Karate Survivor is Vampire Survivors with karate, obviously—and you can try it for free now

The cast of Karate Survivor. — (Image credit: Alawar)

I've been keeping a close eye on the growing genre of Vampire Survivors-alikes. (Auto shooters? Bullet heavens? Let me know when we settle on a name for these.) Games like Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Death Must Die, Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, and many more have stretched the core formula in all sorts of interesting and strange directions, and it's been fascinating to see. But I think I may have found the weirdest take yet.

Karate Survivor combines the Vampire Survivors format with the feel of an '80s martial arts B movie. Instead of weapons or spells, you unlock new martial arts moves during the run, slotting them into your queue at the bottom of the screen—every few seconds your character unleashes them all in sequence, perhaps throwing out a gut punch into a crescent kick into a low trip into an uppercut. With an endless horde of punks and street toughs descending on you, the trick is to find the most effective string you can, and make the most out of every strike.

Like Jackie Chan himself, your hero is also a master of improvised weaponry. The first level takes place in a sprawling supermarket and, once you unlock the right abilities, a huge amount of the products and displays are interactive. You can smack enemies with a broom, hurl plates and glasses, kick pallets of boxes into people, and slam fridge doors right into faces. You can even swing a swordfish round like a… well, some sort of bladed implement.

Even things that can't be used directly as weapons can benefit you in other ways. Kick over an ATM or destroy a giant pinata and money will spill out—we like that, because cash is essentially XP here. You can roll over counters and tables to create space between you and the hostile crowd, and flagpoles can be used to propel yourself into otherwise inaccessible areas.

So far, I'm enjoying the extra strategy all these elements add to the formula. Positioning is key—both when throwing out your martial arts moves and when lining up the perfect improvised weapon attack. Herding a big group of foes into a conga line and then crashing a crate of bottled waters right through their ranks is particularly satisfying.

The hero of Karate Survivor fighting off a huge crowd of thugs in a supermarket. — (Image credit: Alawar)

But it is a bit of a double-edged sword, because that manoeuvring can be very tricky and punishing. Your attacks strike out in fixed directions around you—most just in the direction you're facing, but some up or down—with a very short range, and given that even slightly touching an enemy damages you, using them effectively is really challenging. Once you get a full bar of six, it can get a bit overwhelming, as you try and remember the direction and range of each one and shift around accordingly during the combo.

The result, at least for me, has been taking a lot of hits while I'm trying to dish them out, and with limited healing that eventually becomes a case of death by a thousand cuts. That said, only the first level is available to play in the public demo, with meta-upgrades very limited—it's often the case that these games start off very punishing but smooth-out substantially once you're a few hours in, so this early friction may be temporary.

And certainly Karate Survivor's creative twists and thick '80s vibes are strong enough to make me intrigued to see more. The full release isn't far off—it's due later this month, though there isn't an exact date yet. In the meantime, you can download the free demo on the game's Steam page—so why not try throwing out a few roundhouse kicks of your own and see what you think?

Formerly the editor of PC Gamer magazine (and the dearly departed GamesMaster), Robin combines years of experience in games journalism with a lifelong love of PC gaming. First hypnotised by the light of the monitor as he muddled through Simon the Sorcerer on his uncle’s machine, he’s been a devotee ever since, devouring any RPG or strategy game to stumble into his path. Now he's channelling that devotion into filling this lovely website with features, news, reviews, and all of his hottest takes.