'Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide' Announced With Gritty New Trailer

Playstation And Xbox Booths At The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) In Los Angeles — IN PHOTO: People walk past the Playstation and Xbox booths at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 10, 2014. Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn

Videogame fans of legendary tabletop franchise, "Warhammer" haven't had the best of luck recently. The closure of "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning," and the cancellation of "Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes" has shown a distinct inability on the part of developers to take advantage of the rich Games Workshop IP. With the announcement of "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide," that looks set to change.

Development studio Fatshark, is working on a co-op, first-person combat game set in the Warhammer universe. "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide" focuses on both shooter and brutal melee combat, and depicts the emergence of the underground-dwelling Skaven, a race of man-sized, anthropomorphic, rat-like creatures.

The Swedish studio issued a press release introducing the game via a gritty computer-generated teaser. The brief announcement trailer is lavishly rendered, showing the dank depths of a Skaven lair. Footsteps are heard, then the rasping sounds of an animal breathing heavily in the dark. A rat squeals in pain as a giant Skaven fist siezes it tightly.

The trailer closes on a shot of the armour-clad Skaven warrior, biting viciously into the rat. Behind it, a number of Skaven stand wielding swords, halberds, and torches in the pale green light of their underground cavern.

"Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide," forces players to work together to survive a massive Skaven invasion of the city of Ubersreik. Gamers get to choose from a group of five main characters, each with different abilities, play-styles, and unique gear.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Fatshark executive producer Martin Wahlund explained that the team had been itching to make a game set in the Warhammer universe since 2004. At the time, the team worried it didn't quite have the experience to do the concept justice. However, after its work on 2012's melee-centric "War of the Roses" game, the studio felt confident they could execute on its vision for "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide."

Fatshark is most famous for developing the 2010 team-based, third-person shooter, "Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West." It also worked on "Bionic Commando Rearmed 2," "War of the Vikings," and 2014's, "Escape Dead Island." "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide" is due out in the latter half of 2015 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.