Vampire Survivors has become a genuine cultural phenomenon by this point and continues to add to this legacy with extra characters, tie-ins and more content for startlingly low prices. Perhaps more obvious than this, though, is the legion of clones and impersonators it has spawned in the emerging ‘bullet heaven’ genre. For those who follow new releases on Steam in particular it seems like a new one is announced and/or released every couple of days. The genre as a whole is in real risk of oversaturation and most examples disappear without much fanfare. Occasionally a new one brings something to the table, such as the fun Karate Survivor and the Diablo-like Halls of Torment. Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel stays relatively faithful to the established bullet heaven formula, but adds a level of graphical polish that stands out.
In its Early Access form, there isn’t a vast amount of content in Jotunnslayer just, so it’s a little early to judge how satisfying the full game will be. In fact, I’d probably go so far as to say that you are paying for an extended demo with the promise of a fully fleshed out experience – something that is becoming a familiar story with Early Access titles. There are two maps and four characters, with four gods that offer boons in a style similar to Hades. The devs have a clear roadmap laid out for the full release which will increase the number of characters, skills, maps, and gods.
At the start of the game you have a choice of either melee Berserker or the midrange magic user Seeress, with Revenant (archer) and Flame Sister (magic user) unlocked as you progress. Each class has their own set of skills and unique level-ups to choose from, whilst all can benefit from the different Divine boons. At present Thor, Freya, Loki, and Odin are available and they each offer active skills and passive power-ups. Thor is all about strength and thunder spells, whilst Loki offers poison attacks and the potential for more pickups. As you might expect, these are randomly offered with every playthrough being different. There is clear potential for some powerful builds here and the fusion of Hades and Vampire Survivors is a fantastic idea.
Rather than room navigation of Hades, however, you fight on static maps which are far more contained than the sprawling levels in Vampire Survivors. Each run has more of an actual point than many Bullet Heaven games, with a randomised selection of miniquests to complete in order to unlock the run boss. The bosses are massive and intimidating foes that will challenge your builds and use of skills to the max. Initial runs on Easy take only 10 minutes, with the increasing difficulty levels also increasing the duration. As always, level ups and skills are restricted to the specific playthrough but you can upgrade your characters and Gods in the skill tree between runs to receive permanent improvements.
Jotunnslayer is perhaps the best looking Bullet Heaven game I’ve played and the core game is just as addictive and enjoyable as the genre’s best. What is needed, however is more content as the progression just isn’t rewarding enough to keep you playing right now, and the jump in difficulty requires a fair amount of grinding. I will definitely return to the game as more is added, but don’t feel compelled to complete everything that is here just yet. A very promising start and one to keep an eye on for the full release.
