DON'T purchase Vampire Survivors if you want to live. That's a loaded statement. 1) This is a bullet hell where enemies will swarm the screen like a rash on a weekender to Magaluf, to the point where you can't move and will inevitably die. 2) There's no way you'll want to do anything else other than play Vampire Survivors. Repeatedly.
A rogue-like from Poncle, you play one of a billion characters thrown into a skirmish pot and have to survive for 30 minutes to beat the boss. This is the bit where you check out Earl Vs the Mutants. If you've never seen a screenshot or footage from the game, seeing the graphics for the first time on the PS5 will make you wonder why you're watching a black-and-white film on a colour TV. They're an acquired taste for those with a nostalgic palate for the Sega Master System. Whip out your phone and take a quick selfie: looks aren't everything, you know that, so what's the hook? Endless replay value and an insane amount of randomness.
Vampire Survivors PS5 Review
The Vampire Surviors review code provided included the base game and a ton of DLC, all for the cost of a wink from your local barista. That produces a total of 200(?) achievements to earn across the board, yet my first couple of hours were spent on the first level endlessly to unlock new heroes without too much of a sweat. Why? For fast-tracking permanent unlocks and deciding who my Ryu, Kazuya, or Kano was. Dammit. Just revealed my go-to fighters...
There are so many characters in the game, mostly Castlevania wannabes. They look different, and certainly act different to begin with, though with the random pickups through each run, like an old-school Kinder Egg, you never know what you'll get. Besides surviving the onslaught, the aim is to level up as swiftly as possible and try new combinations of abilities. Killing enemies will drop experience orbs; when the gauge is complete, a choice of powers to upgrade your arsenal is available.
Abilities in Vampire Survivors are vast and usually attack-based, such as directional melee move sets, ranged, cooldowns, splash-based damage, sporadic elemental attacks, and numerous objects/living things that will shadow you and lash at the closest thing. It's similar to Champion Shift with its ability tiers, making it more potent, offering some defensive traits, or emitting a garlic force field that dispels space-invading wrong 'uns.
Beware: Ho(a)rders!
As expansive as the roster is, so too are the stats. From basic health needs and movement speed through to your character's uncanny ability to attract items a little out of reach or the speed at which the 'survivors' level up - there are lots to choose from, and depending on your starting character, some of these stats will be more advantageous than others. Other than spaffing funds on new heroes, there are permanent upgrades, too. The more you upgrade, the pricer the next tier becomes, though undoubtedly worth your time as you hastily obliterate these imbeciles on the next run.
You might be wondering whether Vampire Survivors is a twin-stick shooter. It's not. Well, not really. Attacks are automated, except for the odd knife that will fire in the direction you're facing, and like Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot, the gameplay is more about agility than accuracy. For example, some of the characters that only have a horizontal attack are challenging to begin with as it's all about positioning, though when levelling up, and complemented by a side dish of distant lightning attacks, doves from above, and heat-seeking bibles, the horizontal slash is a beast. The garlic is still my favourite, however, and in real life.
The gameplay is very samey, but if it ain't broken... The nature of a good rogue-like is the loop, the loot, and the look. That last was laziness, and if that were valid, Vampire Survivors doesn't look so great, though that's subjective and in respect of entertainment levels - irrelevant. Though runs can total 30 minutes a pop, my instinct was to play again immediately after dying. And again. And, even though the screen is hectic, Vampire Survivors is brilliant to play in co-op mode (on a big telly, of course).
Vampire Survivors Review Summary
Sure, Vampire Survivors has been doing the PC circuit for the past couple of years and to much acclaim, but now it's the time for the PS5 to shine. While that won't be through cutting-edge visuals, played on the sofa with someone you can trust not to wander too far off-screen, Vampire Survivors is highly addictive, fun, and worthy of your time. We haven't even touched upon the additional DLCs or the price. It's a no-brainer: get it. Now!
