By now we’ve all played at least one Survivor-like, right. Made popular by Vampire Survivors but then built upon by countless titles since such as Deep Rock Survivor and Pathfinder: Gallowspire Survivors, the only requisite is that they have that word on the title. You know the word, and I’m not saying it again. Hordes of Hunger is a little different, though.
While it’s definitely part of that genre, it doesn’t have the word in the title, which is the first way it differentiates itself. The second way is by having more direct player agency during the game, which is instantly more engaging to someone like me, who gets bored of Surviv- oh, almost said it again. I just struggle to keep invested when all I’m really doing is endlessly strafing and hoping RNG delivers a nice spread of abilities for the AI to use on my enemies.
In Hordes of Hunger you play as Mirah, a warrior whose home has been overrun by the titular hungry horde, a massive army of mutated beasts, monsters, zombies, and freaks. Aided by an old priest, Mirah must head into the nearby towns and settlements (of which there are currently nine), and slay endless monstrosities until she can challenge the Guardian, and cleanse the area.
Armed with a greatsword, mace (or hammer), gauntlets, or a spear, Mirah steps out on each run with only her innate stats, which you can bolster between runs with feathers. On the way you’ll save other NPCs that will join you at your camp, unlocking a cook among other things, who will create meals and rations to heal or buff you.
From there you’re into seemingly endless battles with the horde, following objectives that get steadily harder due to the number of enemies until you complete 6, and unleash the Guardian. After every second objective you can choose to return to the Sanctuary, retaining all the feathers, keys and weapon parts you’ve found. If you die, you’ll lose it all and return to the Sanctuary empty handed.
It’s a vaguely Diablo-esque world, though it would greatly benefit from more loot mechanics like gear for Mirah. As it is, the main draw is the gameplay, odd as that sounds in this day and age. There are no cosmetics or collectibles to speak of, and nothing to really chase beyond XP and currency. As with other games in the genre, every slain enemy drops XP, and hoovering it up will increase Mirah’s level, giving her a choice of three passive buffs or skills. These can be ghostly weapons that smite enemies, a ring of fire around Mirah, an elemental effect on her weapon, or buffs to her health, damage, speed, or dodge cooldown, among other things. There are tons of different skills and abilities, and repeatedly choosing them boosts their potency.
It can be a lot of fun when you’re running around burning, shocking and blasting foes while doing things like hunting down fleeing looters, escorting an errant donkey or, weirdly, playing hide and seek with a trio of local lasses who clearly need to get their priorities straight. It may not make much sense at times, but at least the variety and random nature of your objectives makes it feel interesting.
The big difference with Hordes of Hunger, though, is that you control Mirah’s standard, strong, and special attack. So rather than just running around waiting for your skills to do the work for you, you have some agency. Granted at this point the combat lacks a little impact and when so many enemies are onscreen it can feel a bit loose, but it’s more fun than a lot of pretenders to the Vampire Survivors crown.
The crafting element needs some attention, as the UI is slightly confusing, there’s a weapon on there that isn’t in the game, and it’s all a bit stale due to the fact that you just craft everything using three nondescript “parts” that doesn’t afford much control. Overall though, Hordes of Hunger is shaping up quite nicely as it heads towards early access.
Hordes of Hunger is available on PC now on Steam early access.
