Your new Vampire Survivors obsession is Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor – and it's a feast of a game
I still can’t quite believe Vampire Survivors popularised a subgenre. I’m not mad at it – I adore it. But who would have predicted such a simple-looking and simple-playing thing would inspire such a following? A game in which all you do is move an auto-attacking character around while avoiding the swarms of enemies chasing after you. A game about choosing the right upgrades. It became an obsession! So the copycats and variations followed. But their job was harder: they couldn’t simply recreate it. This brings us to Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, released in 1.0 today, a variation on the theme. And I’m pleased to say it’s marvellous.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
- Developer: Funday Games
- Publisher: Ghost Ship Publishing
- Platform: Played on PC
- Availability: Out now on PC (Steam) and Xbox Series S/X and Game Pass
This shouldn’t come as a surprise because Deep Rock Galactic, the group-based co-op mining and ‘survive against hordes of aliens’ shooter that blew-up a few years ago was also marvellous. And would you believe it, the concept translates perfectly to the Vampire Survivors idea. You are a dwarven miner sent to dig gold and precious minerals while avoiding hordes of enemies. Kill the baddies, mine the goods, earn XP to level-up and unlock weapons, and repeat until you kill a boss and escape. So much is familiar. Yet there are differences, and it’s here Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor earns its applause.
Number one: mining. This serves as the core theme of the game but it also adds an important mechanical purpose. Along with auto-attacking, the dwarf you control also auto-mines. Run towards a rocky pile to steadily bash it down, which you will need to do to collect the gold and gemmy things which serve as currency in the game and, therefore, determine what you can spend on upgrades between levels. This makes them very important. But you also need mine simply to plough new routes through the level around you, which is essential for escaping overwhelm by surrounding swarms of enemies. Tactical burrowing for the win.
