Vampire Survivors is a game so full of content that additional DLC almost feels unnecessary. However, the latest Operation Guns pack is so charming and offers such great value for money that it makes it an easy recommendation.
The new add-on is a collaboration with Konami’s Contra series, forgoing the more obvious Castlevania crossover to perpetuate the running joke that Vampire Survivors has no actual vampires. It comes with more than ten new characters, 22 weapons and two maps, all inspired by the legendary run ‘n’ gun franchise.
Welcome To The Gun Show
The new weapons in Operation Guns place more emphasis on directing your character to line up your shots, creating an attacking approach reminscent of Contra while still staying true to the auto-shooting style of Vampire Surivivors. You’ll often find yourself trying to find space amongst the hordes of enemies so that you can turn around and satisfyingly try and blow them away.
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I’ve played my fair share of Contra and the way those weapons have been introduced here feels immediately familiar. I always liked using the spread gun and hated the laser, and the same can be said about both of their Vampire Survivors counterparts (though as a quick aside, the laser’s upgrade might be my favourite new weapon for the sheer chaos that fills the screen).
Upgrading the new weapons generally requires holding three items, with the newly added Weapon Power-Up item always being a requirement. These are littered all over the new Neo Galuga map, making it straightforward to unlock all the additional content. But this comes with the caveat that upgrading these weapons is much harder on other maps where you’ll have to rely on getting a lucky drop of a Weapon Power-Up as you level up. This just means that the new Contra weapons are less of a viable option on other maps, but it still creates a fun and novel upgrade path when playing in Neo Galuga.
Operation Galuga
Speaking of the new map, I was endlessly delighted with the discoveries I made exploring its various biomes. You’ll find all sorts of visual references to the 8-bit and 16-bit entries in the Contra series, with familiar enemies and environments, culminating in a wonderfully goofy final boss fight.
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I’ve found that the post-launch maps for Vampire Survivors have been improvements on the original set, with plenty of tucked away areas worth traversing and maze-like corridors that can potentially trap you. Neo Galuga maintains this standard of quality.
I’m less sold on Hectic Highway, the new challenge map added in this pack. Following a similar style established in the recent Laborratory update, you’ll find yourself travelling on a jetbike down this never-ending highway, battling swarms of enemies. The issue is it all feels rather passive, even by Vampire Survivors standards. It lacks in variety and challenge as you just move slightly up and down. And if you fail to pick up a chest and it goes off-screen, there appears to be no way to retrieve it. The end result is a map that proves to be more of an exercise in frustration than fun.
Sink Your Brad Fangs In
With so many characters now in this game, it is hard to add new characters and make them feel distinguishable, but the developers have done well to try and find quirks for each of the new additions.
I was very pleased with the representation of characters throughout the series including Bill and Lance from the original NES and arcade game, and almost the entire playable cast of my favourite entry, Contra: Hard Corps.
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The DLC also includes a stack of music tracks straight from the games themselves as well as six new remixes of Contra music. I think the music in Vampire Survivors has always been top-notch and the new additions fit perfectly.
Super C-onclusion
With an RRP of $3.49 AUD, the amount of content here is kinda nuts, and the team at development studio Poncle should be applauded for their faithful tribute to the Contra series.
Whether or not you should be checking this out is a pretty simple exercise. If you like Vampire Survivors and Contra, I don’t even know why you’re reading this because buying this DLC is a no-brainer. People who just like Vampire Survivors will find a lot of new content to explore for a low price and should definitely check it out.
That being said, people who only like Contra or don’t like either franchise should probably stay well away. This isn’t going to be content that wins over new fans to this peculiar indie hit. Vampire Survivors travels in its own lane and while this is strictly for the fans, they will find plenty to enjoy in this new add-on.
A review copy of Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
