Some games you dip in and out of every few months, checking how it’s going, and sometimes you come away confused, surprised, and excited every single time. Vampire Survivors is one of those games for me. I picked it up when you walked around a green field trying to hit bats and now it’s almost unrecognizable, becoming a true gaming juggernaut that keeps upping the ante in terms of inventiveness.
Following on from today’s IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase event, Vampire Survivors launched its latest update, coinciding with the end of the show. The latest content drop for the roguelike game is titled Laborratory with developer Poncle promising it to be the “most ambitious free update yet”. Seven new achievements, a new challenge stage, bonus stage, character, weapon and evolution, passive weapon, and power-up await, along with a few extra surprises along the way.
As is the course for Vampire Survivors this update feels like everything has been thrown at it, including the kitchen sink. Featuring holiday-themed character Santa Ladonna who comes with his own Santa Javelin along with a science-gone-wrong themed Laborratory challenge stage, it’s probably the most Vampire Survivors update Vampire Survivors has received so far. Along with trains you can call in that smush foes into jelly to levels being a little-more interactive with doors you can open, there’s definitely a lot going on in the Laborratory.
Also included is a special bonus stage called Carlo Cart, which sees you unable to stop moving as you ride your go-cart amongst the waves of death-dealing enemies hunting you down. There are rumors of a secret character you’ll be able to hunt down somewhere in the update, though we have no further details past that just yet.
This has all been wrapped up in an AAAA (not a typo) launch trailer which yells the key details at you in super glorious hyper-realistic style. Vampire Survivors has never hidden its sense of humor and now as more and more gets added to the game, it’s great to see developer Poncle still able to laugh at itself.
The Laborratory update is out now and players can download and dive into it right away. In addition to this slice of content, the next collaboration for the game was teased, showing off the cinematic trailer for the upcoming Operation Guns DLC which was first unveiled earlier in the month. Bringing beloved characters from the Contra series right into the game, you’ll be able to play this brand new DLC on Thursday, May 9.
If you’d like to optimize your runs, our guide to the best Vampire Survivors builds will get you killing quickly, or you can get your hands on more to play with in our secret Vampire Survivors characters guide.
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