If you are a fan of Vermintide 2, you may be looking to play games that share similarities with it. This could be for many reasons: you may like the gameplay, the RPG elements, the dark medieval setting, or the co-op gameplay. This list will include 10 games that share similarities to Vermintide 2 and are sure to catch your interest.
10. Back 4 Blood
Face off against horrifying zombies in this first-person co-op shooter.
Back 4 Blood is a co-op first-person shooter in which players must team up to complete missions while fighting off hordes of zombies, both small and large. Players can choose from twelve mechanically distinct classes with their own arsenals of weapons. Choose between the co-op storyline, the Trial of the Worm mode, or a player-versus-player mode and fight through waves of unique zombies to complete the mission.
Back 4 Blood has a lot of similarities to Vermintide 2. The game features unique characters with their own abilities and perks that fit them into different roles. The enemies one can face, too, are similar to Vermintide’s enemies, with hordes of simple zombies that go down in a few bullets to special zombies that can grab the player or inflict high damage, or even boss-type zombies that require concentrated fire from the team to bring down. The main difference between the two is that Back 4 Blood is no longer supported by its developers (and the primary reason it’s no higher on this list).
Back 4 Blood’s gameplay loop is similar, too. You pick a class, equip them with the weapons you want to use, and choose a mission. There are story missions and PvP missions, where you can play as zombies attacking human players. Replay any mission of your choice with new characters and loadouts to experience the game in different ways.
You should play Back 4 Blood if you like:
- Cooperative gameplay: Back 4 Blood’s co-op features are an integral part of its game design. Being inspired by the same titles as Vermintide, the game’s co-op cannot be overlooked when playing the game. Teams that don’t work together will not succeed in this game.
- Shooting: This game features a lot of modern-day guns as opposed to Vermintide 2’s mostly-melee arsenal. The game features assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, sidearms, and even melee weapons. You’ll have a lot of different items to try out and use to clear hordes in this game.
- Unique twists on zombie tropes: Back 4 Blood takes an interesting approach to its world’s zombie apocalypse. Rather than just a virus, this game opts for a more extraterrestrial approach, with the zombies being hosts for alien parasites. The game also features a faction of cultists who worship the parasites, providing another neat twist on the genre.
9. Total War: Warhammer Series
One of the several playable factions on display in the Total War: Warhammer series.
The Total War: Warhammer series of games are turn-based real-time strategy games set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. You can lead armies of a wide range of factions and races within the Warhammer Fantasy universe into battles across the land. Forge alliances with other factions and fight for control of the world in these campaign-oriented strategy games.
While Total War: Warhammer’s gameplay is entirely different from Vermintide 2, being entirely strategy-oriented, it is another very successful franchise set in the Warhammer: Fantasy universe. If you want more games that take place in the world of Warhammer: Fantasy, this is going to be your best bet. While the franchise is criminally lacking in RPGs or anything else like Vermintide, Total War is by far the most popular series of games in the franchise and is a sure bet for well-designed games in the same universe as Vermintide 2.
Each of the Total War games plays a bit differently, but they mostly follow a similar formula: you pick a faction or race, move armies and units around the maps, forge alliances with other factions, and attack enemy outposts and cities while defending your own. You can play as several factions across the series’ 3 games, and if you own all 3, Total War: Warhammer 3 has a mode where you can play as any faction presented in any of the games.
You should play Total War: Warhammer if you like:
- Strategy games: This is the series’ genre at its core. You move massive armies, control different units, forge alliances with other factions to receive unique bonuses and defend your territories. Total War: Warhammer requires lots of careful planning to succeed.
- The Warhammer: Fantasy universe: As stated, this series is one of the best video game series for Fantasy content. You get to interact with the world far more than in Vermintide 2 as well– you can play as humans or dwarves, or even the fearsome Skaven or the dreadful Chaos gods. This series is a great way to get involved with the broader Fantasy universe.
- Replayability: The vast number of factions and the many different combinations of how to structure your armies and alliances mean that there are several ways to play through these games. You’ll like the Total War: Warhammer games if you like experiencing games in different ways.
8. Orcs Must Die 3
Orcs Must Die 3 will constantly have players fight off massive waves of orcs.
Orcs Must Die 3 is a single-player or two-person co-op experience in which the players must use their battle skills and their variety of traps and defenses to protect a crystal from waves and waves of ferocious orcs and ogres. Unlock a variety of powerful weapons and traps to beat back the orc hordes and protect your crystal.
