Vampire Survivors is a game so iconic that even though it’s only two-and-a-half years old, it’s still managed to spawn an entire genre. The unique take on horde mode mechanics, item fusions, and meta-progression have all helped the game stay the course, and while other games have built on that in different ways, Vampire Survivors is still a delight. That becomes more true with each DLC, and this time around we get another crossover DLC in the form of Operation Guns.
Operation Guns shoves the world of Contra into Vampire Survivors and brings with it missile launchers, mechs, more aliens, and some really cool boss fights. Aside from the usual mix of new music, new levels, new characters, and loads of new items to mess around with, the biggest new edition comes from the end-of-level boss fights.
There are some spoilers here for the last boss of the first level, so don’t read if you don’t want that spoiled, but just know it’s a very cool moment.
Vampire Survivors has been playing with its own formula for a while. The top-down viewpoint has changed the feel of the game entirely with new multi-layered levels, teleports, and even a character who grows larger in size as they level up.
For example, the first boss you fight in Operation Guns, the first end-of-level boss anyway, is this huge robot that bursts through a door in Neo City. You run up expecting to fight as you always do, and instead, the game shifts the world around you so that you’re no longer top-down, but side-on. You can now run up walls, and the ceiling, and drop down at will, all while fighting this huge boss. It’s just such a clever change and continues to show off how good Vampire Survivors is. If anything else, it also makes me want even more crossover DLCs – but maybe that’s a pipe dream.
