Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide's arrival in 2015 was relatively low-key, but by the time the game reached the end of its natural life cycle, it was recognized as one of the best first-person co-op survival games ever. Inexplicably, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 managed to pick that baton up and run with it, surpassing the fantastic foundation the first entry had provided. Both amounted to the best recent approximation of the Left 4 Dead formula.

When developer Fatshark announced that they would be taking the series away from Fantasy Battles and instead transporting players to the sprawling hellscape of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, questions immediately arose about the practicalities. Now, with the release of Darktide on the immediate horizon, it has become increasingly clear that it is a very different game that manages to provide a rewarding and crucially similar experience.

RELATED: Moonbreaker Combines Warhammer's Mini-Painting with XCOM Combat

Warhammer 40K: Darktide Emphasizes Ranged Abilities

Though ranged weapons have played a part in the Vermintide titles, they have nothing approaching the prominence that guns are given in the upcoming Darktide. From a lore perspective, there are obvious reasons that this makes a lot of sense. Chiefly, most characters from the tabletop game and background universe laid out in the books use guns and a shortage of them here would be a noticeable absence. This change in priority has opened the release up to a far more comprehensive range of playstyles and approaches revolving around a team of four.

That's not to say that melee has no place in the upcoming release meta -- quite the opposite, in fact. There are numerous options available to players who want to stick as closely to the Vermintide systems as possible. The Ogryn is a frighteningly tanky option with high-powered melee attacks, while the other three classes on offer all have melee options available that vary in their immediate effectiveness.

RELATED: Magic: The Gathering x Warhammer 40,000 Is What Crossovers Should Be

Darktide's New Enemy Type Raises the Difficulty & Changes the Mechanics

One of the most notable additions to the roster of enemies is hybrid enemies. Hybrid enemies have access to both weapon types, and while these enemies are relatively easy to deal with at lower levels, it is the higher difficulties that underline how big of a change the addition of these mobs is. Open spaces are no longer a way to see enemies approaching and deal with them from a distance. Instead, these can become open killing fields as the player character's health is taken out in two to three long-range shots.

This totally changes how encounters need to be approached by the team as a whole. Although caution was always important in Vermintide games, it is now critical to completing any given mission successfully. It also makes it a lot easier to get lost within a level and overrun, as searching for long-range enemies firing can lead to the group being surrounded quickly. It has undoubtedly added welcome layers to the gameplay and makes for a more rounded, if less specialized, experience for the more generalist player.

At this late stage in the game's development, Fatshark seems to be doing the franchise justice. Darktide seems to have managed to strike a balance between changing a considerable amount in this new effort while retaining enough of the Vermintide feel to keep fans interested.