Orcs Must Die 3 bears some similarities to Vermintide 2 through its fighting off hordes of enemies and its (lighthearted) fantasy setting. The two playable characters have unique abilities and weapons available to them which encourage different playstyles while still having access to the same traps and buildable structures. While less hack-and-slash than Vermintide 2, Orcs Must Die 3 takes careful planning and management to tear through hordes of incoming enemies.
Orcs Must Die 3 has a campaign mode through which the players progress. You begin the game with rudimentary traps and weapons fighting off small numbers of enemies. As the campaign lengthens, the hordes get more diverse and intense, but the players unlock more varied and powerful gear and traps resulting in fun, destructive mayhem by the end of the game. You can continue to play after beating the game by replaying missions to get more unlocks or by going for a marathon run in the game’s endless mode.
You should play Orcs Must Die 3 if you like:
- Tower defense-style games: Although it has some RPG and third-person combat elements mixed in, Orcs Must Die 3 is a tower defense game at its core. You alter pathing and place down defensive towers, traps, etc. to slow down enemy hordes. If you like setting up elaborate defenses this game will appeal to you.
- Hybrid gameplay: Orcs Must Die 3 seamlessly blends third-person action RPG gameplay with strategic tower defense. If you enjoy games that combine different elements into a unique gameplay experience, this will appeal to you.
7. Risk of Rain 2
Risk of Rain 2 pits its players against maps full of a variety of enemies.
Risk of Rain 2 is a third-person 3D-environment roguelite game. You can choose from 11 classes (13 through DLC), choose a run difficulty, and play through sequentially harder levels while earning equipment to power up your survivor. The game can be played solo or in parties of up to 4.
Risk of Rain 2 is similar to Vermintide 2’s Chaos Wastes mode. While the two games have clear differences, playing through increasingly difficult levels while sharing in loot is a theme shared by both games. Both games allow for co-op gameplay and involve facing off against increasingly large and powerful hordes of enemies.
In Risk of Rain 2, you begin with a handful of items and 2 starting classes unlocked. You can begin playing a run, and as you earn achievements by completing specific tasks, you unlock extra survivors and add more items to the loot pool. Survivor abilities and skins, too, are unlocked through achievements. By continuing to play, you unlock more features of the game, and your characters’ potential grows. While there is a “final boss” that can be beaten to end a run with a victory, players can seamlessly shift to continuing to loop the levels, attempting to go for the longest run possible before perishing.
You should play Risk of Rain 2 if you like:
- Hilariously powerful builds: Much like certain feat combinations in the Chaos Wastes, certain item combinations can result in absurd levels of destruction in Risk of Rain 2– we’re talking about lag-your-game-out levels of explosions and missiles that can clear entire maps full of enemies in a second.
- Clear progression systems: After purchasing Risk of Rain 2, there are no additional purchases necessary other than the Survivors of the Void DLC– everything in-game, including cosmetics, is unlocked by earning achievements. These achievements range from very simple to very challenging and offer players a clear path to continue playing and growing their loot pool.
- Customization: Like in Vermintide 2, the game’s classes each have a relatively distinct manner of gameplay, but can be altered through picking certain perks or abilities. For example, Risk of Rain 2’s Survivors of the Void DLC character Railgunner can be altered to make high-damage quick shots with a short scope, or power up for devastating boss-insta-killing shots with a long scope.
6. Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 lets you play in teams of 4 overpowered soldiers.
Borderlands 3 is a slapstick, action-packed game full of diverse weapons, powerful classes, and satisfying gunplay. The game features a huge arsenal of unique weapons and four playable characters with unique skills and features. Borderlands 3 supports 4-player co-op as you complete a long string of missions filled with two dozen bosses, making for a fun single-player or multiplayer experience.
Borderlands 3 may not have the horde mode or the survival co-op mechanics of Vermintide 2, but it does have a 4-player co-op and a wide depth of missions in addition to its 4 unique classes which are advanced by leveling, just like in Vermintide 2. The game also heavily focuses on gunplay as opposed to melee, yet the high number of unique weapons and care put into them makes up for it.
Borderlands 3 has a main story mode and a variety of side missions. These can all be played solo or with friends in co-op mode. As you play through the story, you level your character up and earn better and better loot to constantly increase your fighting capabilities. After completing the story, some missions are repeatable and there are new game modes to play infinitely, or you can reset the story and enter a new game plus mode.
You should play Borderlands 3 if you like:
- Games that don’t take themselves too seriously: The Borderlands series is infamous for its low-brow and often meta humor and self-deprecating nature, but the over-the-top writing adds to the charm of the title. In a market saturated with post-apocalyptic games, it can be fun to play one that doesn’t sell itself too hard on the story.
