Because a developer approached me from the site, I got a highlight at gamescom 2024

earthpressnews

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is one of the most popular co-op games on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox. Now the developers are testing a new PvP mode. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus played it live with a developer at gamescom 2024 and is thrilled – even though absolutely nothing worked.

“Can’t I maybe get you excited about Vermintide?” This question started one of my funniest moments at gamescom 2024. I was actually supposed to hear something from the developers about another game. But because the next group of journalists was already arriving, a developer from Vermintide looked after me and told me something about his game.

The co-op game is a familiar one of mine. I have spent well over 100 hours slaughtering hordes of Skaven, Beastmen and Chaos followers alongside other players. Even though I should hate the game, I love everything about it.

Now Vermintide 2 has announced a new PvP mode, which has been available for testing since the beginning of gamescom. The developer invited me quite spontaneously to just do a few rounds on the PCs provided. It wasn’t really planned.

If my highlight hadn’t already been the Warhammer role-playing game, this moment would have been my best experience at gamescom. And in any case, the unexpected gaming session will stay in my memory for a long time.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 brings Versus mode beta back to Steam

More videos

Autoplay

With flamethrowers, plague bullets and Gatling guns against the heroes of Übersreik

The PvP mode is absolute chaos in the best possible sense. The idea is simple: In Vermintide, you and three other players fight mainly against Skaven, nasty little rat creatures.

But now there is the opportunity to embody these very rats. In a 4-on-4 match, two teams compete on slightly modified maps. While the heroes simply have to get as far as possible, the rats are supposed to stop them.

Which team you play on at the beginning is random. The five heroes remain the same, the rats get a few special units to choose from:

  • Gutter Runners are assassins who jump on enemies from a distance and literally stab them, then disappear with a smoke bomb when in danger
  • Packmasters kidnap the heroes with a hook and hang them in distant positions
  • Globadiers throw poison balls that block the heroes’ view and inflict damage over time
  • Warp Flamethrowers are exactly what they sound like: rats with flamethrowers that spread green plague fire
  • Ratling Gunners fire rapid-fire weapons from a distance and – in theory – simply mow down enemies

    • Each time you respawn, you can choose one of two rats to play as “Pactsworn”. As a proud member of Clan Eshin, I naturally played a Gutter Runner whenever possible, albeit with limited success. All rats are really fun, though.

    We lost every round, even with the developer right by my side, but I had a blast. Pun intended.

    The PvP mode is a tough but fair tug of war

    To explain: We played live from gamescom with other real players somewhere in the world. The PvP mode was already ready for testing and we simply logged in with dev accounts and joined a quick match.

    Although I love Vermintide, I hadn’t played it for a while. I was rusty at playing and we got beat up badly. We lost and yes, that was mostly my fault. Sorry, fellow players!

    In theory, the PvP mode is really fair:

  • The game is played in rounds, with each team taking turns playing Heroes and each team playing Pactsworn.
  • The further the heroes get, the more points they receive. The points are added up at the end of each round.
  • If one team has so many points that the other can no longer catch up, the game ends immediately to avoid unnecessary frustration.

    • The balance is surprisingly good. Heroes only have a limited number of revivals, but can withstand a few. Rats can respawn as often as they want, but can sometimes be killed with a targeted blow. They can also only enter the game hidden from the heroes and must keep their distance.

    This turns the entire mode into a tactical team battle in which coordination and teamwork are important – just like in the actual co-op part of Vermintide.

    The Packmaster’s motto: “My hero, YOINK!”

    A co-op game gets PvP and it works frighteningly well

    In general, the PvP mode plays very similarly to the “normal” Vermintide. Sure, the rat players are a bit smarter than the AI ​​(unless you’re playing against me – the AI ​​would be more successful there). But since they’re quickly taken care of, they don’t pose a significantly greater threat than usual.

    The focus of the teams is not necessarily on the idea of ​​stopping opponents and being better than other players. It is more important to simply function well as a unit. That is the only way to win.

    Unfortunately, I only had about 40 minutes with the developer to look at the mode. But those 40 minutes were my highlight on that day at gamescom. While chatting with the developer, he said: This is all more of an experiment.

    Webedia Gaming (GameStar, GamePro, MeinMMO) is accompanying the big gaming event as the official media partner of Gamescom 2024. It will be an exciting week for everyone who makes their way to gamescom. But also on screen, because there will be more streams – for example the FYNG show from GameStar, GamePro and MeinMMO.

    For years, they have been promising that the PvP mode is coming and have been trying out different variants until it finally arrives. It’s all completely optional. Nobody has to compete against other players, the mode is just there for fun and for people who want to do it.

    The short session got me hooked and I’m really into Vermintide again. I informed my team at gamescom and we’re planning to get back into it soon. We’ve neglected the game anyway, after all Warhammer is one of the best franchises ever: In a perfect world, the biggest MMORPG today would be World of Warhammer

    mmod-game