Ever have a game come along that slips under your radar and ends up being one of the most fun games you’ve ever played? That’s what happened to me with Vampire Hunters; a game I recall seeing one trailer for and not hearing anything else until it was released and let me tell you something. Of all the FPS I’ve played, this one might be one of the best ones in a while.
I do want to start off with the negatives as there really aren’t that many to speak of but I feel are important to mention. Starting with the menus: These are hard to navigate. I don’t mean that they’re cumbersome or confusing, it’s none of that. No, it’s because of the color choices used, which are white and yellow. At times, I couldn’t tell if I was even highlighting the right menu option as the yellow blends in too well with the white, making it hard to decipher what I’m going to be clicking on. Even when I did, it was still hard as the font, at times, is also small to read. I feel like this font choice was designed more for those who play the game on computers as you’re pretty close up to the monitor, but for us console gamers who like to recline on a big comfy couch or a bed that is further away from the TV, this is a major problem. Now, it’s not TOO small as I was able to read a good bit, but it’s still an issue I feel I need to bring up. Also this one is a bit subjective, but the music is hit or miss. Some tracks are straight-up bangers, with one sounding like a tribute to Castlevania’s ‘Bloody Tears’, while others are just OK at best and nothing to really write home about. Lastly, while I think it’s a great style, the artstyle, I can see, being a bit divisive amongst gamers. It has this sorta PS1-style going on with the blocky textures and low-polygon enemies and, while I think it’s charming and does help this stand out from other shooters, I can see this being off-putting for others.
With those out of the way, HOLY VAMPIRES, this game is FUN! Best way I can think to describe this title is Vampire Survivors meets Mothergunship, with the latter seemingly the biggest inspiration, I think. See, while you do get guns, you don’t have the standard hot keys or a weapons wheel. Nope, instead, when you get a new gun, it’s hooked to your starting weapons like a Lego brick, soon turning that puny gun into a beast to make Gévaudan shudder in fear. From SMGs, Machine Guns, Shotguns, Rocket Launchers, to even a bubble thrower (which might be the most overpowered weapon in the game) can be strapped to your weapon to help you handle the legions of enemies coming for you. You even get passive weapons like swords or chainsaws that are great at crowd control, familiars that can also give you buffs like a cat that can heal you (which I highly recommend), to even a Victorian era satellite that rains hellfire down! I’ll say that again, a VICTORIAN ERA SATELLITE DISH! You also get a power called Blood Rage, which amps your damage to a staggering 300%, allowing you to utterly destroy everything in your path, including the bosses. With two guns, it’s fun going into a blood rage, but with an entire armada equipped? You become a literal walking apocalypse, bringing the rain of a thousand arrows down on Dracula’s legion. Earning these weapons and power-ups is also super easy as, everytime you level up, you get a choice of four rewards to choose from, be it a new weapon or power-up or leveling up your already existing weapon. There are also passive buffs you can get, ranging from getting better loot to upping your damage or, at times, screwing you over if you aren’t careful.
After every unsuccessful or successful run, more on that in a bit, you earn three types of currency. These can be then spent on your selected character’s, of which there are six to choose from with three being locked at the start, skill tree, which only affects said character, or permanent upgrades, which affect all characters and that is something I really like. You can even buy a new starter weapon using the currency, meaning instead of starting with a pistol, you can start a run with a minigun or vice versa. Also, if certain criterias are met, you can unlock Constellations and these can really make or break a run as these can be either really helpful, like dropping meteors onto the stage, or can make the game extremely hard, like activating a one-hit mode. My personal favorite is the one that makes it that every weapon you get is your starting weapons, meaning you can melt enemies with the minigun (Seriously, this might be my favorite version of the minigun) or burninate them with the flamethrower.
Now, remember when I mention ‘successful run’? This is something that I feel really takes this game from being a simple ‘Vampire Survivors But In FPS’ game: You can actually BEAT a level! Yeah, if you manage to survive for thirty minutes, a special objective appears on the screen and, if you complete it you beat the level! THIS! THIS was something that made me happy and was one of my chief complaints with many of these horde-survival games. Granted, it really does depend on the RNG and how good your weapon choices are or if you managed to find a broken/overpowered combo of weapons and use the class that can refill his blood rage as a special ability cough cough but it’s still a welcome addition.
By the way, fighting Dracula’s legions is right as, at times, there are close to thousands of enemies on screen at once. Not since Serious Sam 4 and Earth Defense Force 2025 have I seen this many enemies on screen at the same time and it is a sight to behold. What’s even crazy is, and I have no idea what kind of black magic they did here, I did not experience any frame-rate drops or lag, even when the screen was filled with enough chaos to make a Jackson Pollock painting look like the Mona Lisa. When you first start a level, in which there are eight, enemies start coming in and it’s manageable at first, with low level goons and enough to keep you on your toes but not enough to break a sweat. However, as the time progresses, more will start pouring in, ramping the difficulty up more and more as higher level enemies start to appear, with some needing to have extra focus on due to the damage they give. I love how each world has enemies designed to fit within that world, like the Egyptian setting as creatures based on, well, Egyptian mythology and the village has more demonic threats and werewolves. Granted, after a while, you do get crossovers from other stages with the enemies, but I’m perfectly OK with that as it prevents the stage from getting stale. Well, save for two enemies that are my least favorite: Two that fire either fire or ice at you and this train-looking-yokai-thing who I swear can take nearly five magazines worth of ammo before you can finally destroy him.
After so long, a boss enemy will appear and these will take precedence over the enemies as they deal the most damage and can easily end your run if you’re not careful. One boss I like to highlight is the Kappa as it’s one of the few who comes in two stages. When it spawns, it’s in an egg form, which will run around, gaining health until it hatches into its King Kappa form, who comes equipped with a deadly ground pound. What’s cool is that you can actually prevent it from hatching by destroying the egg as it’s running around and I love when games allow you to prevent a boss from having a second stage. Of course, there are some annoying bosses, like a praying mantis boss and this weird one-legged jumping boss (whose attacks I don’t understand) that I don’t think I ever lost a run to yet. But, just like the enemies, the bosses also ramp up as the level progresses. You start out fighting just one boss, but soon ramp up to two, then three, then four, then five, with the fifth being the stage’s main boss. It may seem daunting, but as long as you have the right weapons and plenty of Blood Rage, you can easily melt the bosses without breaking a sweat. Until you hit the final level, which I dare not spoil, but let me just say this: You will be put to the ultimate test here and, trust me, it is worth the effort.
If you can’t tell by now, I love this game. I honestly went into this game with high expectations and came out with them surpassed ten-fold. Yeah, these types of games aren’t for everyone and I do understand that, but I can still heap praise on this game and ask that everyone at least check this out. If you love Vampire Survivors but wondered how it’d be in first person or if you’re looking for another game to scratch the arena-shooting itch, then this is the game for you.
