Warhammer Survivors Falls Short as a Vampire Survivors Replacement

Vampire Survivors and the many games it has inspired tend to be more enjoyable in their tenth hour than their first. Because attacks happen automatically, their appeal depends on how entertaining and spectacular the action becomes as you upgrade your character, unlock weapons, and survive long enough to strengthen or evolve them.

Warhammer Survivors eventually reached that satisfying point for me. Developed by Auroch Digital, the studio behind Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, with help from Vampire Survivors creator Poncle, it can deliver a spectacle worthy of both names. Once I was tearing through enemies with a Typhoon Crossbow while followers fired their own upgraded weapons, the battlefield came alive. Getting there, however, wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it was in the game that inspired it.

There’s little in the way of significant lore here. Instead, Warhammer Survivors brings together familiar characters, including Boltgun protagonist Malum Caedo, to battle relentless waves of creatures from across the franchise. It is effectively two games in one: one half draws on the science-fiction setting of Warhammer 40,000, while the other embraces the fantasy world of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.

Each side has its own characters, weapons, enhancements, and objectives to unlock, but both follow the same basic formula. You guide your character around a level while they attack automatically, collecting experience dropped by fallen enemies to level up and improve your equipped weapons. Given Poncle’s involvement, it’s hardly surprising that the game wears its inspiration openly rather than trying to reinvent it.

Its most distinctive addition is the follower system. Since characters belong to factions that restrict which weapons they can use, you can sometimes rescue or summon allies who bring different equipment into the fight. Having a small group battle alongside you suits Warhammer’s sprawling conflicts, although in practice the feature mostly adds another step to a weapon choice you would have made anyway.

At its heart, this is Vampire Survivors dressed in Warhammer armor, albeit with more substance than a typical crossover expansion. That’s not necessarily a criticism: the original is excellent, and Warhammer Survivors is a good game in its own right. It doesn’t quite replace the indie classic, though, because it stumbles over a few things its predecessor handles better.

Games in this style thrive on a growing sense of power, building toward a frantic barrage of attacks. In Vampire Survivors, almost every weapon aims automatically and hits something within range. Some early weapons in Warhammer Survivors, including the Boltgun, instead fire in the direction your character is facing. That makes them an awkward fit for a game built around automatic attacks.

When I moved away from an approaching horde, those weapons often fired into empty space rather than at the enemies chasing me. I eventually unlocked better options that could reliably hit nearby threats, but starting with some of the least satisfying weapons makes the journey to the fun feel longer than it should.

By my tenth hour with Vampire Survivors, I had found the characters and weapons I enjoyed most: combinations that let me build power smoothly and gave me a real chance of lasting more than 20 minutes and reaching beyond level 40 in a run. Once Warhammer Survivors reaches a similar rhythm, it can stand alongside its inspiration and other games of its kind. It simply takes longer to become as captivating and rewarding.

Warhammer devotees who haven’t tried Vampire Survivors or its many imitators are likely to have a great time. For those already devoted to the original, there’s less reason to switch. Warhammer Survivors won’t become my first choice in the genre, partly because it misses some of what made its inspiration so effective. Even so, it delivers what its title promises.

Source: Polygon