Vampire Survivors just got a new expansion and I must confess, any new DLC for Poncle’s auto-shooter is a day one purchase for me. Yet, the fact that this expansion is a massive Among Us collaboration wasn’t really the selling point for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against the game – I’ve played it a few times, for work and for fun – but I’m here for the alleged vampires.
What’s in Vampire Survivors: Emergency Meeting
Emergency Meeting brings a chunk of new content to the game, and as you would imagine, it’s steeped in Among Us lore. If you have ever spent any time playing InnerSloth’s social deduction behemoth, you’ll feel right at home in the new stage, Polus Replica.
On top of the new stage there are nine unlockable characters to master, 15 weapons (seven of which have evolutions), there’s a bunch of new music, and there are even in-game achievements, if you like that sort of thing.
This array of new content is accessible via two means. First, the map can be found at the bottom of the list in the stage selection menu. Second, there’s a new Adventure (more on that later). Regardless of how you play, you will have to unlock your new Among Us characters, although doing so is fairly straightforward. In fact, it didn’t take me long to unlock nearly all of the crewmates.
An Emergency Meeting worth attending?
This is the third Vampire Survivors expansion and once again it’s just a couple of quid. Considering the modest price of the expansion, it’s good value for money as you’ll get several hours out of the content, at least.
The main stage is tough at first. I played it a bunch on my own and each new attempt was a struggle. There is loads to do, and the new enemy types are fun to dance around. From time to time, you’ll hear an alarm and get given a timer. Then you must hoof across the map to stand on a marker, otherwise you’ll encounter some serious seismic activity, taking damage from large area of effect attacks.
One tactic during any new attempt is to set about trying to reach your objective markers straight away. In Emergency Meeting, the markers will mostly lead you to mini-crewmates. These companion pets follow you around and offer you additional abilities; nothing too outrageous but certainly enough to help you further specialise a build.
To my delight, you can have loads of these little companions following you around the place. Once you get to the later levels, and things are busy as all hell, watching your little conga line of mini crewmates is a delight. What’s better is that they can freeze enemies or even take damage for you, so they’re not just for show.
The Emergency Meeting Adventure
There are several Adventures in Vampire Survivors now, if you include the extra ones attached to DLC. These remixed missions recycle in-game content, giving players something new to get their fangs stuck into. The new Adventure in Emergency Meeting plays out over several missions and has a loose narrative holding it together.
Variety is the spice of life when it comes to Vampire Survivors, and the new missions once again rework familiar locations from the main stage. The stages have objectives to complete, but ultimately you’ll be playing the same old pixelated bullet heaven.
Overall, I had a bunch of fun playing through the new content, both in the main stage and in the Adventure. I played alone and in co-op with my son, and once we had evolved the new weapons, things started to go absolutely crazy. Some of the on-screen carnage is utterly mind-blowing, with huge visual effects that fill the screen and obscure the already chaotic gameplay. At this point, the slow start was a distant memory.
As always, finding the levels secrets for yourself is the best part of Vampire Survivors, and I don’t want to tell you too much here, so I’m going to wrap this up now. I can confirm that I had a blast taking down my enemies with my evolved powers, while always pushing forward to discover and unlock new things.
In fact, the weapons and abilities are the star of the show here. As everything is heavily inspired by Among Us, you’ll be dropping your enemies out of vents (my personal favourite), throwing hats at them, and plenty more silliness besides. In fact, I think the way that the source material has been reflected in Vampire Survivors is this expansion’s most impressive achievement.
Vampire Survivors: Emergency Meeting is out now on Android, iOS, PC Steam, Switch, and Xbox (tested).
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