Beatdown City Survivors

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.

Admittedly most of my time has been in the demo, but truly, I think the environmental interactivity is what separates this mechanically from any other bullet-heaven I've seen. That you can combine elements of the environment together with each other, with weapons, with specials the survivors have, status effects, and even take advantage of specific enemy types just makes this sing. AND THEN you have the fantastic setting of Beatdown City, old enemies becoming shaky allies in the apocalypse, and a phenomenal soundtrack which the game is even kind enough to list the details of when a new song starts. I think this is an easy recommend and look forward to putting dozens of hours into this adventure.

I was playing it wrong. I had forgotten the old ways. The training I received at the hands of my Commodore 64 and NES. Games with little room for error, extracting sweat from my brow with each unforgiving lesson, going back and back and back again. I had forgotten the ways. Flexing these muscles in Beatdown City Survivors was painful. Synapses rarely used in today's "mark each pathway to yellow", "let the game guide you, not upset you" environment, flaring to painful life. The player's movement, understanding the patterns of each new enemy, and utilizing the environment as intended, not as something to be ignored - this is what I remember. Each run, bringing be closer to a level of understanding. Not as punishment, but as a lesson to employ on the next round. A perfectly sublime soundtrack of hip-hop stands as a foundation for the cacophony of battle, weaving on its struts as tension mounts, never distracting, only supporting the battles on the gorgeous, pixelated rendition of the city on the screen. What is this madness? What is this gauntlet? What is this lesson? Beatdown City Survivors will tell you, with a grim smile and calloused handshake, if you only take the time to listen. I love this game. The glyphs/icons needs to be updated to properly support DualSense controllers, though. Get on that.

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.

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!! 🐀

This game was made for NY ♥♥♥♥♥♥ specifically

A step up in the bullet hell/heaven genre. Great use of environment, humor, and one of the most amazing soundtracks of the year. A must play for anyone who loves Vampire Survivors.

Really enjoying this game so far. It's far deeper than most of the other survivors-types I've played, and I love unlocking the characters and power ups (I especially love that you get the hints for unlocking them after you rescue them in-game). Soundtrack is 🔥 and the gameplay loop keeps me coming back.

Still just as fun as the demo was at PAX West. Huge fan of Nuchallenger's work.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! COP-CORPES FOR THE COP-CORPE THRONE! To be honest, I am not very intressted in these "Vampire survivors" style games, but if you (or someone you know) likes them, then I heartily recommend this game! It has a great artstyle, fun liquid-based mechcanics and an absolutly fantastic soundtrack! I hope you give this game a chance!