This past week has seen Vermintide 2 rush out of the gloom of Beta and into the eerie Morrslieb-light of full PC release. Five heroes stand between the Reikland and utter destruction at the hands of rapacious skaven and unstoppable Chaos-worshippers. Thirteen levels of brutal, fast-paced first-person melee combat. Fifteen careers to follow. Over fifty types of weapon. An endless tide of rats and heretics to slaughter.
Good times.
Why am I talking about Vermintide 2? Aside from the fact that it’s a cracking game and all? Well, I’m occasionally (constantly) reminded by someone who will remain nameless (my wife) that I should blog a little about projects I’ve been involved with when they come to fruition. Because I too often forget. So here we are. What with me being the Game Writer on Vermintide 2 and all.
What does that mean? Well, in this particular case, it translates to me being responsible for roughly 90-95% of the dialogue, voice lines, item descriptions as well as a goodly chunk of the names (as compared to maybe 60% in the first Vermintide).
Love one of the jokes? Probably mine. Hate it? Still probably mine.
Without going into too much detail, that’s thousands of commands, barbs, rejoinders, fragments of lore and snatches of badinage – the work of many months. Enough that when I’ve been playing the game I’ve heard lines I’ve long since forgotten writing. Enough that I’m pretty sure players will be hearing new snippets for months to come.
It’s been a pleasure getting back into these characters: their brittle arrogance, their irrepressible cheer and their bleak forebodings. Do I have a favourite? Well, I play Kerillian and Bardin more than the others, but that’s a hangover from the first game, where they were the two characters I fully scripted (plus I’ve played loads of humans in games before). But as to their personalities? I can’t play favourites there. For every one of Kerillian’s verbal whip-cracks, there’s a tall tale from Bardin, a bleak pronouncement from Saltzpyre, a flash of heart-warming glee from Sienna and a brief lapse from Kruber that shows he might just be smarter than he lets on.
As with the first Vermintide, it’s been an absolute blast working with Fatshark, and share in their passion for both the project, and the Warhammer World of blessed memory. Here’s hoping we’ll get to do it again.
In the meantime, you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve more rats to kill.
