LIGHT years away from the cinematic pretensions of big budget games, Vampire Survivors doesn’t try to compete on that level. It’s not interested in knocking your socks off with bleeding edge graphics or an engrossing narrative with deep lore.
No, it’s primary function, and one that it succeeds at exceptionally well, is hitting the player with a sustained and exponentially growing sensory experience that can reach almost delirious heights. It does so with a mix of simplistic elements that are incredibly easy to grasp – after all, the only thing you can control is movement (controller works best).
The player character – some fantasy cliche warrior, wizard, skeleton guy (?) – walks around a fairly barren area (currently either a spooky forest or an endless library) and is swarmed by enemies aplenty. As per the name of the game, the baddies are your usual Western supernatural monsters: bats, skeletons, ghosts, bigger bats, mummies, giant praying mantises (??), medusas, evil bushes (???).
Armed with a variety of fantasy weapons, the hero mows down these creatures like a human buzzsaw. Each fallen enemy leaves behind a gem, either blue, green or red (ranging from lowest to highest value). As the player picks them up, there’s a satisfying sound and the blue experience bar at the top of the screen fills up.
Towards the end of a game – the point of Vampire Survivors is to survive for 30 minutes – as you start killing monsters by the hundreds, it’s a certifiable symphony of sounds as you suck up these gems like an industrial grade vacuum cleaner. The pure, uncut dopamine rush matched with the absurdity of what’s happening on the screen just hits different.
There are also random fixtures on the maps like barrels or lamps, that when hit reveal either coins, roasted chicken for health, or random power-ups like fire breath or a cross that vaporises every enemy on the screen. Again, when a player walks over a coin or these other items, there’s a really satisfying sound that pops up.
On top of the hordes (and hordes) of monsters, there are also bigger and more powerful boss-type characters that can soak up a lot more punishment. There’s nothing complicated about dispatching them – it just adds a wrinkle to the gameplay loop.
Once they are dealt with they leave behind a chest, and when a player touches one of these chests, the game pauses and just like hitting a jackpot at the slots, there’s a jaunty tune and colours shooting out of it. Sure, you’re just upgrading an ability, but it feels like so much more.
The added fanfare makes these chests especially sought after, as well as the off chance that instead of just getting one upgrade, you can get three or even five upgrades all at once. Randomness is part of the thrill.
It’s that ramp up of difficulty and increasing, yet simple, layers of gameplay as you choose what weapons or abilities you want that makes the game so addicting. The random mix of what becomes available during each game of Vampire Survivors makes each session just different enough.
It is currently available for Early Access on Steam (which means it is still a work in progress), for the lowly price of RM8.50. Just about everything can be unlocked in 6 hours – though expert gamers can probably crank through in half that time.
However, the game designer Luca Galante, who practically made the game himself, plans on adding more content before the full version comes out in a year or so. According to Steam, the game is about 60% complete in terms of characters, weapons and abilities. Currently, there are only two maps, though more will be added in the future.
Vampire Survivors is also available to play on a browser, and because it lends itself to a mobile experience, it should be available on phones sometime soon. – The Vibes, February 2, 2022
