Despite the success of Vampire Survivors and the many similar games, not many of them are in full 3D. On top of that, even fewer allow for a standard third-person camera, instead electing to only show events unfold from above. Hordes of Hunger is the absolute best-looking 3D Survivors-like on the market, complete with a good camera that lets you swap between typical third-person and top-down views. The game does a fair amount quite differently than its contemporaries, but the question stands – is Hordes of Hunger worth it in Early Access?
Hordes of Hunger is being developed by Hyperstrange, known for games such as Elderborn and one of my favourite modern Boomer Shooters – Postal: Brain Damage. Truth be told, I’d actually been waiting to get my hands on this game, as I played the demo more than once earlier this year. Whereas most Survivors-likes task you with staying alive for as long as possible against endless groups of foes (either in single or multiple arenas separated by waves,) this one is closer to the multiple arena waves angle. There are currently six levels of a planned ten available, and each follows a very specific structure.
You’ll need to complete multiple quests in the level, each started by interacting with a person or object. Once you complete all available quests, you’ll need to kill the level’s guardian. Enemies drop feathers upon defeat that you can use to strengthen your character in multiple ways, plus you’ll occasionally get keys that are used to open chests in the levels. You can return to the hub and forfeit your progress in between waves if you’ve had enough or want to bank your keys (although I couldn’t figure out how to do that.)
In typical Hyperstrange fashion, the combat is quite good. The player character, Mirah, has light and strong attacks (the latter of which requires the use of focus accrued from hitting enemies,) as well as a special attack that’s useable with a full meter. There are multiple weapons to switch between, plus you can craft some of your own, and you can choose which special you want. Enemy variety is pretty decent too and cutting your way through them is often very satisfying. Enemies drop experience that will level you up during a run, which will let you get new abilities. Many of these attack foes automatically, leading to you decimating foes in your vicinity without lifting a finger.
This is very much a winning take on the genre, but this structure leads to some major caveats. The big one is that Hordes of Hunger is completely missing elements that most Survivors-likes focus on to some degree. There’s only a single character, even though she can change weapons and specials. This makes it more akin to having four characters, I suppose, but since the levels all take 15-20 minutes and there isn’t a lot of reasons to replay them currently, the potential for dumping hours in isn’t there at all. In fact, you can probably clear all six levels in the release build in just two or three hours. Only four more maps are in the pipeline, so even the complete game will probably be incredibly short.
There’s also apparently going to be an endless mode of sorts available when the official Early Access build launches, so I’ll need to see how that is, but what I’d really like to see from the game is a mode just like Vampire Survivors where you’re just trying to see how long you can survive against huge groups of monsters. I doubt we’ll get anything like that, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed all the same, as I enjoy Hordes of Hunger. As for whether it’s worth it, that depends on how much playtime you’re expecting to get here. If you’re cool with a less-is-more approach, this is a fun game despite how little there is to do overall.
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