Ghost Ship Games, renowned for their work on Deep Rock Galactic, has taken an unexpected plunge into the survival genre with their latest offering, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Although the game draws inspiration from the likes of Vampire Survivors, it offers a unique twist that sets it apart.
While Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor shares some similarities with Italian developer Poncle’s Vampire Survivors, it ventures into its own territory. Unlike the fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled monster-slaying action of its predecessor, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor adopts a more deliberate pace. Here, players can shape the underground maps to their advantage, employing strategic terraforming to survive.
The burning question is whether Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor can match the replayability and rich array of unlockable content found in its inspiration. While it’s too early to make a definitive judgment, initial impressions suggest that Survivor offers more depth and challenge than many other titles in the subgenre.
In Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, which shares the same universe as its parent game, players assume the role of a dwarf tasked with descending through five levels of alien-infested mines. These levels are also rich in minerals, encouraging players to dig for resources to unlock permanent upgrades for future runs.
The journey begins with a single automatic-firing gun, allowing players to focus on exploration and smaller objectives. As the game progresses, the levels become increasingly infested with threats seeking to end your expedition prematurely.
A key aspect of the gameplay is finding the right balance between mining resources (which takes time and pauses your movement) and defeating enemies to level up. Leveling up grants access to a variety of weapons and upgrades for added firepower, essential for fending off ever-growing hordes and enabling more efficient mining.
Each floor requires players to eliminate a specific number of enemies, prompting the dropship to move to the next section. Failing to reach the dropship within a short time results in an early end to the run.
What sets Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor apart is the freedom to carve your own path through levels. Beyond mining resources, you can use your pickaxe to create passages through walls, allowing you to establish chokepoints for enemy encounters or open escape routes for tactical maneuvering. This dynamic adds an extra layer of strategy, requiring players to be mindful of their surroundings and make timely escapes to reach the departing dropship.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor promises to be a noteworthy addition to the autofire subgenre of survival titles, alongside acclaimed titles like Vampire Survivors and 20 Minutes Till Dawn. While it may lack the signature co-op play of the larger Deep Rock Galactic community, its depth and strategic elements are likely to resonate with fans of first-person shooters.
