Slay the beast and the horde will die
It’s been a few months so of course it’s time for another Warhammer video game to drop. This time we have a “survivors-type’ game from the developers at Auroch Digital, themselves no stranger to Warhammer as they are also the developers of the boomer shooter Warhammer game Boltgun and its sequel (which you can find the review for Boltgun 2 here. Warhammer Survivors is a fast-paced roguelite survivors made in partnership with the OG Vampire Survivors dev poncle. The game pits iconic Warhammer characters and heroes against endless waves of hordes of enemies from multiple factions, the best thing is the game includes 40K as well as the Age of Sigmar and lets players choose which era they desire.
MSRP: $7.99
Platforms: XBOX (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch PC
Price I’d Pay: $7.99
I think I am pretty safe in my assumption that almost anyone who is a gamer has player either VS or one of the many, many, MANY clones. But in case you haven’t, the game is simple; players will choose a hero and be dropped on an endless map where waves of enemies will keep coming for them until they die. The goal is to survive for as long as possible while gaining XP from defeated enemies which can be used to purchase/upgrade weapons and skills that will help push back. The true trick is trying to figure out the best combination of these to perfect a run; oh, and there are tons of secret characters and stages to unlock.
As you may or may not know, the bulk of my knowledge and real fandom in Warhammer comes from the 40K universe. I know bits and pieces about Age of Sigmar but I played mostly in the 40K universe of things. Among the many heroes available to be unlocked I found Lt. Titus from the Warhammer Space Marine series as well as Space Marine Sternguard Veteran, Malum Caedo from the Boltgun series. Players will be dropped in various environments like planets and Space Hulks, aside from being absolutely gorgeously detailed in their pixelated glory these areas will also hold secrets and paths for players to find.
One of the first maps had me facing down waves of Tyranids for 40K while the AoS will fight the rat-like Skaven. If you thought you saw large numbers of Tyranids in Space Marine 2 lawd have mercy, think again. So many Warriors and a bunch of other units I don’t know the name of. Except Hive Tyrants and Broodlords… if you live long enough, they will get, send after you. But as I said players will find weapons like the iconic chainsword that can be leveled up to attack on the left-and-right of the player. There is also oil that can leave puddles on the ground that once leveled up makes the puddles almost fill the screen, damaging or killing multiple enemies at a time; this is one of my favorite weapons. Each hero starts with one of these weapons and none of them play the same, there is hours of replayability with this game.
Warhammer Survivors is going to feel instant familiar to anyone who has played Vampire Survivors or one of the clones. It’s easy to fall into the ‘one more match’ as players work to find the build that will propel them to victory. I will admit I have put WAY too many hours into the game already and I don’t have all the characters and there is still the whole other side of Age of Sigmar to dig into. For what is basically two games in one, I don’t think players will find a better value in gaming this year.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.