The latest Vampire Survivors release is a straight-up crossover with Contra

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Vampire Survivors continues to roll out new DLC in ever weirder, more delightful packages this month with Operation Guns, a full-on crossover between the worlds of Vampire Survivors and long-running shoot-em-up slash bullet hell slash action arcade series Contra.

"Are you a bad enough Vampire Survivor to save the President's cousin's sister's dog from the traitor squadrons of Red Falcon?" asks the DLC description. Which I suppose is a legitimate question to ask in the context of Vampire Survivors and also the skepticism-crushing enjoyment of recent reboot Contra: Operation Galuga.

The DLC has something like 11 new characters and 22 new weapons, including evolutions, along with three new pickups. And some of them are ridiculous. There are airstrikes and spread-shot blasters and "almost-smart missiles." One of the characters is a cyborg werewolf or man-dog or dog-soldier or something.

The new map is pretty dang cool, too, a horizontal trio of connected levels that has its own hordes of enemies and bosses to take down. Scrolling from left to right you'lll explore the jungles of Galuga, the ruins of Neo City, and a desolate alien zone. There's also a challenge stage that has you jump on a jetbike and burn down thes highway in true Contra style.

What will certainly be an attraction for this one is that it includes a big stack of Contra tracks and covers to enjoy. For some of you, that won't matter, but for others it will unleash a tidal wave of nostalgia too powerful to stop.

You can find Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns on Steam.

Either way, I'm guessing Red Falcon doesn't have any vampires in it and we're going to need to keep looking.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.