Play Warhammer: Vermintide 2 for free this weekend

What if Left 4 Dead but rats? See for yourself this weekend, as Warhammer: Vermintide 2 tonight launches a free weekend trial of the full game. Round up three pals (or make awkward small talk with AI-controlled botmates) and go stab, smash, bash, and burn your way through hordes of heathens and ratmen in a slice of the Warhammer Fantasy world. This trial comes shortly after the launch of its first DLC pack, which added new maps, and accompanies a sale making the game half-price for a few days too.

To have a crack, swing by Steam and install Vermintide 2. The trial runs until 9pm on Sunday (1pm Pacific). You can play the DLC if you party up with someone who owns it, by the way.

If you want it for keepsies, you can pick Vermintide 2 up half-price at £11.89/€13.99/$14.99 until 6pm on Monday (10am Pacific). Progress will carry over from the trial, and you'll be grateful for that.

What if Left 4 Dead but rats? I had a bit of go with some pals a while back but it didn't really grab me, partially because the per-character persistent progression grind of crafting and salvaging and levelling and crafting and tiered loot boxes as rewards and salvaging and crafting is so contrary to the pick-up-and-play vibe I like in Leftlikes. Also sword are less fun than pump-action shotguns (unless the sword's wielded by Carly Rae Jepsen, obvs). And I was deep in Plunkbat at the time so a multiplayer shooter would need to be mighty special to drag me away from joyriding with the lads, honking out the tune to Tequila.

Our Alec dug it more, saying in his Warhammer: Vermintide 2 review back in March:

"The Left 4 Dead comparisons are absolute – like its predecessor, it borrows concepts like 'the one that drags away a dawdling party member' and 'the one that sprays poison vomit everywhere' and 'the one that's just, like, really really big' wholesale from Valve's game. But, to its credit, this feels how I would want a 2018 L4D to feel, in terms of scale and onslaught, rather than just going through the cloning motions with a Warhammer skin. It's a heckuva sight, with disgustingly meaty slice'n'dice combat and sound design, and I feel the constant siren call to return to it in a way I did not with Vermintide the first."

Ah, but if only you could talk to these creatures, then perhaps you could try and make friends with them, form alliances... Now, that would be interesting.