Round up your Warhammer crew now, because Vermintide 2 has a new free mission and over a week of double XP for all

My head is swirling as I attempt to calculate the new Black Ops 7 Zombies holdout spots, or figure out the best looting routes in Arc Raiders. In theory, I love the freedom they offer, but sometimes I just want to crash my way through some hordes and not think too much about my exfil strategy. Sometimes I want Warhammer Vermintide 2, which points me in a direction, hands me a heavy weapon, and lets me smash apart everything in my way. More than seven years after launch, it's still one of the best co-op games on PC, and developer Fatshark just gave us a fantastic free treat that's got me suiting up once more.

The new Warhammer Vermintide 2 mission sees the Ubersreik Five teaming up to help one of their number. Markus is on a quest to recover his father's sword, which will see the gang heading back to the River Reik, a key location that featured in the preceding game, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide. This memorable map has our intrepid heroes battling through forest encampments, monster lairs, and all the way down to the beach. The highlight of the mission is of course when you clamber aboard the Dawnrunner ship, defending it from assaults as you sail to your destination.

Fatshark hasn't simply ported over the old level and called it a day, either; Return to the Reik is a dramatic overhaul that fulfills the promises of the original. You know how great remasters deliver the experience as you remember it, rather than the reality of the past? That's how plowing downriver on the Dawnrunner feels here, with functional cannons to ward off rival boats amid clashes on the swaying deck. You'll also have to deal with fresh threats like Chaos raiders alongside the Skaven, and there are plenty more secrets to find.

The new level is available to everyone for free to celebrate 'Ten Years of Tide,' and it comes alongside ten days of double XP. Vermintide 2 patch 6.9.0 does include a few more new features as well, most notably some additional enemy spawns on The Well of Dreams. That particular map also gets an overall brightness increase to help you find your way, and even your computer-controlled companions should now benefit from better pathfinding as well. Bots have also been made a little smarter in combat.

Warhammer Vermintide 2: Return to the Reik is out now. It's a free DLC available for all players. Head here to claim it. You'll also earn double experience from all in-game sources from now until Sunday November 30.