By “Vampire Survivors is no longer the king of the genre.”
This week has brought us the release of multiple Xbox Game Pass titles, including one that might go under the radar for many people in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor – to be honest, we’ve kinda overlooked it over the past few days as well.
However, this game is getting seriously good feedback so far, to the point where it’s likely going to become one of the top-rated releases of 2025. As things stand, it has a Metacritic average of 85 based on six critic reviews (all of those being for the PC version), with PC Gamer notably even describing it as being better than Vampire Survivors!
PC Gamer: “Over the last few years I’ve played a lot of different Vampire Survivors imitators, and all the way through DRG:S’s run in early access, I think it’s been the king of the pack. It’s creative, it’s charming, and it genuinely bridges the gap between two wildly different games.”
As that review suggests, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a spin-off of the original co-op FPS that started life back in 2018. Survivor is totally different – designed as a “single player survivor-like auto-shooter”.
In this game, the idea is to kill aliens, upgrade your stuff and keep diving “ever deeper into the lethal caves of Hoxxes” with each mission being “entirely unique with its own procedural cave generation and enemy waves”.
The Steam reception currently stands at “Very Positive” based on almost 20,000 user ratings (going back to early access), while the Xbox Store has it rated at 4.1/5 with unfortunately a lot of throwaway 1-star reviews mixed in there, although there are a few legit concerns about crashes and the grind involved with progression as well.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something new to play this weekend and you haven’t tried Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor yet, maybe give it a go on Xbox Game Pass! Alternatively, if you don’t have access to it via Game Pass right now, it’s very cheap on the Xbox Store – we’re talking just £10.74 / $12.99 to own it permanently.
DEEP ROCK GALACTIC: SURVIVOR is a single player survivor-like auto-shooter. Take on hordes of lethal aliens, mine riches, and unlock powerful upgrades to survive, as you wield the full arsenal of Deep Rock Galactic. It’s one dwarf against all of Planet Hoxxes!
Have you played Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor on Xbox yet? Tell us down in the comments section.
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Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.