Wildly Irreverent Zombie Bullet Heaven - Biters & Bullets: Prologue

Kill thousands of zombies, collect loot, and become a lean mean killing machine! Battle and survive hordes of monsters in this high octane casual game with rogue-lite elements. Defeat bosses, hot-wire cars and stack power-ups to infinity. How long will you survive?
Play Biters & Bullets: Prologue on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/20...
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Outro Music: Braincooler - Mega Man X Chill Penguin Stage Remix By Rozovian - ocremix.org/remix/OCR01916
Support me on Patreon: / wanderbot
My Twitter: / wanderbots

[@Roger44477]

The "Yikes humor" killed any chance of me getting this came honestly.

[@zeran147]

100% Behind you on "Bullet Heaven" Wander. Appreciating the content too, thank you :)

[@aguyontheinternet8436]

soooooooooooooo many bullet heaven demos

[@TsunamiWombat]

This already looks way better than most of the bullet heavens you wind up reviewing on this channel, nice to see one that's not just a trash asset flip

[@yasinachekzai2567]

Someone called the genre "Auto-Attacker". That kind of fits I think. I also heard "One-Stick Shooter" before. 🤔 This one looks kind of cool though. Whilst I am not the biggest fan of the zombie theme, it sure does fit the genre. As for this low-poly asset pack that quite a few games use these days, Soulstone Survivors for example, I actually really like it. It's pleasant to look at and probably better than what a small dev-team could create from scratch art-wise. So yeah, I'll give this one a try for sure. 😁

[@Kuhlgamer]

Can we call this Genre what it really is ? Its old Xbox 360 arcade games that used to cost 300 MS points . . . not to say they are bad i have a a few in my library but weve done this before

[@DracoSuave]

One stick shooter doesn't really fit though either, given that entries are going twin-stick a la R2084.

[@catfoodbob1]

Something that would be a neat bullet heaven mechanic is the more exp on ground the more likely it is to spawn a collector orb, and maybe a alternate magnet that increases collect all rate. And having all weapons have "Special" abilitys that trigger on recharge by pickin up xp. Also being able to kill projectiles could be great abiliy And exp condensing on its own would be neat, Where, there are powerups that give you more the more condensed it is, whiles still making it worth it, tempting people to forgoe powerups for a little bit. Also suprised there isnt a "Pokemon" bullet heaven where you collect pocket monsters that follow you and they the ones that get xp and level up

[@ribeyeftw]

Neat ideas, especially recharging some weapon/ability on exp collection 🤔

[@AndragonLea]

When it comes to upgrades I personally really like how Path of Exile does it. Several different upgrade systems with frequent smaller increases in effectiveness, but on a skill tree that lets you chart a way to much more meaty, sometimes build-changing key node upgrades. Add in the whole class upgrade so you have a big bump in Oomph every 20ish levels and you've got yourself a really satisfying progression system, at least to my senses. Bonus points because the progression is deterministic but equipment (including uniques, which can also be build enabling) drop randomly, so you've got that little bit of RNG to make you happy when it pops added to the steady upgrades from experience and map progression.

[@brands2k7]

Interesting note that you can enable manual aiming in settings which makes it a lot more fun for me

[@BaguetteThe1st]

Dude, the games you play are super cool! I gotta watch your videos more.

[@maxpower8549]

oh my, everybody is using these asset packs to make another 3d bullet heaven. oh god, the boss is mobility mary

[@jessekuiper1684]

bullet heaven is definitly better then survivors-likes, that name keeps it wayyy too tied down

[@JK-ul3py]

Yeah. Vampire Suirvivors only popularized it recently but games like Crimsonland was popular back it's time, too.

[@jessekuiper1684]

@@JK-ul3py Yea, it just solidifies it too much for me, always having those games tied to one that is already being surpassed from what it sounds like would only put a limit on creativity

[@ribeyeftw]

Hey wander, just wanted to reach out and thank you again for covering our game, it truly means a lot! We both sat like nervous kids on christmas eve when we watched this on twitch and I can't begin to express how fun it is to see people enjoy what we've created. I apologize for the sfx on the pistol boost, this is of course fixed now and the sound has been swapped out. We're almost done with a complete revamp of the level up choices, weapon boosts and overall balance. We are trying to home in hard on the fun factor, so expect a lot more blood and mayhem in patch 0.6.0 :)

[@ABetterQuestion]

