Warhammer Survivors' swarms have weak links

Kill the right Tyranid in Warhammer Survivors and the creatures around it briefly stop moving. Synapse creatures such as the Hive Tyrant drive nearby lesser bioforms into a frenzy; destroying the source leaves them stunned. In a game about surviving an ever-growing crowd, that's a delicious reason to look past the enemies closest to your boots.

Auroch Digital's new Steam demo, released on 6 October and back in the spotlight for this week's Steam Next Fest, offers a way into that crowd ahead of the full game's 10 November launch. The developer's enemy and faction updates explain the appeal particularly well: a swarm contains creatures that change how the rest behave, alongside attackers that turn clear ground into somewhere dangerous.

Look for the source of a rush while your weapons make a mess. A Tyranid driving its neighbours forward, a Skaven spell protecting nearby rats and an Ork Waaagh! each give the mass of enemies a different shape. They put useful information inside all those tiny, busy sprites. Recognising an individual threat can change where you want to go next.

The creature behind the rush

Synapse gives the Tyranids a particularly neat relationship between their leaders and the swarm. Critical bioforms emit it, granting nearby Termagants and Hormagaunts the Berserk status effect. That raises their movement speed and the damage they inflict. A collection of small enemies becomes more dangerous because of something else sharing the battlefield with them. The source is worth spotting before the faster creatures close in.

Destroy that Synapse creature and the surrounding lesser bioforms fall into a temporary stunned shock. The same relationship that strengthens the rush also provides a way to interrupt it. It's an appealing little reversal: the bigger threat offers a reward beyond removing its own body from the screen. Taking it down briefly changes what its neighbours can do, creating a pause in the pressure.

Other Tyranids challenge the assumption that the front of a crowd is its boundary. The Von Ryan's Leaper rears up and leaps over enemies to attack the player. A layer of creatures between you and it therefore becomes something to watch it cross. Together, those behaviours give the swarm a leader to notice and an attacker capable of reaching beyond the obvious front line.

Rats that rearrange the safe ground

The Skaven have their own way of making a weak enemy inconvenient. Their Bell of Doom, an endless spell conjured by seers, grants nearby Skaven the Warded status effect. Even the smaller rats become tougher under its protection. The crowd's resilience has a visible supporting element to recognise, adding another thing to look for amongst the bodies and weapon effects.

Then there's the Ratling Gunner. It travels across the screen while firing a hail of bullets, boxing the player in with damaging hazard zones. Its movement and fire turn an enemy into a changing obstacle. Keeping track of where the gunner is going becomes part of finding room to move. Following the gunner means watching both its body and the space its fire cuts off.

Acolyte Globadiers add toxic globes that create clouds which poison the player. The rats can therefore threaten space through bullets and lingering fumes as well as their own bodies. That's a pleasingly grubby use of the faction: its weapons interfere with your route through the fight. The next gap between enemies needs a look at what's hanging in the air as well.

For another approach to crowd control, Wielders of the Essence ties spells to the troops you bring. Warhammer Survivors' enemy updates turn attention towards the opposition: who is protecting the crowd, who is accelerating it and who is making a stretch of ground hurt. You get a reason to study the next enemy that enters the screen.

When the screen turns red

The Orks announce a Waaagh! by turning the screen red. During it, more enemies spawn and Orks become frenzied. The warning makes a faction-wide escalation part of the picture, with the pressure arriving through both numbers and behaviour. It's an appropriately loud change after the Tyranids' link between particular creatures and their neighbours. The Orks get the whole screen involved.

Your choice of survivor adds another response to those threats. The October demo brings in the fast-moving Legend of Catachan, starting with Frag Grenades, and Lyssa Revenya, whose Rope and Grapnel restrains enemies and often kills weaker ones outright. Ulgromthier starts with a larger health pool and a Brazier Staff firing arcing magma projectiles. Speed, restraint and extra health give the roster concrete differences before a run develops.

There's plenty of pleasure in the promise of enormous weapon combinations, and Auroch's arsenal even includes a pot of Citadel Nuln Oil. The enemy details give that excess something interesting to collide with. A stunned Tyranid swarm, protected rats and a red-screen Ork surge ask you to notice different things. Watching for the creature that changes the crowd is a compelling place to start.