A genre I got sucked into earlier this year was that of the reverse bullet hell. Popularised by Vampire Survivors (which is still going very strong), we have seen countless imitators come in with their own spin on things – and, surprisingly, a lot of them turned out to be actually quite good.

After transitioning into virtual reality, I managed to kick the addiction that I had to the genre, but little did I know that it was soon going to seek me out again. Survivors of Xcalibur, releasing in early access, aims to make me relapse – albeit this time on my Meta Quest 3.

As with all early access games, our thoughts are reflective of the current version – which may even be outdated by the time of publication. No doubt the game will grow over time, and that should be taken into consideration when thinking about buying the game.

SURVIVING THE KNIGHT
Unlike the game it takes its inspiration from, Survivors of Xcalibur focuses more on a singular location rather than exploring a larger map. Your goal is to defend the purification crystal from enemy attack, so you’ll want to make sure you stay relatively close to it at all times. This allows the game to feel very welcoming to VR newcomers, as there’s no real need for movement, and it also makes the game feel a little bit like a tower defence game a times – albeit your key line of defence is a ridiculously strong knight with the power of flight!

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Survivors of Xcalibur is remarkably easy to get started with, as all you need to do is assign your main weapons before beginning your day of carnage. Equipping weapons is done by stabbing a sword with its name into the battlefield. Doing so will cause the game to offer you upgrades for them after obtaining a set amount of experience. They may start off pretty weak, but with every subsequent upgrade they become more powerful – very useful considering the enemy hordes also become increasingly stronger too.

It’s a classic setup and works really well here. You move the knight around like a toy, and your weapons will autofire as appropriate. You may need to angle them appropriately for certain weapons to hit your target, but you’ll mainly be dodging enemy projectiles and guiding your knight to where the current priority lies. Some enemies can be more threatening than others, particularly the ground-based creatures that go directly for the purification crystal, so you’ll need to carefully assess everything around you.

The enemies themselves are quite bright and colourful, with a nice variety currently available, and they do feel quite well balanced so far. No doubt more will be added in the future to spice things up, especially if they end up adding new maps (something which I feel is the biggest priority at this stage). As for the weapons, I like the ones currently available, but I also hope they add plenty of new ones as time goes on. Currently available ones include shotguns, drones, freeze bombs, and even a lightning strike. I did encounter a serious issue with the latter as it currently produces an epilepsy-inducing flash on a regular basis, but thankfully the developers are looking into sorting it out – in the meantime, it may be worth avoiding that one for now.

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All in all though, the game does a great job at bringing the genre into virtual reality. The visuals are bright and colourful, and the controls are both simple and intuitive, making it perfect for anyone wanting that quick fix. I say quick fix, but it’s one that may end up lasting for hours as you go back in for one more try in the hopes that maybe this time you’ll be successful. And with the game unlocking new weapons and perks on a frequent basis, then maybe you just might.

I look forward to seeing what Something Random end up adding to the game over the coming months. There’s a fantastic foundation to the game so far and its cheap selling price means its well worth jumping in early.

VERDICT
I had never even thought about playing a Vampire Survivors style game in VR, but Survivors of Xcalibur has shown that the formula can work extremely well. There may not be a massive amount of content currently available in its early state, but there’s certainly enough to keep you playing for hours and hours – thus making it a bargain for the €5 asking price. I only hope that by the time it comes out of early access, it’s full of more maps, more weapons, more enemies, and of course plenty more hours of fun!