This "review" serves more as a comparison guide for those who have played the Left 4 Dead series in deciding whether they might like Vermintide or not, rather than an actual review.



Similarities

- Amount of players:

Much like the Left 4 Dead series, the maximum amount of players allowed in one game session is four players.

- Special enemies:

The special enemies in Vermintide are very similar to those in the Left 4 Dead series, with minor differences. The Globadier, comparable to Spitter. The Runner, to Hunter. The Packmaster, to Smoker. The Rat Ogre, to Tank.

- Characters:

Similarly, the characters in Vermintide are all unique from each other, have amusing voice lines and have interactions with each other time to time. Though in Vermintide, there are five playable characters instead of four.



Differences

- Levelling and progression system

Vermintide has unique equippable weapons and trinkets, offering different combat styles, that you unlock through levelling or completing a mission.

- Melee-focused combat

While the Left 4 Dead series offered melee weapons for the players to use, Vermintide emphasises the use of melee weapons by having limited ammo and a wide variety of weaponry especially for melee. Vermintide also has blocking, shoving, dodging, normal attacks and charged attacks within their melee system as opposed to Left 4 Dead's normal attack and shoving only.

- Purchasable DLC

Vermintide offers purchasable downloadable content as opposed to how every official content was free in the Left 4 Dead series. However, looking through the downloadable content for Vermintide, there doesn't seem to be any must-have DLC packs as they mostly add more maps and some weapons. For me, this is a good thing as those who look to buy the DLC packs are often people who want more gameplay time or support the developers, unlike in games like Payday 2 where some DLC packs are an absolute must-have in order to play on the higher difficulties or have an easier experience.

- Replay value

In the Left 4 Dead, the replay value lies within its simple and basic gameplay where anyone can pick it up and play with their friends without having to worry about the trending strategies or 'meta' or having a big difference in level or weapon arsenal. Another thing that makes people play more and more of Left 4 Dead 2 is the Steam Workshop support the game has, with the community creating their own content for the game, most notably the custom maps and campaigns. While in Vermintide, there is no Steam Workshop support or community mods, the replay value lies within the difficulty, loot and collectables of the game. For the difficulty factor, it's more towards those who seek more challenge on the maps they have already played, better loot and experience or both. In order to play on a higher difficulty, you'd need to complete the map on the previous difficulty to unlock that difficulty for that map (Hard in order to unlock Nightmare). As for loot and collectables, you get more loot as you complete more maps and you can increase the loot quality by collecting 'Tomes' and 'Grimoires' in which you'd need to hold onto them until the end of the level.

- System requirements

Of course, one thing to note is that the Left 4 Dead is well optimised and can even run on most, if not any low-end hardware. While in Vermintide, the game is more demanding of hardware.



Is it a sequel to Left 4 Dead 2? No.

Is it a Left 4 Dead clone with modern video game elements and a more in-depth melee combat? Yes.

This "review" serves more as a comparison guide for those who have played the Left 4 Dead series in deciding whether they might like Vermintide or not, rather than an actual review. [b]Similarities[/b] - [b][i]Amount of players[/i][/b]: Much like the Left 4 Dead series, the maximum amount of players allowed in one game session is four players. - [b][i]Special enemies[/i][/b]: The special enemies in Vermintide are very similar to those in the Left 4 Dead series, with minor differences. The Globadier, comparable to Spitter. The Runner, to Hunter. The Packmaster, to Smoker. The Rat Ogre, to Tank. - [b][i]Characters[/i][/b]: Similarly, the characters in Vermintide are all unique from each other, have amusing voice lines and have interactions with each other time to time. Though in Vermintide, there are five playable characters instead of four. [b]Differences[/b] - [b][i]Levelling and progression system[/i][/b] Vermintide has unique equippable weapons and trinkets, offering different combat styles, that you unlock through levelling or completing a mission. - [b][i]Melee-focused combat[/i][/b] While the Left 4 Dead series offered melee weapons for the players to use, Vermintide emphasises the use of melee weapons by having limited ammo and a wide variety of weaponry especially for melee. Vermintide also has blocking, shoving, dodging, normal attacks and charged attacks within their melee system as opposed to Left 4 Dead's normal attack and shoving only. - [b][i]Purchasable DLC[/i][/b] Vermintide offers purchasable downloadable content as opposed to how every official content was free in the Left 4 Dead series. However, looking through the downloadable content for Vermintide, there doesn't seem to be any must-have DLC packs as they mostly add more maps and some weapons. For me, this is a good thing as those who look to buy the DLC packs are often people who want more gameplay time or support the developers, unlike in games like Payday 2 where some DLC packs are an absolute must-have in order to play on the higher difficulties or have an easier experience. - [b][i]Replay value[/i][/b] In the Left 4 Dead, the replay value lies within its simple and basic gameplay where anyone can pick it up and play with their friends without having to worry about the trending strategies or 'meta' or having a big difference in level or weapon arsenal. Another thing that makes people play more and more of Left 4 Dead 2 is the Steam Workshop support the game has, with the community creating their own content for the game, most notably the custom maps and campaigns. While in Vermintide, there is no Steam Workshop support or community mods, the replay value lies within the difficulty, loot and collectables of the game. For the difficulty factor, it's more towards those who seek more challenge on the maps they have already played, better loot and experience or both. In order to play on a higher difficulty, you'd need to complete the map on the previous difficulty to unlock that difficulty for that map (Hard in order to unlock Nightmare). As for loot and collectables, you get more loot as you complete more maps and you can increase the loot quality by collecting 'Tomes' and 'Grimoires' in which you'd need to hold onto them until the end of the level. - [b][i]System requirements[/i][/b] Of course, one thing to note is that the Left 4 Dead is well optimised and can even run on most, if not any low-end hardware. While in Vermintide, the game is more demanding of hardware. Is it a sequel to Left 4 Dead 2? No. Is it a Left 4 Dead clone with modern video game elements and a more in-depth melee combat? Yes. Check this box if you received this product for free (?) Do you recommend this game? Yes No Cancel Save Changes