Developer Fatshark’s sequel to 2015’s Warhammer: Endtimes – Vermintide has been officially revealed after months it was announced back in August. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is currently scheduled for an early 2018 release and introduces new enemies, careers, and a new Heroic Deeds System as Fatshark builds on its established characters and the End of Times. The game’s brief synopsis reads:
In the End Times of the Warhammer world, you will be challenged like never before as you and your team of Heroes face untold enemy hordes in a desperate struggle to save the Empire from devastation. Choose a career for your Hero, climb the talent tree, pick from a vast range of unique weapons and gear, and hack through the ranks of the monstrous invaders. You and your allies are the only force standing against the onslaught of the mighty warriors of Chaos and the hordes of Skaven. If you fall, so shall the Empire.
In an interview with GameReactor, producer Martin Wahlund talked about the new enemy of Vermintide 2 that would be joining the Skaven – Left 4 Dead-inspired rodents from the first Vermintide. “From a gameplay perspective, it’s great because they are a really big contrast to the Skaven. The Skaven are squishy, they come in numbers; the Chaos are much fewer and they are really sturdy and tough.”
Wahlund also discussed Vermintide 2‘s cast of returning playable characters, new potential career paths, and what would be changing from the first game. “One thing that worked really well [in the first Vermintide] was the banter between the characters that we really love. We put a lot of effort into building these personalities and we wanted to keep the personalities but we wanted to add new visual career types, and visual models for the characters, and also new play styles,” Wahlund said. The game will introduce fifteen new career paths in total, each with unique talents and customizable arsenals. Players will be able to further define each of their heroes by picking three different careers each.
Vermintide 2 does not yet have a specific release date beyond Q1 of 2018, but it’s available for pre-order on Steam now for $30. Ordering the game now will also get you the upcoming Death on the Reik DLC for the first Vermintide, and access to the Vermintide 2 beta when it opens up. You can check out Vermintide 2‘s gameplay trailer below.