Vampire Survivors Switch Review

It’s quite hard to put the figurative pen to paper to describe vampire survivors. It’s a rogue-like, bullet hell game where hordes of enemies charge at you as you try to go the whole 9 yards and last 30 minutes in the level. It’s fast, it’s frantic, and it’s easily one of the most addictive experiences you can have on the Nintendo Switch.

I’ll be the first to admit when I initially saw the reviews and look of the game when it came to mobile and Xbox, I thought there must have been some witchcraft at play. The game just looked so basic in both graphics and execution, but how wrong I was. While the game looks like something akin to a top-down Nes Castlevania game, Vampire Survivors proves that beauty is only skin deep with intricate mechanics, addictive and well-polished gameplay, and plenty to unlock and explore.

Your mission is to simply survive. With all the monsters you destroy, there are XP gems that drop which allow you to level up, and with each level, you are presented with a choice of weapons or items to help you hack and slash your way through the armies of enemies. A huge part of the strategy is knowing what not to pick on your run, but in the early game, you will grab whatever you can to survive. Each level helps you unlock more items, characters, and combos to make you more powerful than ever. You can build an AOE warrior charging through crowds, or a ranged spellcaster to fire projectiles from afar. Each build has its own merits, and eventually, you will settle into your own strategy of what works for you to decimate thousands of monsters.

Vampire Survivors runs fantastic and keeps a smooth framerate, even when the action heats up, and heat up it does, as sometimes the screen is engulfed with so many enemies you are unable to see your character. Vampire Survivors also features 4 player local co-op which also provides countless hours of fun. There are a few balances in play to adapt to co-op play, and it’s clear a lot of thought went into making sure the game was balanced and fair for all players. Multiplayer does see a dip in framerate on some occasions, but it isn’t that much if a distraction and didn’t take away any enjoyment from our testing sessions.

There’s plenty to collect and unlock as you level up, unlocking the choice of new weapons and gear. Each weapon has a combo counterpart which provides an ultimate upgrade should you manage to level the required items in your run, and success boils down to luck, skill, and strategy. Sound design is simple, yet effective with certain tones helping you know when you’re hitting someone and others that inform you when you are hit. All of this is accompanied by a collection of vampiric-inspired organ symphonies which suit the fast-paced action of what’s happening on screen.

There are 2 expansion packs available at launch which add more items, levels, and characters to the game, and due to the cheap price point, you can get the base game and both expansions for just over $10 which is exceptional value. The game will take a while to master, and even when you have, I can guarantee you’ll keep coming back for more. There are a lot of endgame options to keep up the challenge, as well as change elements of gameplay to keep fresh such as making enemies stronger and faster or adding random spell abilities to your character. You can also eventually buy items that permanently level up your characters too, slowly making them an unstoppable monster-destroying powerhouse.

Vampire Survivors may not look like much on the outside, but for those who look past the 8-bit sprites, there’s an engrossing and addictive game that will constantly keep you coming back for more and is definitely worth more than the affordable price of entry.

So What’s it like?

Vampire Survivors is like Smash TV, with rogue-like elements of Ember Knights.