When something has the cultural impact of Vampire Survivors, pretenders are inevitable. As sure as the sunrise, the imitators and innovators begin to emerge. The blow copies are forgotten, and only the ones who really dare to put their own spin on the idea survive. And then, every now and then, one of the pretenders threatens the crown. Of course, only time will tell whether or not Funday’s Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor will be able to sit atop the throne and hold it, but right now it’s throwing down a damn shiny gauntlet.
A big part of its immediate success is the setting, of course. Deep Rock Galactic is a solid foundation to build from, with the roguelike runs, character classes, enemy types and universe all ready to go. But what really allows it to lift the sceptre is the mining. Just a plain old Survivor-like with no innovation would be fine and fun to play but because DRGS allows you mine through rock walls just as you can in the FPS version, it makes each run feel that little bit more dynamic.
At its very core it’s no different a beast to any game in the genre. You mow through enemies with a bevy of auto-attacks that you’ll slowly build upon as you hoover up little crystals of XP. Your primary input as the player is to keep moving, trying not to get cornered while searching for power-ups. Here that’s certainly the case, but you can auto-mine as well, which allows you to carve new paths through the level, funnelling swarms of bugs a certain way or slowing them down with a makeshift chicane.
Embedded in many walls are gemstones and precious metals, which you collect to form the currency by which you upgrade your weapons and gear, or unlock permanent skill and ability buffs, or even unlock the other classes of Dwarf. Just this element alone gives you hundreds of split-second life or death decisions to make, as you constantly weigh up whether it’s worth the risk to mine a rare material that might get you eaten. Your little drone buddy will watch your back when you’re solo, but it can only do so much while you fill your pockets.
Rather than just survive until you die, each run is split into four stages, wherein you kill enough bugs to summon an elite. Kill the elite and your escape ship will land, and you’ll have just 30 seconds to get aboard. Dotted around the mission areas are a few side objectives such as collecting mushrooms, or clearing space for a supply crate to land – which it does with a satisfying splat, crushing any bugs beneath it. You can even use this to your advantage to deal massive damage to an elite or boss.
On the fourth stage you’ll summon a huge boss bug, which will take a hell of a lot of punishment and deal significant damage to you and your party. Kill it and you’ll return to the hub where you can upgrade and equip new gear before returning to the fray.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor not only looks gorgeous, but it plays incredibly smoothly. There’s a ton of variety in the enemies and environments, though it can take a while to unlock new areas so it runs the risk of becoming a little samey at times. There’s a ton of different weapons to find and upgrade, and each dwarf has their own abilities. It’s immense fun with other people, too, as you find yourselves forced back to back against the endless swarms.
Heading into 1.0, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor has a bunch of alternative game modes to unlock via progression, but again this can take a while when you’re playing solo. Luckily, it’s immensely addictive, and the one-more-run mentality is encouraged by the relative brevity of an excursion. You’re dropped right into the action straight away, and there’s little dallying with small numbers of enemies. Swarms come thick and fast, and you’ll need to keep moving to stay alive.
I’ve played Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor on PC and Steam Deck and it runs great on both, though there is some slowdown on the latter during the more hectic moments, when the explosions are going off and the elites are bearing down on you. It never threatens the fun, though, which remains as frantic as ever even with a little stutter.
It may be a little soon to declare that the King is dead, long live the King, but Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is the most genuine threat to Vampire Survivor’s rule yet. It’s so smooth and addictive, so easy to jump into and so well-balanced that it easily stands as one of the best in the genre, and the innovations make it stand out among the steadily growing crowd. Genuinely brilliant.