I'd 2nd @Wanderbot's thoughts about the 'humor'. Maybe it's because I'm older, maybe it's because of the state of the world - I'm not sure exactly what it is, but for me the more "punching down" kind of humor kills the fun, escapist vibe of a game like this. There's laugh-to-keep-from-crying, nuanced, dark humor - but this is less "making fun of the awful thing" and more "being equally awful in return". To be clear, I'm not offended, or sitting here clutching my figurative pearls. It's that being a dick to a person, place, or thing (Karen, Florida, ex-wives) would make me feel like a petty douche. So whatever fraction of personal infusion I might put into a game character who acts like that ALSO makes me feel a bit like a petty douche. Game looks fun otherwise, but if I have a choice (and I do), I'll spend my spare time playing the game that's just as fun w/o making me cringe or roll my eyes.

[@erindonovan7423]

Are you going to do anything to remove the crap humour? 'Irreverent' is one thing, but Karen, the 'ex-wife is greedy'... it's just a bit... cringe? Enough that I really just don't want to see what else the game might have to offer.

[@ribeyeftw]

Regarding the humor, we didn't really think that much about it (regretfully). We're changing the most offending names/references in the upcoming update 0.6.0. We honestly meant nothing bad by it.

[@ABetterQuestion]

@@ribeyeftw I completely understand how easy it is to put meme-y humor into creative work. I'm just incredibly impressed you took the feedback in stride and made changes so quickly. The jokes would have maybe worked for someone outside of my demographic (mid 30s) but I wasn't interested. Seeing your comment and that you made changes, I immediately went and DL'd the demo. It's a fun game. On my wishlist now. Cheers.

[@kokioen]

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 had a pretty cool take on a rogue like coop hordemode

[@R0ckst4r0ck3r]

Agree, Risk of Rain 2 as well.

[@Stenchy333]

not sure if you saw it but the load screen said you can turn on manual aim quite interesting id say

[@MrChainsawAardvark]

While I like "Bullet Heaven" I'm going to point out that a lot of these games are rather like the old arcade classic "Smash TV" . In turn calling these games "Smash Episodes" denotes both the style and the fact that you tend to play in short 30 min rounds separated by interludes like syndicated tv.

[@vmrenadi]

I vote for a retro wander survival!

[@skimmyguy]

as far as genera names i like calling these swarm survival games

[@beetroot4798]

I feel like the genre for these types of games isn't *"Bullet Heaven"* but *"Survivor"* (also I was under the impression Bullet Heaven already exists as a genre) It's more fitting, considering VS kind of sparked the hype for these types of games.

[@LittleDanny9899]

While Vampire survivor did spark the Hype its bye far not the first in this genre and there is no real need to name a Genre based on The original hit (actualy i can only think of Metroidvanias and Souls like as examples and souls like is less of a full on Genre) Not to mention there is already the survival Genre and thats already bloatet since people like to stick everything in that genre So creating a entire small subgenre (they feel like a Subgenre of Twinstick shooter) and macking the Name difference miniscule might just be a problem

[@westleyverser6766]

So is no one going to bring up that there is a bullet hell game named Bullet Heaven? It's part of the Epic Battle Fantasy series.

[@awoken8infinite]

I thought this was a twin stick shooter at first, was a lot more into the idea. I didn't play vamp survivors though, so maybe I need to try this style of game.

[@beaniiman]

You could level out the bomb volume by turning down master volume and turning up sfx.

[@5argan]

What's your favorite gamw of the genre so far? Looking to pick one up but having trouble deciding between all the ones you showed so far.

[@FelisImpurrator]

Nomad Survival seems to be the one that's really building into the most depth out of the auto attack VS style. Good stuff there. Rich metaprogression and plenty of mechanical intricacies, although attack balance is still heavily work in progress. VS is still great for sheer power tripping. Nova Drift is one of the earliest major contenders and still holds up well - plenty of variety and synergies, probably still the best evolution of the Asteroids style of gameplay out there. I'd say most of them do have their own unique spins and things they do well - that one Wander covered that had the blue and pink synthwave palette and dungeon crawling ruin aesthetic was slick and had some interesting mechanics based on the spell combinations, but could be a little poorly tuned in terms of the projectile heavy, enemy bullet hell sort of design. I forget the name though.

[@5argan]

@@FelisImpurrator thanks for the input!

