Beatdown City Survivors

Disclaimer: I'm friends with NuChallenger and have covered [url=https://medium.com/vidya-gaem-awards/the-v-gas-at-pax-west-2025-346cda4f2b2d]their game in the past[/url] on behalf of an outlet. Notwithstanding, I'll try and give it a fair assessment. Tl;dr, it's worth a buy. NuChallenger returns with Beatdown City Survivors, a follow up to their beat-em-up tactical RPG [i]Treachery in Beatdown City[/i]. That game had some hilarious dialogue and a long development cycle as things got to be right-sized. This time around, the focus is wholly on the gameplay, and it thrusts you right into the action with no tutorial apart from a few screens. The Survivor's-quality is largely in the horde enemies you have to dispatch which get progressively tougher and more numerous over time. But there's a dash mechanic, surface types and an environment mechanics which add a new layer of challenge. Much like that one Stamina mechanic everyone took from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for their own games, it's one thing to just copy, another to actually iterate - and luckily, they did it here. Of the roster, each character has a special ability, as well as strengths and weaknesses in their stats. A powerful character (Open Mike Eagle) can levitate and has a high debuff resistance but he also has low max HP, while some can double dash and attack faster but are weaker in their attacks. A unique quality about this game is its soundtrack, which is almost entirely comprised of licensed rap music. It captures the experience of playing a game late at night, with Spotify in the background very well. All in all, there are two full albums that play on shuffle ("Genuine Dexterity" by Kenny Segal & K-the-I???, and "Nobody Planning To Leave" by ShrapKnel") plus a few more individual tracks. These artists are also in the game as playable characters. But if the soundtrack isn't your thing, there's no gameplay impact by using your own music instead. Meta progression and modifiers, which are in the form of upgrades you can buy from Halal cart vendor Farooq back in the hub apartment as well as on the computer, help speed through future runs and get you closer to completing each level easier. Upgrading these were crucial to my progression, though part of me wanted to unlock the 1x continue easier. Probably the biggest surprise from the previews I played is that saving the fellow survivors isn't really a thing - some runs you might not even come across a survivor, saving yourself comes first. But that might be because they provide a buff on the battlefield and there aren't nearly as many that are as strong as you. Do I have any complaints? I have some. I think making someone complete the same map on a higher difficulty is just stretching playtime, but some people gave Kojima a pass for doing the same thing with MGSV when his team ran out of time. Additionally, forward progression (in the single-run, not metaprogression) can be lacking depending on the RNG due to the destructible objects not loading in a favorable spot. Some enemies also don't deal _any_ damage to certain characters at all (vs. deal major damage to other characters), and that wasn't something I was expecting. But, it's seriously fun and it puts a far more novel approach on the genre than I was expecting. Well done.

As someone who's often tired of Vampire Survivors games, this one gave me new hope for the genre. Endlessly exciting and fresh.

I’m enjoying Beatdown City Survivors, especially if you want a bullet heaven game that’s more active - liquid mechanics that spread and have different effects, dashing, and survivor rescues/management give it a distinct playstyle. Plus it’s got all the sardonic humor and cool urban vibes you’d expect if you've played Treachery in Beatdown City (which is also great). It's got a killer soundtrack, too. For $8 if you're into this specific genre it's hard to go wrong, here.

To start: the Survivors-like / bullet heaven genre is possibly my favorite, and this has quickly become my favorite game in it. (For further context, there is a sale on many games in the genre this week, and many of them have demos, so I have played a lot of them.) This game is so deep; It has so many characters with so many different special abilities, so many weapons and power-ups that can be combined in so many different ways, and it's all so visually distinct with a wonderful, fun art style. The game is more challenging than a lot of others in the genre, but not arbitrarily so, and it makes getting past the obstacles all the more satisfying. Others in the genre start off pretty easy and only get even easier as the player progresses, but this game has remained a fun challenge even as I've bought more upgrades and power-ups.

You get to fight acid rats on fire and bleeding cockroaches with holy chanclas and pigeons carrying soda. It's an easy recommend, not to mention the fire soundtrack

Id like to start by saying I'm not even a huge fan of survivor-likes, but this one really grabbed me! The way you can engage with the environment is so unique, and has me meaningfully moving around the environment outside of the normal dodging hordes of enemies. Right from the start, the game slaps you in the face with its style and atmosphere. The art is fantastic The music is fantastic The gameplay is fantastic Great game at a great value! I'd write more, but I SEE A HORDE OF RATS COMING MY WAY!! 🐀

Pretty solid survivor game. Has a bit more to pay attention to than the original, with dangerous ground effects and some bosses/enemies. Also the music is good.