Vampire Hunters by Gamecraft Studios proves that the best way to hunt undead mythical creatures is with more firepower and zero regard for inventory limitations. Grafting Vampire Survivors’ weapon system onto Doom’s movement shooter framework, it delivers intriguing gameplay with the subtlety of a wooden stake fired from a crossbow, aimed at a fire-breathing dragon.

Putting the “Movement” in Movement Shooter

The game has two ways to play, Classic and Survival. Classic Mode is Vampire Hunters as it was originally envisioned: the player walks down a corridor as enemies spawn around them, with the level’s boss awaiting them at the end of the walkway. Survival Mode, meanwhile, has full movement and a proper arena where you survive for 30 minutes before completing a final objective, with bosses spawning in 5 to 10 minute intervals. 

For this review, Survival Mode will be the key focus. While Classic Mode is a novel idea, and there is fun to be had there, it does ultimately feel too limiting in build variety. The corridor format forces you to rely more on raw power, while guns focused on crowd control or positioning are left to the wayside.

Meanwhile, with Survival Mode having a full arena, it becomes easier to appreciate the chaotic and ridiculous build you’re crafting. There is also a bit of a grind before interesting weapon and relic unlock due to the roguelike format, making the first few hours of Classic Mode feel more repetitive compared to Survival. The recent post-launch content additions also focus entirely on Survival Mode, suggesting even Gamecraft Studios themselves recognize where their game’s strength lies.

Dakkavania

The core gameplay loop of Vampire Hunters is to collect and upgrade every weapon you can find. You can hold up to 10 primary weapons, two secondary weapons that are cooldown-based instead of an ammo count, and two passive items like a summoning item or an extra revive. There are multiple survivors to choose from with their own stats and unlockable abilities for additional variety, such as the Scout dashing through hordes, and the Paladin who does a stomping AoE attack by slamming into the ground from the air.

The catch is unlike your standard boomer shooter game where you have an unlimited backpack, in Vampire Hunters, you fire everything in your arsenal at once! Instead of having to switch between your weapons to combo off of each other, it is all happening in real time. For added absurdity, your character grows extra arms to accommodate for the added guns, taking a Risk of Rain 2 approach to visual absurdity. Imagine watching your vampire hunter turn into a gunslinging spider–six revolvers, a flamethrower, and holding a piece of cheese that summons ghost rats!

Monster Moshing

The style of Vampire Hunters is something worth mentioning. The aesthetic of the game is a mix between steampunk and mythology. The guns are retro sci-fi inspired, like a cannon that launches scrap or a ray gun that alternates between different elemental effects. The enemies of the game and the environments lean more on Eastern mythology and yokai with a few outliers such as a giant man-eating plant or a desert sandworm. It’s a blend of different inspirations that, coupled with the low-poly graphics, creates a fun atmosphere fitting for a game that doesn’t take itself all too seriously. It’s very much a Castlevania-inspired monster bash – there is some dreary gothic horror but cartoon obstacles for you to blast away. 

Rounding that out is the soundtrack, being composed mainly of hard rock and orchestral string arrangements. Vampire Hunters has a radio feature similar to Survivors that allows you to play any song for any stage, as well as an option to keep it all randomized. This allows you to either handcraft your perfect Van Helsing playlist or leave it entirely to RNG like everything else. There is a hidden track on the final stage that serves as a theme for the game overall: a power metal song that is just as fun and cheesy as the kind you’re imagining. 

Wacky Weapons and Crazy Constellations

Being an FPS at heart, Vampire Hunters lives or dies by its weapon balance. There are several guns for different scenarios that combo off of each other. The revolver and photon blaster, for example, work best when paired with more than one of its kind as they gain a damage boost or AoE effect respectively. But both remain solid options even picking just one up. In fact, the guns are well-balanced. While some guns are certainly better than others, no weapon feels reductive. Even weapons that superficially feel similar can serve as combo fodder or have a niche power like dealing more damage to bosses or elite enemies, that makes them feel welcome in any build if they were randomly given to you. The exceptions are the secondary and passive weapons, as they are a lot more specialized and need synergy to be most effective.

Ah, right. Vampire Hunters has a modifier system called Constellations. Constellations can affect the gameplay both positively or negatively – or simply add to the chaos. There are a few that can make the game much easier for those who are struggling, such as removing the shields one enemy carry that blocks all shots directed at them. The difficulty modifiers do a fairly decent job of being challenging. It dawns on you fairly quickly how much damage enemies are capable of doing. It’s almost like having to relearn the game and go from playing with silly combinations to having to be more conservative with what you take when the challenging Constellations are active, rather than frontloading you with that info like the Classic Mode had.  

Final Thoughts

Vampire Hunters is the perfect game for those who don’t want a serious story or themes. The game is unabashedly fun and unsubtle in its concept without feeling overwhelming. Vampire Hunters thrives on being absurd, goofy, but most importantly fun to play. For players looking for a “Garlic Like” with more movement freedom, and those looking for a game to add to their Steam Deck collection, Vampire Hunters is a title to add to your library.

Vampire Hunters was released October 30th, 2024. It retails for $14.99.