The overwhelming success of Luca Galante vampire survivors has inspired many imitators: new games like HoloCure – Save the fans! and torment roomsas well as derivatives of existing popular titles such as Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and League of Legends'Swarm temporary game mode.
A new contender has burst onto the scene and it's pretty fun, if you're willing to put in a few hours. karate survivorreleased by developer and publisher Alawar on October 30 for PC, it is a vampire survivors-This is how it is inspired by the action movies of the 80s, and specifically the Hong Kong action movies of that time. The game delivers on the aesthetic goal: the models of the player characters, enemies, and environments (supermarket, bar, rooftop, construction site, and subway) look like they've been pulled straight from the movies the game hopes to evoke; denim, vests and a general 80s vibe to the animation style. Additionally, the movement of the action is smooth and fluid, something essential for any game that takes up the legacy of Hong Kong action cinema from the 80s.
As vampire survivorsin karate survivorYou control a character trying to, well, survive a swarm of advancing enemies. You start with a martial arts move that automatically deploys on a cooldown, and as you defeat enemies with it, you gain experience. When you accumulate enough experience, you level up and unlock another martial arts move such as attack (you can have up to six active) or stat bonuses (such as boosts to dodge, block, hit, damage environmental objects, etc.). Defeating your enemies also grants you a currency, Teeth, which you can use to upgrade your character with buffs that you can save throughout matches.
Image: Alawar
Your unlocked martial arts moves aren't the only weapon at your disposal. One of the most fun parts of the game is picking up random objects to use as weapons: bottles, bricks, baseball bats, crowbars. It feels like fighting to use anything around you to get through the fight in a way very appropriate for a game inspired by Jackie Chan films.
I'm having a great time with karate survivor About eight hours in, but it took a while to start enjoying it. After about an hour of playing, I almost abandoned the game because I found the few available actions boring and too limited. But I gave it another chance (because of how much I love the aesthetic and this era of action movies), and was surprised to discover how many crucial mechanics were controlled by progression.
Image: Alawar
Now, after several hours, I can roll over obstacles, kick people on the other side, or kick objects on the ground at enemies. But it took me about six hours to unlock one of the main features of the game. Each martial arts move has a color that, when combined with other moves of the same color, synergizes to deal additional damage. That item is unlocked from the beginning. But each move also has a number associated with it, and if you sequence the moves in the correct order (for example, red 6, then red 7, red 8, 9, 10, and 11), you'll get a powerful advantage for each move. in the sequence.
That whole system is only unlocked after beating the first level boss. I wasn't clear on how crucial beating the first level's boss was to unlocking one of the game's main mechanics, and I unlocked each of the next two levels (and played them multiple times) before beating the first boss. If I had focused all my energy on beating the first boss, I certainly would have unlocked that mechanic sooner, but I was still getting used to playing with the limited tools available to me and trying out the different levels I had unlocked.
I understand the motivation for locking some elements behind game progress – it feels good to unlock new skills and features. But these seem to be core mechanisms integral to a good experience with karate survivorand blocking them makes the game feel pretty lifeless at first. Fortunately, once you get past that part, it's a valuable addition to the burgeoning survivor genre.
karate survivor It was released on October 30 on Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Alawar. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. Additional information about Polygon's ethics policy can be found here.