It's just not what I wanted from
a cooperative online FPS.
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