There are plenty of Vampire Survivors-style "Bullet heaven" games in the sea, but it's hard to care about the ones that don't have co-op. If you don't at least bring the same features to the table as the game you're inspired by, what's the point? Well, Survivor Mercs from Wandering Wizard is already out in Steam Early Access, and it's coming soon to consoles as well. Having tried the single-player demo on Steam, I'm excited for it.

Since its debut a few years ago, Vampire Survivors from Poncle has sparked a huge following and created its own genre: the Vampire Survivors-like, a subset of the roguelike genre in which player characters automatically attack while being swarmed by huge hordes of enemies. Outer Terror is a horror-themed take on the idea with 2.5D gr...

Vampire Survivors is such an influential game that lots of games in the same style are popping up, but I bet you already knew that. Each game needs to differentiate itself with a unique theme. The recently released Outer Terror has a horror theme, for instance, and now Sunsoft's Ikki Unite has come along with a feudal Japanese setting. This one is a sequel to a classic Japanese arcade game, but it has lots of Vampire Survivors style and 16-player online co-op to make it appealing to modern gamers. After first appearing on Steam, Ikki Unite is now available on Switch as well.

In the last few years, lots of Vampire Survivors-style games have popped up. One such title is Outer Terror from VoxPop Games. This one distinguishes itself with a greater focus on story and horror, not to mention a cool 3D-angled perspective. After first appearing on Steam last year, Outer Terror has now arrived on consoles thanks to the porting specialists at Ratalaika.

Vampire Survivors is the king of its own roguelike subgenre, having inspired numerous imitators (such as the recently released Outer Terror). Gamers in know will recognize that Vampire Survivors was partially inspired by Konami's Castlevania series. While there hasn't been any Castlevania DLC just yet, we are getting a DLC release based on Contra in May, so that's something! Also, Poncle has announced that a PlayStation version of Vampire Survivors will finally, finally be released in the summer.

Vampire Survivors from Poncle is the little game that could. The $5 game continues to grow and grow, as evidenced by today's release of the Among Us-themed "Emergency Meeting" DLC. The $2.49 DLC adds a map set on an alien world, 9 playable characters, 15 weapons, and more! Naturally, the new map supports 4-player local co-op, making it a must-have all around.

Last month, Italian developer Poncle promised that Vampire Survivors would be getting a new mode called Adventures, and that mode has now been added to the Xbox and Steam versions of the game. That would be exciting enough, but the developer also announced that new Last of Us-themed DLC called "Emergency Meeting" will be released on December 18. Vampire hunters will be busy this month!

It seems like just the other day that the free 'Whiteout' campaign was added to the Switch version of Vampire Survivors. Still, the team at Poncle isn't one to sit on its vampire-repelling laurels. They've already announced Adventures, a new game type that will be coming to Vampire Survivors in its next update. Three adventures will debut with said update, and they will support local co-op to boot.

Shortly before Halloween, Vampire Survivors got a big, free update on Xbox, Steam, and mobile. The Switch version of the update, however, experienced a last-minute delay. Thankfully, the update has finally arrived on the Switch, so up to four local players can now battle monsters (but no actual vampires) in the snowy Whiteout level, Nintendo-style.

Vampire Survivors is one of the best values in gaming. The "little $5 game that could" received a free co-op update not long ago, and now the free "Whiteout" update has come along as well. The addition of a new level, a new character, and other content will certainly give fans of the gothic Roguelike a reason to hop back into the game.

In our Beyond Co-op review of Vampire Survivors, I asked, "how about a sequel with co-op?" Dreams do come true sometimes, as proven by today's announcement that 4-player local co-op will be added to all versions of the game on August 17! Not only that, but Vampire Survivors will launch on Nintendo Switch on the same day. All versions of the gothic Roguelike will remain affordably priced at $5.

Welcome back to Beyond Co-Op Reviews, our critical look at games that don't feature co-op modes....