Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor’s auto-shooter gameplay has me yearning for the mines

15.02.2024 - 23:21 / polygon.com / Deep Rock

I have spent the last few days delving into the darkness of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and have only occasionally taken a break to come up for air. This is yet another take on the bullet-hell survival formula established by Vampire Survivors, using the sci-fi setting of the original Deep Rock Galactic. It’s a combination that works as well as chocolate and peanut butter. I’ve spent hours fleeing from bugs and mining valuable ore, and yet every time I step away, I find myself yearning for the mines.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor starts with only one of the four dwarves from the original game available, the Scout. The Scout teaches the player the basics of the game, using his enhanced mobility to flee the bugs while whittling them down with steady automatic arms fire. Each round begins with a drop pod landing deep in the mines, and the dwarf emerges with a starting weapon and a couple of objectives: collect resources from around the map and draw out the elite boss by slaying wave after wave of an unstoppable alien swarm.

The Scout starts with a simple assault rifle, but the longer I played, the more of an arsenal I unlocked. I gained XP from mining and killing bugs; every time I leveled up, I got a small upgrade like movement speed, fire rate on my weapon, or more damage. At certain milestones, I unlocked the option for a new weapon — perhaps a cryo grenade if I’m dealing with swarms, or a high-powered sniper rifle to eliminate tough targets. The weapons automatically fire, but go down while they reload. I needed to keep an eye on my ammo, watch my positioning, and collect all of the goodies on the map without being overwhelmed by monsters.

Occasionally, the Deep Rock Galactic corporation was kind enough to give me a supply drop. I had to find these beacons and clear the area around them, then wait for the drop itself to come down. If I was successful, I got an artifact — something like an ammo clip that gives me a much higher fire rate at the cost of attack speed, or the chance to find gold in any rock I happen to mine. If I had to abandon the supply beacon to save my life, it smarted — and the rest of the run was much tougher as a result.

During my first few rounds, I took the time to find my feet and didn’t worry too much about advancing. This is a game where you will die early and often — and that’s just part of the fun. Every time I died, I returned to the main menu, where I could unlock new permanent upgrades with the resources I earned during my last match. The next time I went down, I was stronger, faster, and wiser. I also eventually earned the ability to play as the other classes: the Gunner, Engineer, and Driller.

While the first few rounds of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor felt a bit samey,