Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Yes, play this game. Be overrun by rats and the forces of Chaos, and slaughter them using the most worthy and unworthy heroes I've ever loved and played. [h2]Fun builds, high difficulty [/h2] Not much to say, but this game forces you to get skilled and allows you to do so in a variety of ways. Want to be an elf shooting nigh-unlimited arrows? Check. Religious fantatic that's hard to kill? Check. Insane witch that melts the faces of horrors while raising skeletons? Check. Stealthy hunter with a machine gun? Check. Bomberman dwarf with a machine gun AND explosives? Also check. 5 characters x 4 classes, and you can play each class in a few ways so there's much to explore. Find something that suits you, or try everything. It's great eitherway. [i](Some of these are DLC but they cost like $2 on offer so it's not a big expense so don't hit me when you don't see the class I mentioned)[/i] [h2]The most unexpectedly realistic heroes[/h2] This may not be a selling point for some, but the characters are well-written and realistic to the point they feel like actual people. No one is simply a caricacture; everyone has great dialogue and banter. The elf is only nice to the witch but very racist -> The witch is nice to everyone but the fanatic -> The fanatic is only nice to the mercenary and the dwarf -> The mercenary is nice to everyone -> The dwarf is nice to everyone but casually racist as well. And they all say the most funny things when shot by allies. [i]"Why am I on fire? SIENNA!?"[/i] [i]"Save it for later, Witch!"[/i] You get a cackle and almost feel tempted to shoot them again just to hear the complaints. There are no thirst traps here. Everyone is as ugly as you'd expect a rat-slaughtering hero who is constantly getting stabbed and shot at to be. It's not the most appealing first impression if you're expecting FF7 supermodels, but they'll certainly grow on you. [h2]CO-OP, but you can solo[/h2] You don't have to play with people. It's perfectly fine to set treat this as a 1-player game and play with the bots you like. There may be some challenges you can't complete but they don't matter as the there aren't any rewards that are essential. [h3]My bot recommendations for newbies[/h3] [i](You need to level them up to access their talents)[/i] 1. [b]Warrior Priest[/b] (S-Class): Jesus Adjacent. Heals your recent damage and turns you invincible. He's a DLC but he'll keep you alive when you do something stupid or get overrun. Give him 2 shields and auto-procs of his ulti and he'll come back to life when almost killed and bring you back too. 2. [b]Ironbreaker [/b](S-Class): Bait. He's the most unkillable one. In solo mode, he can be expected to block so effectively you're shocked by how little damage he's taken (46 damage on Legend??? how??) and can force himself through hordes to revive you. Why is that important? Fat little dwarf who is hard to kill may be the saviour of the party. Bonus: he's good at sniping Specials with his crossbow. 3. [b]Waystalker [/b](S-Class): Ultimate Aimbot 9000 + Life Giver (often hated but simply misunderstood). Snipes enemies who try to kidnap you faster than 95% of players + regens the whole party to 50% life--priceless when you're learning the game and exploring maps slowly. Unlike the first two, she needs a little protection. Since she gets rid of enemies before they cause a problem (like a good antivirus), people don't feel the pain and undervalue her contribution and only notice when she dies because they didn't look out for her (like she's looking out for them). 4. [b]Mercenary [/b](A-Class): Buffer + Staggerer + Reviver + Temp life giver. Excellent and often regarded as the best bot because he gives temp life and attack speed, and can even revive the whole party with his ulti. But he's only slightly tankier than the Waystalker and may also need protection (when deployed together they often die together). Definitely solid but "best bot" depends on playstyle and preference. People use him with Greatsword or Spear + Shield but from testing I've found he can do incredible damage and sometimes dies less with Executioner Sword instead. Controversial personal opinion: [spoiler]People rate him over Waystalker, Foot Knight and Ironbreaker because of classic [b]Salience Bias[/b]. They can see that he revived them, but couldn't see when they didn't need reviving in the first place due to Foot Knight's defensive aura and Waystalker's OP sniping and regen and Ironbreaker baiting and soaking an entire patrol without taking damage--the players will just credit themselves and good luck that they backstabbed the patrol so easily. But Mercenary's attack speed buff is naturally super nice.[/spoiler] 5. [b]Foot Knight[/b] (A-Class): Tank + Buffer + Wild boar. Super solid choice with damage reduction aura and block cost reduction (so you can block more hits). He can turn invincible briefly after using his ulti (hence wild boar). He's regarded the poorer choice to Mercenary but he doesn't die as easily and his defence aura prevents you (and other bots) from needing temp life and revive in the first place. I believe that (like Waystalker and Ironbreaker) his performance is not credited fairly because it cannot be "seen". While his ulti is less impressive than Mercenary, his defensive aura is always on. Mercenary's attack speed buff that stops when Mercenary isn't cleaving like during boss fights. 6. [b]Unchained [/b] (A-Class on lower difficulties when paired with Foot Knight): All-Rounder Tank + DPS + Temp life giver. She performs surprisingly well up up to Champion difficulty. With the right equipment and Foot Knight's buff, she boasts 90% damage reduction and super cheap blocks. Take damage -> DPS goes up. Block damage -> DPS goes back down and damage reduction goes up. You can demote her in Legend since she will struggle to contribute consistently. A few other classes make A and B-Class bots (e.g. Sister of Thorn, Outcast Engineer, Necromancer) but many of the rest are straight F. I recommended a bot for each character because only 4 characters are active at any time and you can rotate them for the banter. [i]"ELF! Check that otherworldly aim of yours!"[/i] [h2]Some of the "cons" [/h2] (but mostly not really...?) 1. [b]Steep learning curve[/b]: It can be really rough in the beginning and to raise usable bots you need to grind each character, even the ones you don't like. Just take your time playing Recruit / Veteran until you're used to the controls. 2. [b]No maps and limited prompts[/b]: This can be a serious issue, lol. Even a basic map like Against the Grain can be confusing for beginners. You have to be observant and listen for characters shouting, "Over here!" and realise you're to jump over a fence, into a hole in the wall, into a basement, or off a building. But be warned, those audio cues can sometimes make you more lost as you mistake it for telling you to go back the direction you came from when you're already going the right way. 3. [b]Not suitable for people who are secretly Loot Rats[/b]: Don't expect this game to have loads of legendary equipment like standard fantasies. It is a co-op after all. You basically craft what you need and change the cosmetic to what you like. Everything is technicially junk until you upgrade it. 4. [b]People are idiots[/b]: There will be noobs and there will be pros with 0 team work, and both can be equally bad, and you will die because of their actions. But it's okay, you can always solo. 5. [b]Long loading time when joining[/b]: Joining people can take a long time. It's annoying but bearable. And you can always solo. __ In summary, I highly recommend you try this game. It's super cheap during discount and hella fun. Enjoy!