Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a great auto-shooter spinoff

First time playing Deep Rock Galactic: SurvivorI will play for twenty minutes before pausing to take notes. Then, three hours later I realized that I had been a fool. This is one of those sticky games that can be played in short bursts, but I keep diving into new rounds, and as soon as I close the client down I’m thinking about playing it again.

What is Deep Rock Galactic: SurvivorHow has this seized my mind so completely? It’s a pastiche of Vampire SurvivorsA top-down shooter, as interpreted by the world Deep Rock Galactic This is the premise SurvivorIt is exactly the same as original Deep Rock Galactic — dwarves fighting through bugs and beasties to mine valuable ore in the world’s most unsafe workplace. But while the original title is a four-player co-op game, in this new spin-off, I’m alone.

I am a dwarve on a mission in the mines. It’s me, my friendly robot Bosco, and a couple of simple guns. Bosco, me and the robot can all shoot anything in our area. And I’m able to blast my way past walls made of stone or rock. Every monster is after me and I can only do so much with my starter weapons. Ore and monsters drop experience that I can spend to upgrade my equipment or purchase new power-ups.

Funday Games/Ghost Ship Publishing

It will begin like this. I may have several objectives such as getting specific minerals or eliminating a certain number of bugs. In some runs, I have a plasma gun with kinetic energy that bounces of the terrain. Other times, I have to rely on a shotgun’s powerful knockback blasts. As I progress through the waves, danger increases. Soon, the screen becomes crowded with voracious bugoids and experience diamonds.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor’s mining mechanic adds a fun set of choices. Mines are just as automated as shooting; I only have to focus on picking my path and steering the dwarf. Rock is much slower than open land, while ore poses an even greater obstacle. When a wave of beasts is rushing towards me, do I mine a precious gem? Do I run across the flats or should I cut through the rock to reach safer ground?

If I die, it’s often because of my own hubris in thinking I could carve a clever shortcut or sneakily mine a big crystal. On the other hand, I can also mine a path to funnel enemies down a chokepoint I’m pelting with plasma shots, and I feel like a big-brain genius. This auto-shooter’s ability to charge through stones to construct your own terrain is brilliant.

Funday Games/Ghost Ship Publishing

Dying doesn’t necessarily mean the expedition wasn’t worth it. Between rounds I can upgrade my dwarves, increasing their weapon damage, movement speed or mining skills. Because Survivor is currently in beta, not all of the upgrades are available to me yet, and there’s a tantalizing Artifacts tab that is currently inaccessible.

Also, the game needs rebalancing. In a conversation with Polygon developer Funday Games said that Bosco’s playtests revealed it needed some improvements. Also, in later levels I was hankering after some ridiculously overpowered guns. There are many upgrades, each with their own specialties, but very few offer massive and exciting power spikes. Even with my limited arsenal I still looked forward to assessing and selecting upgrades after each match.

Deep Rock Galactic: SurvivorIt has the added benefit of based on an extremely successful game and being set in an already established universe. The game may not be re-inventing any wheels, but I’m not sure that’s a problem when it’s a really good wheel. Deep Rock Galactic: SurvivorCurrently, the game is in closed testing on Steam and will be released in 2023.