Lovingly developed by Wolpertinger Games, Survivor Mercs takes the overly-populated twin-stick-shooter genre and pushes it in a more tactical direction. Playing on Xbox Series X, it immediately felt familiar – huge enemy hordes, constant upgrades, and that addictive flair that keeps you promising yourself the next run is the last are all here – however, after a few missions, it became clear that there was a bit more going on under the hood.

Rather than controlling a single character, Survivor Mercs sees you controlling a whole squad of mercenaries against endless waves of robot controlled by M.E.G.A Corp. It’s chaotic, messy, and surprisingly enjoyable once all the pieces start to fall into place.

Survivor Mercs is Far More Tactical Than Expected

The biggest thing that separates Survivor Mercs from similar games is the squad-building system. You recruit mercs with different weapons, skills and abilities, then try to build a team that can survive increasingly ridiculous missions.

At first, it can all feel a little overwhelming. There are a lot of systems thrown at you fairly quickly, and the game doesn’t always explain itself especially well. However, once I started unlocking more mercs and experimenting a little with different combinations, things became far more interesting.

Some characters are clearly built for crowd control, others deal massive amounts of damage, while support-based mercs can completely change how a run plays out. That extra layer of strategy helps the game stand out from a lot of the genre’s copy-and-paste imitations.

Expect Chaos When the Ball Starts Rolling

Once missions fully ramp up, Survivor Mercs becomes pure chaos in the best way possible. The screen fills with bullets, explosions, and visual effects while you desperately try to stay alive long enough to extract your loot.

Also, unlike some survivors-style titles that eventually feel passive, this stays surprisingly demanding throughout. You’re constantly repositioning, aiming attacks, using abilities, and deciding whether to risk pushing further or escape before the proverbial wheels start to come off.

Naturally, I got greedy far more often that I perhaps should have.

The extraction mechanic genuinely adds tension too. Dying means losing your loot, so every decision starts feeling increasingly risky the longer the run continues.

Strong Progression Keeps You Going

Outside of missions, you return to a bunker headquarters where you can unlock upgrades, recruit new mercs, improves equipment, and slowly build a stronger team.

This side of the game ended up being one of my favorite parts. Even failed attempts usually feel worthwhile because you’re still unlocking something useful or working toward a new upgrade.

There’s also a satisfying sense of momentum once the systems start opening up. Early on, the game can feel slightly cluttered, but after a while it settles into a rhythm that becomes difficult to break.

It definitely taps into that dangerous “one more mission” mindset.

A Few Rough Edges

That said, the game isn’t perfect. Some systems feel more complicated than they need to be, and menus can occasionally become cluttered when you’re juggling multiple upgrades or trying to compare mercs.

There were also moments where things became visually overwhelming, especially during later missions when the screen in jam-packed with enemies and effects.

Summary

Survivor Mercs doesn’t reinvent the survivors-like wheel, but it does add enough tactical depth and progression systems to make it stand out from the crowd.

The squad-building mechanics genuinely makes runs more interesting, and once the chaos fully kicks in, it becomes incredibly easy to lose track of time while playing. There are definitely some rough edges, particularly with menu clutter and occasional performance hiccups, but the core gameplay is strong enough to carry things through.

I went in expecting another forgettable clone and came away having enjoyed it far more than anticipated.