The genre, called “bullet heaven,” puts players in the shoes of a single character who eventually builds up to become extremely powerful as the waves of enemies grow more intense. Hive Jump 2: Survivors carries forward the look of its Metroidvania predecessor but from the genre-standard top-down perspective. You take control of a lone survivor of an alien attack who must now face seemingly insurmountable odds to survive. You can customize your loadout and upgrade your jetpack to destroy enemies and escape tough situations.
The jetpack also allows you to traverse the levels in ways not available in Vampire Survivors. The Jumpers have specific builds that allow you to cater to your play style, which combines with the upgrades you select before each run. You can play with auto-assist aiming or switch to manual controls. If you can survive 14 rounds, you can challenge big boss battles. As you collect goo from fallen enemies, you can earn better weapons, upgrades, and relics to improve your odds. Meanwhile, amber you find in the field can be traded for permanent upgrades to stats, magnets for auto-scavenging, or even screen-wiping nukes.
You can see an exclusive look at the Early Access launch trailer below.
Hive Jump 2: Survivors launches into Steam Early Access today. For more on the work produced by Graphite Lab, check out our review of their 2023 2D platformer, Mr. Run and Jump, here.
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