Over the past few days I have delved into the darkness of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and only took occasional breaks to catch my breath. This is yet another take on the bullet hell survival formula Vampire survivorsusing the sci-fi setting of the original Deep Galactic Rock. It’s a combination that works just as well as chocolate and peanut butter. I’ve spent hours running from insects and mining valuable ore, and yet every time I leave I find myself longing 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 escape the insects and take them down with steady automatic weapon fire. Each round begins with a drop pod landing deep in the mines, and the dwarf emerges with a starting weapon and a set of objectives: collect resources from across the map and take down the elite boss by defeating wave after wave of an unstoppable alien swarm.
The Scout starts with a simple assault rifle, but the longer I played, the more arsenal I unlocked. I earned XP from mining and killing bugs; every time I leveled up I got a small upgrade, such as 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 when dealing with swarms, or a powerful sniper rifle to take out tough targets. The weapons fire automatically, but drop while reloading. I had to keep an eye on my ammo, keep an eye on my positioning, and collect all the goodies on the map without being overwhelmed by monsters.
Image: Funday Games/Ghost Ship Publishing
Every now and then the company Deep Rock Galactic was kind enough to give me an offer drop. I had to find these beacons and clear the area around them, and 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 rate of fire at the expense of attack speed, or the chance to find gold in any rock I happen to come across. Having to abandon the supply beacon to save my life was painful – and made the rest of the flight much harder.
During my first few rounds, I took my time to find my feet and didn’t worry too much about progress. This is a game where you shall die early and often – and that’s just part of the fun. Each time I died, I was returned to the main menu, where I could unlock new permanent upgrades using the resources I earned during my last match. The next time I went down I was stronger, faster and wiser. Eventually, I also earned the opportunity to play as the other classes: the Gunner, Engineer, and Driller.
While the first few rounds of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor felt a bit the same, the game opened up when I unlocked it and played as new classes. Each round I had a new upgrade to test if a new tool was available in the random arsenal. The four classes also all play differently. While the Scout is an agile man who runs and shoots, the Gunner is much happier facing the swarm and letting his enormous minigun tear through insects like wet tissue paper; the Engineer drops turrets, creating control zones; and the Driller is by far the best miner of the group.
Image: Funday Games/Ghost Ship Publishing
Mining was essential regardless of class. Valuable minerals were wedged into the rock that I needed for upgrades. Second, mining allowed me to create new paths that were critical to my survival. When I was pinned against a rock, with every insect in the universe coming at me to devour my bones, I would turn around and get out by digging a tunnel through the rock. The trick is that mining can be slow work, especially if you’re trying to get your hands on special resources. The best rounds of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor are the ones where I overcome the odds by cleverly using mining to open new paths, avoid the swarm, and feel like a Big Brain Genius in the process.
I’ve rarely spent time there Deep Galactic Rock itself, simply because it’s not a rotation game for my group of friends. But it’s fun to approach that world from a different angle, one more suited to solo play. There is an amount of mindless joy in the game; all I have to worry about is pointing my dwarf in the right direction, and he will do the rest. All the while I get the serotonin boost from leveling up and getting fancy new weapons. I’m sorry to report that instead of brains, there are indeed brains Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor was released on February 14 on Windows PC. The game was reviewed using a pre-release download code from Ghost Ship Publishing. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.