Developers Auroch Digital and Vampire Survivors creator Luca “Poncle” Galante have teamed up to release Warhammer Survivors, combining sci-fi battles and fantasy incursions in a new bullet heaven game. According to CNET, your enjoyment of the title likely depends on how many modern bullet heaven games you have played, as it does not meaningfully change the classic formula.
Familiar Gameplay and Striking Warhammer Visuals
As reported by CNET, Vampire Survivors veterans will experience a strong sense of déjà vu from the pixel-art styling and increasing enemy clusters. Players start a run by dropping into top-down iconic locations to purge xenos and chaos cultists, while dodging threats that yield experience points and items to increase power.
CNET notes that the game’s visual style is striking, building on Auroch Digital’s experience with Warhammer Boltgun. The title features retro-rendered tyranid aliens, chaos space marines, and iconic weapons like chainswords, boltguns, flamers, explosive D6 dice, and mini figure glue.
Limited Innovation and Familiar Tropes
A unique feature allows players to collect weapon-wielding allies that trail behind the main character, altering how they approach hordes and quickly scale up damage. However, CNET points out that characters and weapons feel like reskins, the upgrade shop looks nearly identical, and elite enemy war chests share the exact same opening animation as Vampire Survivors loot boxes.
CNET states that the game features a scale twice as large as the original Vampire Survivors launch, spanning separate Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar progression tracks with unique maps and characters. Yet, CNET notes that too many elements feel rehashed, leaving some players wishing for additional layers of progression or mechanical depth.
Warhammer Survivors is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android for $8, and is also included within Game Pass subscriptions, as reported by CNET.
