Not a day goes by anymore that I don’t want to play a bullet heaven. I’m currently grinding away at Soulstone Survivors and have several more hours to go, enjoying the chaos of fighting thousands of enemies with only a few buttons. When Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor‘s demo came about, I knew I had to check out this take stemming from a title I have fond memories with to see if it could nail this genre well past its renaissance. Is this interpretation rock and stone, or an afterthought that’s too little too late?

As a demo, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor offers a modest amount of content. There is only one level and one dwarf to take control of, the Scout. The opening screens notify you that this is “very much a work in progress“, but a few minutes into my playtime, I realized that this didn’t seem to be the case.

On a Steam Deck, this game barely had any frame drops and controlled perfectly. This was a miracle considering this is an early version and manages to outperform some of the genre’s best while being visually pleasing. I can only imagine what kinds of improvements Funday Games has planned ahead of its final release.

The core gameplay of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is actually quite similar to the game it originates from. You’re tasked with mining while dealing with an onslaught of lethal bugs that can put you away in a few hits. In each of the five phases of the level, you must endure sporadic swarms until a boss spawns.

If you can take down the tanky enemy after upgrading your kit accordingly, you’ll have only 30 seconds to make your way to the extraction pod to continue your mission. The aesthetic of this game borrows heavily from the DRG universe, from the announcer to the font. As such, it’ll be a real treat for those checking out this game on that basis.

The baddies in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor are no pushovers. From the start, I really felt my kiting ability tested as I waited for each weapon to reload to quell them. The upgrade paths felt fitting as I enjoyed finding a variety of weapons to work with. I also enjoyed the strategy of prioritizing the exploding spiders that took massive chunks of health away but would take out a small group of enemies whenever I got the upper hand. The balance is concise at this stage and up until the final boss I felt the right amount of difficulty pushed me to the end.

I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll be picking up Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor once it releases in a tentative Q1 of 2024 timeframe. I encountered no issues in my hour+ of playtime and the game actually handles better than any other bullet heaven that isn’t pixel-based. I would imagine this game shouldn’t cost any more than $10 at that point since games from this genre rarely/never exceed that. Keep your eyes on Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and give the demo a try today.

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