Achilles: Survivor is an action roguelike, bullet hell game from developer Dark Point Games. Set in mythological Ancient Greece, the game aims to provide a unique take on the frantic, fast-paced genre. Inspired by other modern titles in the genre, such as Vampire Survivors and the excellent Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Achilles: Survivor offers some unique mechanics and progression systems that aim to help it stand out from these other titles.
Leveraging the robust mythos provided by its setting and theme, Achilles: Survivor invites players to explore four settings, each providing more powerful enemies to destroy, or die trying. As with many titles in the genre, Achilles: Survivor doesn’t spend much time unpacking a deep, story-rich motivation for the actions of the player, instead relying on the setting and theme as a backdrop for the slaughtering of endless streams of unique and challenging enemies.
This plays to Achilles: Survivors’ advantage and is a smart move on the part of the developer, as leaning on such a rich cultural location allows the title to focus on the most important element of a good bullet hell, namely the combat. In this regard, Achilles: Survivor provides an appropriately themed experience. Like the titles above, combat revolves around the player selecting from an impressive list of iconic legendary characters from Ancient Greece, each with a unique starting ability and charging into the fray.
Abilities activate automatically on cooldown and, as the player progresses, can be levelled to create multiple, more powerful variations of their base powerset. It’s a tried and tested system that works well in this application, with each ability feeling unique and, in many cases, changing the flow and style of combat considerably. As an action roguelike, if Achilles: Survivor had simply released with this core mechanic, it would feel right at home with other great titles in the genre.
However, Dark Point Games didn’t simply create a generic title with an Ancient Greek theme and instead has worked hard to refine the genre through the introduction of some fun and unique mechanics. Perhaps the most unique is the inclusion of a tower defence system, which allows players to collect resources throughout the level that can then be used to construct various towers at pre-determined points on the map.
Blending together a bullet hell with a tower defence is a true delight, and has offered a whole new level of planning and play in my time with Achilles: Survivor. With a host of both offence and support towers available, each structure node, when engaged, randomly selects three to four options for the player, forcing them to be both creative and strategic in their selection. With resources being limited and towers being destructible, selection is key to a successful run.
“Achilles: Survivor invites players to explore four settings, each providing more powerful enemies to destroy, or die trying.”
I have appreciated this tower defence addition so very much during my playthrough, as it has dramatically impacted my character builds with each level. Towers, like character abilities, can be levelled and modified, further morphing the gameplay experience. A favourite strategy is to create a gauntlet of punishing towers for enemy hordes to run through, as I weave to and fro through my destructive towers. It’s a true delight and key to success over champion monsters and bosses.
As with most roguelikes, Achilles: Survivor also provides permanent upgrades for your various heroes that can be selected and levelled up between matches from resources collected during combat. A unique feature of the implementation of this staple system is that heroes are separated into categories, some leaning more towards direct combat, with others favouring ranged or even area of effect combat. As a result, players will be able to level up a category of heroes specifically, on top of the general upgrades, providing focus to preferred heroes.
Another note on hero selection is that each feels distinct and offers a unique set of attributes and skills for players to test and explore. For example, I’ve found myself favouring Tantalus, an undead skeleton that doesn’t directly attack enemies but rather emanates an eternal rot aura that damages enemies over time. For every second Tantalus doesn’t take damage, his status strength is increased, leading to a much more defensive mode of play. It’s a unique style of play that informs both my ability and levelling selection dramatically.
This brings me to perhaps the most important element of both Achilles: Survivor and any other good roguelike: choices feel impactful. From character, to abilities, to levelling, to structure selection, each choice provides a meaningful impact on the combat experience. Dark Point Games masterfully implements this concept, and the results speak for themselves. Achilles: Survivor is an excellent addition to the genre.
Achilles: Survivor is a smart roguelike bullet hell that understands what it is and excels at providing the exact experience players want from the genre. With a unique set of heroes, abilities, combat mechanics and progression, Achilles: Survivor provides a fun and unique experience for both newcomers and veterans of the Roguelike bullet hell genre. Priced at $6.99, Achilles: Survivor is worth your time.