- Gunplay: It’s been said several times already, but Borderlands 3’s diverse weaponry is one of the best aspects of the game. The game features over three hundred weapons, many of which are entirely unique. The crisp sound design and detailed animations make each of the game’s guns a true joy to use.
- Replayability: Each of the game’s distinct classes plays through the story mode separately. After completing the game with one class, to play another class, you must begin the story again. The unique gameplay each character provides will make each new playthrough refreshing and new.
5. Mordhau
Mordhau consists of chaotic, huge first-person multiplayer battles.
Mordhau is a multiplayer PvP first-person medieval combat game. You can fully customize your character, with a variety of historic melee weapons from huge greatswords to swift daggers, and with ranged weapons like bows and crossbows. The game’s first-person combat and omnidirectional attack system allow for intense combat that has a high skill floor and ceiling.
While the gameplay loop of Mordhau could not be more different from Vermintide 2 – it’s PvP versus PvE and huge multiplayer lobbies versus 4-man co-op – its big similarity is the combat. While not as fast as Vermintide 2, Mordhau’s first-person melee combat is extremely precise, requiring good aim and spacing to make the most of your equipment. Mordhau’s combat feels like a step up from Vermintide’s, incorporating feinting, attack morphs, and elements of Chivalry’s combat.
Mordhau’s central goal is to kill other players. Some game modes may enable different objectives, like defending a castle or capturing control points, but the central theme of the game is killing the enemy team. The game also features deathmatch modes where it’s every man for himself. By playing games, you earn gold, which is used to buy new pieces of armor or new weapons, or cosmetics for those weapons.
You should play Mordhau if you like:
- First-person melee combat: Mordhau’s combat is robust and tight, and will provide a fun and engaging experience for anyone who’s a fan of precise melee combat.
- Medieval/historical games: Mordhau features accurate weapons and armor from a variety of time periods and cultures in the medieval period, and will be very entertaining for anyone who’s a history buff.
- Absurd games: The game’s character customization, sometimes goofy voices, and weapon selection can often lead to absurd situations like people cosplaying cavemen or spamming screaming voice lines. Mordhau is great if you like multiplayer games that have that sort of chaotic energy, like Team Fortress 2.
4. Killing Floor 2
Killing Floor 2 lets you mow down waves of zombies while rocking out to a heavy metal soundtrack.
Killing Floor 2 is a bloody, fast-paced shooter where you and your teammates mow down hordes of zombies in wave-based missions. Level up classes, earn upgrades mid-mission, and wield destructive weapons while blasting zombies to a heavy metal soundtrack.
Killing Floor 2 bears similarities to Vermintide 2 through its cooperative horde slaughter. The character classes, too, are very similar, as they have sequential upgrades which are earned by leveling up. Killing Floor 2 also features a variety of special zombies as well as boss-type enemies that appear after a certain number of waves, like Vermintide 2’s own menagerie of elites, specials, and monsters.
You play Killing Floor 2 by selecting a character class and choosing a mission between Survival, Survival VS, and Endless mode. You clear out hordes solo or with a team, using currency earned mid-game to purchase weapon and character upgrades between waves. When finishing the final round of a non-endless mission, use your earned currency and XP to upgrade your classes and characters.
You should play Killing Floor 2 if you like:
- Fast-paced action: Killing Floor 2 highlights the swiftness of its enemies and the lethality of the player’s weapons. This game may be for you if you’re a fan of fast, brutal gunplay and chewing through hordes of enemies.
- Cooperative gameplay: Many of Killing Floor 2’s harder missions will require strong teamwork if you want to bring down the toughest enemies it has to throw at you. Uncoordinated teams will frequently meet their end. If you enjoy playing games where teamwork is paramount, then you’ll enjoy what this game has to offer.
- Weapon variety: Killing Floor 2 has a wide array of destructive weapons available to the player. From simple knives and pistols to powerful high-tech weaponry, this game’s arsenal doesn’t fail to disappoint. If you like having lots of weapons to pick from then this game will appeal to you.
3. Deep Rock Galactic
Deep Rock Galactic puts a fun spin on the typical fantasy dwarf tropes.
Deep Rock Galactic is a solo-to-four-player co-op game about dwarves blasting through hordes of giant bugs in space. If that doesn’t sound fun already, the game has 4 totally unique different classes with different unlockables, fully destructible environments, different mission types, and, despite a slew of cosmetics and a battle pass– no microtransactions. After buying the full game, the only other possible purchases are DLC cosmetic packs: everything in-game and in the battle pass is earnable for free.
