Vampire Survivors Review

The premise is simple. Simply mow down the thousands of night creatures that come your way and survive till dawn, but things are a bit more complicated. See, this game incorporates rouge-like elements (or rouge-lite, as they say) and has a levelling-up system that is quite complex, not to mention each map has unique enemies, so there’s a lot to keep you coming back.

At first glance, the game looks like a primitive and straightforward version of Gauntlet, but there is a lot more here under the hood, and after playing the game, I can see why this game has incredible reviews on steam.

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Gameplay

The gameplay is straightforward: you simply pick a character (you unlock more as the game progresses) and pick your map (also unlock more as the game progresses), and off you go.

Now in this game, you don’t press a button to attack. The weapons you have automatically attack the enemy and have a cool down that affects how often they trigger, so basically, all you do is use the arrow keys to move your character around.

Now, as you kill enemies, they will leave a crystal, and you will level up if you collect enough crystals. When you level up, you get to pick one skill out of the three (sometimes 4 if you’re lucky).

So that’s really the premise of the game. As I said, it appears pretty simple but where it gets complicated is in the skills. You have weapons and passive skills, and this game has a ton of different weapons and skills, and a weapon and skill or two weapons can combine to make evolved weapons that are tremendously powerful.

Now this game is a race against time as when you pick a map, you will see a timer and the longer you are on a map, the more progressively tricky it becomes in terms of the number and type of enemies you encounter, so your goal is to kill as many enemies as possible so you can level up as if you don’t level up fast enough you will get crushed as the enemies will swarm you very soon. You better be dealing lots of damage.

For the most part, enemies deal damage if you touch them, but there are enemies that shoot projectiles and minibosses that, if you beat, will drop a treasure chest which is another method of getting more skills, and there are also powerups you can pick up as well.

This game is excellent if you want to have a two-hour game session instead of a more extended session playing an RPG game, for instance, as the game generally doesn’t last for more than half an hour. While there is complexity, I think this game is simple enough that even casual gamers will enjoy this.

Sound

The music is fantastic. It has a Castlevania feel, and the soundtrack is fast-paced and fits very much in with the frenetic action. This is one game you want to play with the in-game music turned on, as the chip-tune tracks here are fantastic.

Graphics

The graphics are 2d sprite based in the game, and while small is quite detailed, it is effortless to make out all the creatures. I would say this is some of the best sprite work I’ve seen in a game for $3.99, and it’s easy to tell a lot of love went into making this game.

It’s also surprising how different each of the heroes looks from the others. Each hero has a look that really sets them apart from the rest, which is surprising considering how small these heroes are on the screen. Just goes to show you can do more with less.

Conclusion

This game is a gem and an absolute steal at $3.99 on Steam as I would happily have paid more for this game, and considering it’s in early access, I am sure there will be more good things to come. The game is addictive, and it’s fun unlocking everything as you feel a real sense of progression when playing this really fun game that rewards you for playing better.

Gameplay

Sound

Graphics

Conclusion

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