If you’ve been following the channel for a while, you’ll be more than aware that since the release of Vampire Survivors there has been a flood of attempts made by other developers trying to get a piece of its success. Unsurprisingly, the results have been mixed to say the least, and for the most part there have been far more losers trying to make a solid impression than winners. Pets Survivors, based just on its name, obviously would like you to think that it’s throwing its hat in the ring to be yet another competitor, but it honestly has more in common with a twin-stick shooter than the super-successful roguelike dodge-em-up sensation.

What’s very odd here is that it seems the developer has decided to go a bit off the table in terms of the overall gameplay. Yes, it’s a roguelike where you’ll be given a variety of options for upgrades as you accumulate kills, and the pretty open field you’ll be operating in perhaps could feel more like the game’s namesake. That said, while depending on your base character you can get some automated support, for the most part this is a twin-stick shooter, with you rocking the same weapon you start with throughout, and the upgrades mostly just enhancing your limited abilities or altering your shots in some way. To the game’s credit, as you beat stages with different characters and weapons you will unlock variations that do change up play, but honestly that generally just sounds more exciting than it is in practice.

My primary gripe here is that even in the budget category there’s a multitude of well-made and exciting indie titles, and this simply doesn’t do much of anything to make it stand tall in that crowd. There’s simply not enough chaos and different weaponry to make it a decent Survivors variant, and as a twin-stick shooter it is sorely lacking in intensity and interest. Instead it’s sort of a milk toast and pretty plain combination of elements from both that fails to make any case for that being a superior road to opt for. I will say that a few of the heroes are just unusual enough to at least be amusing, but that doesn’t make the game more worthwhile to purchase either. I suppose if you for some reason are looking for a shooter that will take it more easy on you, and won’t have you sweating right out of the gate, perhaps this could have appeal, but it’s simply forgettable on just about every level in a space full of pretty memorable options.