It's safe to say that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has been a bit of a revelation for the franchise, acting as an accessible entry point for players to get into the vast IP while giving veterans the kind of eye candy they have been wanting for decades. Not only is the game itself solid and a visual marvel (which is likely a large reason for its mainstream success), it also brings Warhammer 40k's universe to life faithfully. As far as AAA titles go, players probably can't realistically ask much more from Space Marine 2.

Despite how confusing 40k's lore can be, the game itself is able to tell a cohesive, understandable story for newcomers that dives into Warhammer's history without getting tangled up in the extreme details. Without understanding everything, players still get a sense of what's happening and can get invested in the story and characters, which has helped the title's widespread popularity. Vermintide is another Warhammer game, except it uses the fantasy setting, and it could benefit from using the success and structure of Space Marine 2 to possibly be even bigger.

Vermintide Needs The Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 Treatment

It Needs A More Cohesive Structure

Although the fantasy side of Warhammer plays into many fantasy tropes, Vermintide is set during the End Days, where an apocalyptic event is plaguing the land. It brings it closer in setting to the grim dark of 40k while still using the ever-popular fantasy genre and should be a winning formula, yet Vermintide and its sequel haven't had Space Marine 2's explosive success. This is for several reasons, but one might be the match-making mission structure Vermintide uses in its campaign, compared to the more linear structure used in Space Marine 2's story.

Space Marine 2 has a main story and side missions where players can use their own Space Marines, but Vermintide has many missions that are assumed to have an order, but all seem disconnected without an overall narrative. Pair this with the quick match-making often making players replay the same missions, and many newcomers quickly find that they don't know what's happening outside trying to survive through a rat apocalypse. If Vermintide had a stronger unifying story and an overt narrative, like Space Marine 2, more people would be able to get involved and stick with the game.

The rat creatures in Vermintide are known as the Skaven and are the primary antagonists of the game alongside the Rotblood Tribe.

The game isn't the most accessible, because players don't always know what's happening in the story, and it sometimes feels that the game doesn't make any effort to explain the narrative. The story seems to come through odd remarks during frantic gameplay, which is perfectly fine for a more niche game, but the Warhammer IP has enough niche games, from the RG Rogue Trader to the old school shooter, Boltgun. With Space Marine 2's sales, there's proof that Warhammer games can be mainstream, and Vermintide could be the fantasy side's big seller if it was made to be more accessible.

Fantasy Warhammer Should Have Its Version Of Space Marine 2

Warhammer Can Find Success On Two Fronts

Many might not know that the fantasy Warhammer setting came before the sci-fi spin-off, yet 40k has been getting all the love for some time now. The unique, grim dark setting clearly appeals to many fans, and with the End Times setting used for Vermintide, there's no reason why this series can't replicate at least some of Space Marine 2's success. The fantasy genre is massive, with many games in the genre selling incredibly well, so the unique, rat-filled take from Vermintide could be massive with some tweaks to how the story and characters are presented.

Giving the Vermintide more overt characters with arcs and putting them through a cohesive story could do the series wonders, especially since the current structure hasn't proved massively fruitful for Warhammer compared to Space Marine 2. Darktide (40k's version of Vermintide) has done adequately but hasn't made a significant impact, and while these styles of games are enjoyable, they can be repetitive very quickly. This doesn't mean that Vermintide should be a third-person action shooter that plays exactly like Space Marine 2, however, as the core gameplay of first-person rat-killing is still a lot of fun.

Vermintide and Darktide share the same developer, Fatshark,

If the Vermintide series dived into an actual story, told similarly to Space Marine 2's campaign, it would keep people playing for longer, since there is a clear goal that the vast majority of people can get behind. Grinding for gear and drops isn't something the average player will always do, and with the money in the bank that Warhammer has with Space Marine 2, it can go big for Vermintide 3 or a similar game in that style. With better visuals and some gameplay upgrades, it could be a great portal into fantasy Warhammer.

The Warhammer IP Is Bigger Than Ever

Fantasy Warhammer Can Grow Like 40k

The Warhammer IP is more mainstream than ever thanks to a myriad of factors, like Space Marine 2's success and Henry Cavill's storied love for the franchise. Most people rightly think of 40k, since there isn't a similar IP, other than Starcraft, but the tone and religious, dogmatic themes of the universe set it apart. These themes and the dark tone are a part of the fantasy universe too, and while it isn't as unique as 40k, it does seem like now is the time to help the fantasy side grow with all the credit that the Warhammer IP has.

Vermintide isn't that far away from being another Space Marine 2, and by making some features more overt, it can get to that accessible, mainstream market that Space Marine 2 tapped into. It still needs to keep the core Warhammer identity and expand, not replace, its first-person swarm-based gameplay, similarly to how Space Marine 2 improved on its predecessor. This doesn't mean that the current mission structure needs to be removed either, since it can be used alongside the main story, like Space Marine 2's side missions, although there probably isn't a way to include PvP.

Warhammer is the biggest it has ever been and with Amazon backing a series, now is the time for the IP to expand as much as possible. While it might be too ambitious to push the fantasy and 40k sides equally, giving Vermintide the same love that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 enjoyed could be a way to help it grow. The fantasy genre seems evergreen in the gaming scene with the likes of The Witcher 4, Avowed, and Elder Scrolls 6 all coming, and it feels like Warhammer can capitalize on this in its own unique way.