Deep Rock Galactic is similar to Vermintide 2 in its four-player co-op horde killing. Both draw inspiration from the next game on this list, and Deep Rock Galactic features perks, earnable cosmetics, and build diversity. While several of its mechanics are a big departure from the gameplay loop of Vermintide 2, it’s still a very fun game for fans of Vermintide, with a great monetization model.
When playing Deep Rock Galactic, you pick a class, choose a mission type, and launch a drill down to the planet. These missions come in a wide variety, from resource gathering to recovering lost mining equipment to hunting down huge bugs.
You should play Deep Rock Galactic if you like:
- Horde shooting in particular: Deep Rock Galactic has a lot of weapons that lend themselves well to unleashing devastation on groups of enemies, from grenade launchers to miniguns to flamethrowers.
- Games that have user-friendly monetization systems: In a world of games that cost $60 and then sell $10 battle passes and cosmetic packs, Deep Rock Galactic’s free battle pass and earnable cosmetics are a breath of fresh air. You will never feel compelled to make any extra purchases or that you are falling behind by not doing so.
- Social games: Even beyond the standard mission system, there are a lot of interactable zones in the hub area that make for fun hangouts between missions. There are basketball-style minigames, a bar with unlockable drinks, a jukebox, and secrets all over the place to find. Even when you’re not blasting bugs, Deep Rock Galactic still lets you have fun with your friends.
2. Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the defining games of the co-op survival horde shooter genre.
The Left 4 Dead games are some of the most influential co-op horde shooters, probably ever. Left 4 Dead 2 is always hailed as the genre-defining title, which directly inspired several of the other games on this list, including Vermintide 2. Left 4 Dead 2 features 4 unlikely survivors who must fight through hordes of zombies, including special and boss-like infected, using a variety of melee and ranged weapons. There are no RPG elements or leveling systems– just your own skill and experience.
Left 4 Dead 2 is a clear inspiration for Vermintide. Even past the specific cases of enemy parallels, the level design formula is very similar. Left 4 Dead’s innovations set the course for every co-op PvE shooter to come after, and it’s worth taking a look if you’re a fan of the genre.
Left 4 Dead 2 is very open-ended in its gameplay: there is no required level order (but there is a sequential campaign), there are no unlocks and no level-ups– just choose a level, choose a difficulty, and start playing. Play through the mission by killing hordes of zombies and eliminating special zombies (which are very similar to Vermintide’s specials), finding better equipment as the level progresses, and completing the mission.
You should play Left 4 Dead 2 if you like:
- Co-op PvE games in general: Vermintide 2 is a direct descendant of Left 4 Dead’s design philosophy, and like several other games on this list, owes its existence to Left 4 Dead’s success.
- Dark, post-apocalyptic worlds with some humor: Left 4 Dead 2’s world is dark and depressing, but the quips and personalities of the two main casts keep the moment-to-moment gameplay lighthearted and fun.
- Tight gunplay with unique weapons: The weapon pool in Left 4 Dead 2 is rather limited, but this works to its advantage, with each of the game’s weapons playing differently. Apart from a few map-specific reskins of other weapons, each melee weapon and gun in the game has its own feel and stat spread, each lending itself to a different type of gameplay.
1. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide takes the Vermintide 2 formula and refines it.
Fatshark Games, the developers of Vermintide 1 and 2, released Darktide in late 2022. The game follows a similar gameplay loop to Vermintide 2 but is set in the grimdark sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 universe. You can choose between 4 different classes, choose from a variety of different weapons, outfit your character with perks and trinkets, and prepare to mow down hordes of enemies, hunt down tough bosses, and deal with elite and special enemies.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is, more or less, Vermintide in the 40k universe, but tweaked and improved. Any skills that you learned playing Vermintide will directly translate to Darktide.
Darktide’s gameplay loop is the same as Vermintide. Queue up for a mission, fight through hordes, kill a few random bosses, complete the final horde event, and finish the mission. Use your rewards to improve your characters and weapons to move up through the difficulties, rinse and repeat.
You should play Darktide if you like:
- Vermintide 2’s core gameplay: as explained, the two games have very similar gameplay. If you had fun playing Vermintide, you will have fun playing Darktide.
- Dark sci-fi worlds: The world of Warhammer 40k is dark, gritty, and edgy, with plenty of post-human sci-fi mixed in. If this environment is your thing, Darktide has it in spades.
- Shooting: While Vermintide’s shooting was rather toned down in favor of melee combat, Darktide focuses more heavily on it. Vermintide’s only ranged enemies were the Ratling gunners and Ungor archers in the DLC, but Darktide is filled with ranged combatants. The players have had their ranged power increased to match, and can kill enemies with a variety of marksman rifles, machine guns, magic staffs, shotguns, and pistols.
