PRO
+ 4-man co-op magic and melee action
+ 5 characters, 3 jobs for each
+ The struggle on Legend is why I love to play it
+ Incredible character, VO, and setting details
+ 32 melee weapons & 22 ranged weapons, though restricted to specific characters
+ Updated by a team of devoted developers (Fatshark)
+ Player hub is a personal castle & its grounds; feels good to walk around and explore; training dummies
+ Very replayable, thanks to the game director ensuring that you don't get bored

CON
- Glitchy map spots continue to pop up from time to time, random disconnects happen
- Learning curve for weapons begins with figuring out which animations you want and which you don't, based on timing
- Really small chance of receiving hats from loot boxes (but they look pretty amazing when you get one)
- Sometimes, the game just ♥♥♥♥♥ on your team and there is nothing you can do about it
- Needs more maps and praise-worthy DLC

Review
I love both this game and its forerunner. The hack 'n' slash action is very fun in the grimdark fantasy world the game presents (takes place during the End Times of the Warhammer world) thanks to the variety of weapons you can use for each character and the introduction of jobs in this edition. The world feels much larger compared to the original Vermintide, as do the hordes of Skaven and Chaos warriors. The inclusion of multiple daylight maps in this version helps add a bit of visual appeal to it for me as well. The player hub has grown from the humble Red Moon Inn to a castle called Taal's Horn Keep; this is the place players meet before going out adventuring, or return to for crafting and leveling up. The castle continues to develop with recent game patch updates.

The learning curve I listed in the CON section refers to how each weapon has default swing animations. The game doesn't explicitly tell you that you can cancel your next swing animation by using block; this is a vital lesson to learn in order to improve your game. For example, if you were trying to use the first swing animation on a weapon because it struck in a way you liked, but you did not like the swings that followed, you can use block to reset the swing pattern. That aside, it's pretty fun to use your weapon of choice in a variety of ways to fit your needs of the moment once you figure the timing out.

The game director controls the enemies you will face, when they spawn, and how often they occur. I've no idea how it actually works, but the variety of stuff it throws at players taught me to always check my back, my team mate's backs, and to watch where I stand. Sometimes BS spawns happen that wind up causing team wipes though, this is what I meant by when the game ♥♥♥♥♥ on you. To be fair, the devs are continuing to tune the engine with patches and updates. To be fair, there are also times in the game where you get the feeling that the game decided the party should die immediately; silent patrols spawning in front of players with no chance of evasion, for example.

Overall, the game has a richness to it that stems from the level of detail invested into each character and how the characters dialogue with each other. The devs have added more dialogue since launch, and it's fun to catch new blurbs during the game. My favorite character continues to be Sienna Fuegonasus, the Wizard, but I've found that taking different jobs triggers different dialogues between characters, which is a nice touch. For example, when playing as the control class, her lines seem to be more in control than when playing as the tank, when she seems to be out of control. The other characters are all great to play as well, and I've played them all.

The major difference for me between this game and its predecessor concerns the quality of the DLC issued thus far. The original Vermintide's DLCs were astondingly good, and this game's DLC is depressingly bad (so far): to the point that I've been in pugs where all agreed to simply jump off a convient cliff in order to reroll the map rather than to play that particular map for various reasons. I am looking forwards to V2's next DLC impressing me as much as V1's did.

PRO + 4-man co-op magic and melee action + 5 characters, 3 jobs for each + The struggle on Legend is why I love to play it + Incredible character, VO, and setting details + 32 melee weapons & 22 ranged weapons, though restricted to specific characters + Updated by a team of devoted developers (Fatshark) + Player hub is a personal castle & its grounds; feels good to walk around and explore; training dummies + Very replayable, thanks to the game director ensuring that you don't get bored CON - Glitchy map spots continue to pop up from time to time, random disconnects happen - Learning curve for weapons begins with figuring out which animations you want and which you don't, based on timing - Really small chance of receiving hats from loot boxes (but they look pretty amazing when you get one) - Sometimes, the game just shits on your team and there is nothing you can do about it - Needs more maps and praise-worthy DLC Review I love both this game and its forerunner. The hack 'n' slash action is very fun in the grimdark fantasy world the game presents (takes place during the End Times of the Warhammer world) thanks to the variety of weapons you can use for each character and the introduction of jobs in this edition. The world feels much larger compared to the original Vermintide, as do the hordes of Skaven and Chaos warriors. The inclusion of multiple daylight maps in this version helps add a bit of visual appeal to it for me as well. The player hub has grown from the humble Red Moon Inn to a castle called Taal's Horn Keep; this is the place players meet before going out adventuring, or return to for crafting and leveling up. The castle continues to develop with recent game patch updates. The learning curve I listed in the CON section refers to how each weapon has default swing animations. The game doesn't explicitly tell you that you can cancel your next swing animation by using block; this is a vital lesson to learn in order to improve your game. For example, if you were trying to use the first swing animation on a weapon because it struck in a way you liked, but you did not like the swings that followed, you can use block to reset the swing pattern. That aside, it's pretty fun to use your weapon of choice in a variety of ways to fit your needs of the moment once you figure the timing out. The game director controls the enemies you will face, when they spawn, and how often they occur. I've no idea how it actually works, but the variety of stuff it throws at players taught me to always check my back, my team mate's backs, and to watch where I stand. Sometimes BS spawns happen that wind up causing team wipes though, this is what I meant by when the game shits on you. To be fair, the devs are continuing to tune the engine with patches and updates. To be fair, there are also times in the game where you get the feeling that the game decided the party should die immediately; silent patrols spawning in front of players with no chance of evasion, for example. Overall, the game has a richness to it that stems from the level of detail invested into each character and how the characters dialogue with each other. The devs have added more dialogue since launch, and it's fun to catch new blurbs during the game. My favorite character continues to be Sienna Fuegonasus, the Wizard, but I've found that taking different jobs triggers different dialogues between characters, which is a nice touch. For example, when playing as the control class, her lines seem to be more in control than when playing as the tank, when she seems to be out of control. The other characters are all great to play as well, and I've played them all. The major difference for me between this game and its predecessor concerns the quality of the DLC issued thus far. The original Vermintide's DLCs were astondingly good, and this game's DLC is depressingly bad (so far): to the point that I've been in pugs where all agreed to simply jump off a convient cliff in order to reroll the map rather than to play that particular map for various reasons. I am looking forwards to V2's next DLC impressing me as much as V1's did.