A Ten Year Birthday Party For Rat Smashing
Warhammer End Times Vermintide quietly turned ten years old this October. If that makes you feel old, you are not alone. The first game was a solid co op spin on the Left 4 Dead formula and it built the foundation for something much better. Over time though, Vermintide 2 pretty much replaced it in most players minds.
Instead of letting the original fade away, developer Fatshark decided to celebrate the anniversary inside Vermintide 2 itself. Their idea is simple but smart. Take one of the most memorable maps from the first game and rebuild it as a new adventure in the sequel.
The result is Return to the Reik a fresh spin on the old River Reik mission, now fully rebuilt for Vermintide 2 and available as a free update.
What Is Return To The Reik
River Reik originally arrived in the Death on the Reik DLC back in 2017. That pack only ever reached a Mostly Positive rating on Steam, so calling it one of the most popular maps might sound like a stretch. But this is not just a re release. Return to the Reik treats the old layout as a starting point then adds new routes, encounters, and setpieces.
Fatshark has said that things are not as before. The map will look familiar if you played the original, but it has been scaled up and filled out to feel busier and more dangerous. According to the studio, players will notice several key changes.
- The overall level is bigger and broader so there is more space to fight and explore.
- New side paths have been added to encourage replay and different routes through the chaos.
- Terrain has been reshaped in multiple areas to better fit Vermintide 2s combat and pacing.
- More enemy encounters have been placed throughout the level to keep pressure up.
- The map now reflects that time has passed in the world since your last visit.
So it is not a museum piece. It is more like revisiting your old hometown in a sequel game and discovering that everything is just slightly off and a lot more dangerous.
More Boats More Enemies More Chaos
The original River Reik had you moving along the famous Warhammer river but the boat sections were more of a backdrop. In Return to the Reik Fatshark has made the water sections the main spectacle.
The centerpiece of the new version is an extended sailing sequence. This time your party boards a fresh boat that comes armed with cannons. Those cannons are not just decoration. They are there to help you survive a much more intense series of deck fights as waves of enemies try to swarm your crew.
Expect more than just Skaven this time too. Vermintide 2 already leans into the Chaos faction and the studio hints that tainted hordes are waiting in the woods around the river banks. So instead of a pure rat extermination mission you get a mashup of Skaven and Chaos forces crashing into your fragile little boat.
On top of that Fatshark has heavily reworked the final encounter of the level. In the first Vermintide River Reik ended with a solid but not especially legendary finale. For the remake the team says they wanted it to feel more climactic and exciting although they are keeping the exact details under wraps so players can discover it for themselves.
In short if you remember River Reik as a fun but not essential DLC run this new version aims to push it closer to memorable setpiece territory.
Why This Matters For Vermintide 2 Players
One of the nicest surprises is that Return to the Reik arrives as a free map for all Vermintide 2 owners. No extra DLC required. You can just boot the game and queue it up right now.
That fits with Fatsharks current strategy for the series. The studio has already said that it is not in a rush to make Vermintide 3. Instead it wants to keep supporting Vermintide 2 with ongoing updates. The return of River Reik lines up with that plan and the team has openly said this will not be the last new map for the game.
For players that means a few simple things.
- There is fresh co op content to revisit even if you thought you had seen it all.
- Classic Vermintide ideas are being re imagined rather than left behind.
- The game is still alive with a future of more updates rather than winding down.
It is an especially welcome bit of news given that Fatsharks other project Warhammer 40,000 Darktide has been getting some heat from fans. The recently announced Hive Scum class drew criticism from players who wondered why that choice was made over many other 40k options. In contrast, bringing back a fan favorite map with a big glow up for free is the sort of decision that is much easier for the community to rally around.
If you have been away from Vermintide 2 for a while this might be a good excuse to reinstall and drag a few friends back into the grinder. And if you never played the first game at all Return to the Reik doubles as a neat little time capsule. It lets you experience a slice of the original Vermintide but tuned up to match the faster nastier sequel.
Either way the rats squads and cultists are waiting by the river. Time to grab a halberd and make some new memories on some very old water.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/fatshark-celebrates-10-years-of-rat-bashing-by-adding-one-of-vermintides-most-popular-maps-into-vermintide-2-but-things-are-not-as-before/
