In the last few years, lots of Vampire Survivors-style games have popped up. One such title is Outer Terror from VoxPop Games. This one distinguishes itself with a greater focus on story and horror, not to mention a cool 3D-angled perspective. After first appearing on Steam last year, Outer Terror has now arrived on consoles thanks to the porting specialists at Ratalaika.
Outer Terror‘s five levels each tell a unique horror-style story. One has players battling a cosmic eldritch horror, one features killer robots, and so on. These levels start with a comic book-style cinematic, and brief cinematics take place during gameplay as well.
Steam Deck screenshots
At the start of a level, 1-2 local players will select from ten playable characters. All of them have a unique starting weapon, just like in Vampire Survivors. Unlike that game, however, this one doesn’t tell the player anything about the characters’ weapon or stats – you have to pick the character to find out what they’re like.
Enemies spawn in huge numbers and killing them will level up the current hero for the duration of the run. They also drop money that can be used to purchase upgrades and unlocks between runs. Unlike Vampire Survivors, players only get to keep a portion of the money they collect if they die during a run. Successfully completing a stage will get you the full financial reward.
Completing stages works differently in Outer Terror than in similar games. Here, each stage has several missions that must be completed as players explore the level. You might have to destroy enemy generators, collect fuel cannisters, or even fight a boss. These objectives provide a welcome sense of direction and accomplishment that is sometimes missing from the genre.
Features:
- Battle, Loot and Explore – Discover other treasures and hidden items as you explore each massive map. This may lead to boss encounters and otherworldly abominations.
- Weapon Stacking – Each player will experience increasing difficulty as gameplay progresses, bringing the opportunity to upgrade and gain new weapons and powers.
- Survive Together – Sit back and enjoy side by side expansive cooperative play in 2-player couch co-op gameplay.
- Unique Characters – Players can choose to play as one of the 10 survivors, each boasting unique weapons and skills that will help them in battle.
- Nostalgic Art Style – Inspired by B-movies and classic comic books Outer Terror features art from renowned digital artist, Joe Roman (Chito).
- Don’t Die! – Each volume of Outer Terror is packed with hordes of enemies set on ending your run, whether it be a vampiric zombie polar bear, the mangled remains of a pet bunny rabbit, or a pack of sentient toasters.
Having spent some time with the Steam version of Outer Terror, I really enjoy its dark atmosphere and 2.5D presentation. The on-screen text is too small, and some elements lack polish, but this is still an intriguing and addictive game. Hopefully, we’ll get to try it out on console soon too!
Outer Terror costs $9.99 on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. The Xbox and Switch versions are on sale for $7.99 for the next week or so, so don’t miss them!
