I’ve been playing a lot of Megabonk lately. A lot a lot. I wasn’t sure when to start writing this, and I wanted to keep pushing further into the game and see more of it. However, after hours of play I’ve forged an opinion, long before seeing everything that this expansive auto-shooter has to offer.
What is Megabonk?
Developed by vedinad, Megabonk is an auto-shooter action-roguelike about running around the place and killing armies of goblins, skeletons, and giant beasties.
It’s a lot like Vampire Survivors in a number of key ways. For example, both games have you auto-firing at hordes of attacking monsters, and both games give you a range of attacks and passive upgrades as you assemble a build for the run ahead.
For all the similarities between the games, there is much that also sets them apart, but it’s certainly true that Megabonk owes much to poncle’s bullet heaven.
While the most obvious difference is visual, however, I think it is the structural changes implemented by vedinad that help Megabonk standout in a crowded, over-saturated sub-genre.
Now, let’s break down the rest of the headline…
Mega tough
My failure can and should be put down to a skill issue, but it didn’t help that Megabonk is nails. The script has been flipped and here we’re treated to short runs, sometimes because you get to the end, other times because you die horribly.
It’s an auto-shooter, so your attacks happen on their own, but you do have some agency, particularly with the more directionally sensitive special abilities.
Speaking of abilities: there are loads and loads, and your build for each run will be assembled from a number of sources. There are specific weapons, such as the sword, then tomes that grant bonuses, such a boosted crit chance, and finally there is a wealth of pick-ups just waiting to be uncovered.
Winning a run is not a foregone conclusion in Megabonk, at least not until you’ve worked out a few strategies. The enemy types have different powers, there are various difficulty modifiers to toggle on and off, and the bosses are bastards if they find you underpowered.
Mega grindy
This may sound like a burn, but it’s not actually a negative in this instance. I think it’s a credit to the developer that there is as much game here as there is, because there isn’t a huge amount of content.
What Megabonk does absolutely brilliantly is make use of everything in its toolkit. Every aspect of the experience has been gamified, with interlinking systems that slowly expand and unfold as you play. The unlock rate is slow, maybe slower than I would normally like, however, I’m having so much fun with it that I don’t mind the excessive grind.
There are loads of unlocks, challenges, modifiers, tiers, and most importantly, characters. Getting to all of this content is taking me bloody ages, but credit to the developer once again, I can’t put it down and the “just one more run” energy is so strong here.
Mega good
All of the characters feel different. They’re not just visual differences either; they move differently, behave uniquely, and have their own unlock conditions. MegaChad, for example, has a powerful damaging aura (like garlic in VS) that floats around him. Monke, on the other hand, can climb trees and walls, and throws boomerang bananas. Another character is just a dude stood in a bush with a sniper rifle, which you can aim manually if you want.
Each character starts with a couple of weapon slots and a couple of tome slots. After time you can unlock more, and then it’s a case of mixing and matching the weapons you choose with the abilities you pick up.
At first the potential for build variety is somewhat limited, but during this early phase of the game I think it’s most important to learn about the environments and what all the different interactive elements do. There is so much to discover, and I had a lot of fun just mucking about with things to see what they did.
Once you’ve unlocked extra slots and you’ve worked out some strategies, the true quality of Megabonk starts to come into focus. To master this enigmatic auto-shooter you’re going to have to put in the work and play around with the entire toolbox on offer, but I found doing so to be hugely rewarding.
Vampire Survivors is an excellent game and a true trend setter. Megabonk feels like what comes next. The short and snappy run times combine with purposeful build variety to create one of the most addictive games of the year, and I’m going to have to force myself to put it down and play the next thing on my to-do list.