[@pregnantmale3961]

What’s the timer at the top for

[@fronker7581]

Nice video

[@ItsPhoenixWonder]

I personally just call them Arena Rougelikes/lites

[@jesuitx]

Vampire Survivors but with zombies

[@HarleenCollectibles]

Bullet heaven!!

[@MarisaClardy]

I like Bullet Heaven, but I think "Horde Survival" is a more apt genre name, personally.

[@danielemilesi8384]

this game reminds me of Minigore, a nice little game you should check out (it's for mobile thought)

[@sierrarome9512]

It’s an Arena Swarm Survivor. These games are A.S.S. and I’m am ass man.

[@bridgerdyck387]

oh my word this is hilarious! I can't wait to see the full release.

[@gnta44]

id just enjoy a multiplayer player version of w.e you wanna call these games lol

[@Dantemancovsky]

isnt extra xp gain in this kind of games fake? since you get a level up faster but are sacrificing a level up for it

[@mothbott9461]

I KNOW these models- they're like the default ones for a mobile game maker. Not that that's bad, just thought it was funny.

[@MeDjezze]

Games like those really need to be more creative on how the upgrade system work. It annoys me quite a lot that the game pauses every 20 seconds to offer me a new upgrade. Why can't they come up with something that doesn't break the flow of the game. Even random upgrade would be better... I mean the selection between three upgrade is already random.

[@herrhellkvist]

Have you heard about this amazing local pvp xcom-style reversed auto battle arena rouglite royale game? It's called chess...

[@matthuck378]

I call them swarm or horde games. Bullet Heaven isn't right, as you often do melee, aura, and nova damage in these games too. Survivors-likes is terrible.

[@natanoj16]

But horde games also covers games like The base defense horde games

[@Chronx6]

Horde/swarm game has existed for a while as a way to describe things like Killing floor though, so it doesn't feel great to use it here as well

[@ChildofLight777]

I imagine Wander enjoying a pizza and happy cig right about now.🍕🥦

[@christianstonecipher1547]

I really feel like store bought assets are unfairly stigmatized. Yes asset flips are bad, but using store assets does not make a game an asset flip. And the stigma associated with using store assets that came from asset flips is unwarranted and unjust if the game is utilizing them properly to make their own game.

[@Phyreable]

The upgrades don't feel impactful, hoping the full release improves on that aspect.

[@kevinkurfman5598]

I've seen games like this describe themselves as "enemy hell"

[@frazonedracaoo6981]

I agree bullet heaven is the best name.

[@natanoj16]

My least favorite bullet heaven mechanic is enemies dropping exp as it encourages people to stay in the same place

[@natanoj16]

The exp consolidation really helps though

[@BevinEG]

Hmmmm

[@kudostothewiz2703]

I like bullet heaven. I didn't get it until you explained it though. Sure I play bullet hell, but it didn't click. Maybe because I just woke up. Lol

[@foxyspecter6225]

yah I like bullet haven to because survivor like is in the same vane as a souls like and feels like a copy then a game genre

[@stephencrutcher5221]

Karen boss that epic.. looks great.

[@GIChema]

“Florida snow”

[@leinadllerp]

i really wanted to like this game - its got zombies! but the upgrades are so boring after 1 run u feel like uve seen it all. uninspired

[@Timmeh7o7]

I'm not a fan of the Bullet Heaven name either, frankly. In a Bullet Hell, you dodge large numbers of projectiles from all angles with your relatively small number of weapons. In these, you do exactly the same thing, except you're dodging enemies, not projectiles. "You are the bullet hell" is simply... wrong. Your enemies are not dodging waves and waves of projectiles from you, they're meandering in a straight line at you. If you took a classic bullet hell like Touhou and reskinned enemy shots to look like zombies, per se, it would look a bit like a Survivors game. Bullet Heaven literally also already exists as a game - and it's a Bullet Hell. That said, I don't like Survivors or Survivors-like either. Both act like Vampire Survivors did it first, but they just got popular.

[@LunarSoul255]

Bullet Heaven is still a terrible name IMO. It doesn't indicate anything about what the game type is. "Survival Shmup" would be a far better term, or even just calling then "Enemy Hell" games. Bullet Heaven is also, yknow, the name of an actual bullet hell game.

[@alexsollazzo]

Might be a little better if they got rid of the terrible attempt at humour

[@gamelover2222]

Bullet-Heaven is a crap name. Survivor-Like makes sense because you have to survive to a time-limit.

[@beaniiman]

This game should be cancelled! How dare they talk about all the shi**y people here in Florida, man!