Ravening Hordes
Folks, I am really split on this one.
Warhammer Survivors is the most addicting game I’ve played all year. I don’t want to stop playing it. I cannot stop thinking about new strategies I wish to try, but I also find it all frequently frustrating.
Unlike countless imitators, Warhammer Survivors is an officially licensed Vampire Survivors spin-off. Backed by Poncle but developed by Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun series developers Auroch Digital, the pedigree behind it is impeccable. And in many ways the game itself is exactly what I’d hoped it would be – a Games Workshop-themed version of the same escalating horde auto-shooter we’ve all loved for years.
Workshop, these days more than ever, keeps each of its Warhammer universes as wholly separate entities, with deliberate effort made in most cases so that the model ranges don’t even overlap in ways they used to, or in ways that would be wholly logical for them to.
That means that the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar licenses represented here in Warhammer Survivors sit essentially as two entirely separate games under the one launcher. No characters, weapons, or abilities unlocked in one cross over to the other. Only the small bonuses granted at the uppermost peak of each grinded-out cross-character perk investment does, and the game isn’t great at communicating what the statistics many of these affect even do to begin with.
As a long-time fan of all of the various Warhammer universes, I’ve found tremendous joy in experiencing how characters, units, and weapons have been translated from the tabletop, though. Gotrek the Slayer spins axes in a whirlwind as you walk him forward and can respawn once certain kill thresholds have been reached. The Adepta Sororitas Superior projects an aura of faith that repels enemies and which grows in size every 10 levels. Tor Garadon is a walking tank that rains guided missiles down and gains attack bonuses on every level that includes the number 3, (as he is a captain of the Imperial Fists 3rd company!) Every character and weapon I’ve unlocked so far feel wholly appropriate in their adaptation, as well as fun and engaging to play with.
It all looks as terrific as it feels as well with the iconic Warhammer aesthetic being carried beautifully through the Survivors pixel art lens. Warhammer is all about armies, and that theme translates as many of the weapons acquired during a run taking the form of a secondary supporting character that moves along with you, and which fortunately cannot take damage, meaning that on most runs you’ll end up building out a cool little warband of warriors.
Warhammer Survivors’ incredibly low price point allows the argument to easily be made that you’re effectively getting two games in one here. I’m from the era where kitbashing was actively encouraged by Games Workshop, though. That position alone would be enough to make me wish so much that it were a shared sandbox, but the breadth of build chaos that would be available on any given run plus the almost entirely siloed progression grind makes the feeling land all the harder.
Let me take a Stormcast Eternal into the Gallowdark. Allow me to make Malum Caedo fight with Idoneth magic against an onslaught of Gloomspite Gitz. Don’t restrict me in how I bash my toys together!
Reviewed on PC | Review copy supplied by publisher
Great
- They combined plastic crack with digital crack and made turbo-ultra crack
- Auroch continues to understand Warhammer better than most
- Obsessively addicting
Not great
- Grindy
- Real bad at explaining its gameplay systems
- Obsessively addicting!
