Warhammer: End Times Vermintide, The Skaven rise

Fatshark is bringing four-player first-person co-op in the Warhammer universe to life, pitting a cast of five characters against hordes of the power-hungry Skaven race. The world of Warhammer is ending, and as Chaos draws closer, the Skaven invade the city of Ubersreik in force. You and three friends (or A.I.-controlled bots) must battle them back in a variety of locales; you won’t simply be stuck in a city setting.

Players select one of five characters to play as in any given mission or map, select a loadout for melee and ranged attacks, and then battle through swarms of Skaven in a quest for loot and unlocks. Only one of each character can be selected for each run, so you can’t have two Bright Wizards or Witch Hunters on the same mission but you can outfit characters to your specifications with the loadout system. So even if your favorite class gets taken you can tailor things to your playstyle.

Classes play quite differently based on loadout, from heavy area-swinging hammers to precise rapiers, and each has class-defining abilities as well. For example, the Bright Wizard doesn’t use ammunition in the traditional sense, but must manage spellcasting in order to not overheat and suffer damage. Along the way, players acquire class-specific loot and experience progression at the account, character, and equipment level.

The Skaven have a diverse cast of characters that need to be handled in different ways, including stock swarmer fodder that can be easily dispatched but is dangerous in numbers, ratling Gunners that fire deadly bursts that need to be dodged, Packmasters that can pull members of your party away from the group for easy feeding, and deadly Elite Packs that are best avoided altogether.

Warhammer: End Times Vermintide is expected to launch on new-gen consoles and PC later this year.