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Vampire Survivors is a game that got me hooked almost immediately. It’s easy to get into, the gameplay is addictive, there’s plenty to unlock, the replay value is extremely high, and it’s a lot of fun. It became a hit and many game developers have seemingly been trying to capitalize on its success. A lot of games have followed in its footsteps, with their own spin on the formula. As of this review, many of the ones I’m interested in are in Early Access on Steam, or in other words, are still in development. The ones I have played are pretty good so far but I’m also on the lookout for finished games and on my quest to find them, I discovered Bounty of One. Developed and published by OptizOnion, Bounty of One was released for PC in September, 2023. I’ve seen games in this genre described as rogue-like, rogue-lite, survival, survivor-like, auto battler, and bullet heaven. Bounty of One is described as a “fast-paced casual roguelite bullet hell”.
Set in the Wild West, The Undertaker has taken over and a bounty has been placed on your head. Bounty of One is all about surviving endless hordes of enemies, not unlike other games in the genre. You move around a map killing the enemies that arrive from every direction, earn experience, level up and upgrade your character. At certain points, you’ll have to face bosses and you win by defeating The Undertaker and can continue in the endless mode. However, in endless, your score won’t count and achievements are disabled. Achievements are more than just for bragging rights in Bounty of One. They equate to a variety of in-game unlocks.
Before jumping into the gameplay, you must select your character and what I’m calling map. Most characters and maps need to be unlocked and each character comes with their own weapon. As expected, the gameplay is very easy to get into. In fact, I felt it was too easy in the beginning. But once I got into the groove of things and understood the loop and how unlocking stuff worked, I got more into it. Plus, things do get more challenging as you progress. You are scored based on your performance during a run and will earn gold nuggets. These can be spent on permanent upgrades in the Black Market. However, it’s not hard to unlock all these upgrades nor does it take that long. It wasn’t until I reached Infamy level 10 and the Necromancer’s Pact that things really started to get more intense and I’ll get into these things in a bit.
If you’ve played any other games in the genre, you should know what to expect here but there are some things that make Bounty of One stand out from others of its kind. The western setting is one, being able to play with buddies is another, and you can only fire when standing still. Your character will auto-fire their weapon and even auto-aim at enemies, but you must be standing still for this to happen. This makes mobility key for survival. You need to move to evade the hordes of enemies and projectiles coming your way. There is a dash mechanic that allows you to quickly move a short distance at the press of a button which proves to be quite useful. It also has a cooldown period so you can’t just spam it constantly to evade the mobs but there are upgrades that grant you additional dashes and reduce the cooldown time. Enemies drop coins or experience when killed and some drop hearts that will replenish health. When you earn enough experience, you level up and can choose an upgrade which will improve your character’s attributes like damage, fire rate, speed, etc. They do come in different qualities and the higher the quality, the better the upgrade. Deputies or elite foes and sheriffs or bosses will drop chests that contain multiple abilities to choose from and these also come in different qualities.
The loop is pretty simple. Play a run and whether you die or defeat The Undertaker, there’s a good chance you’ll unlock something, especially in the beginning, rinse and repeat, and it can become addictive. As you progress, you’ll unlock Infamy levels which represent the difficulty. The higher the Infamy level, the more challenging things get. On the flip side, there’s also Redemption Options you can configure to make things easier. Once you reach Infamy level 10, you unlock the Necromancer’s Pact which allows you to make the game more challenging in a variety of ways, raising the Infamy level even further. You can adjust things like enemy damage and speed, the amount of foes that will come after you, the frequency of heart drops, and other things along those lines. The harder you make it, the more challenging the gameplay. You will also unlock the Super Black Market which offers even more permanent upgrades.
While I felt the game was too easy at first, I came to the realization Bounty of One is actually very accessible. Anyone can jump into this and complete runs and they can make the gameplay as easy or as hard as they want. While it may not be super challenging in the beginning, the amount of unlocks makes it feel rewarding and addictive and things do get more challenging as you progress. As of this review, there’s only four maps, and that’s with the Panic in the Mines DLC. The DLC map is by far the most interesting if only because there’s more going on in the environment. The others are seemingly endless in every direction. One of the maps is the Daily Struggle. Every day there’s a new struggle or in other words, a new challenge to complete. Simply put, the conditions change daily. Everyone is on the same level and no Black Market upgrades are applied.
Like other games of its kind, Bounty of One is very much about your character’s build. Your character’s weapon combined with the upgrades and abilities you choose and the different qualities of upgrades and abilities adds an interesting layer to the tried and true formula. As mentioned earlier, the upgrades improve your character’s attributes and they will be the same no matter what character you decide to play as. The abilities are what will really shape your build. Figuring out what abilities that best compliment your character and/or playstyle is what makes it fun. Death means you have to start over but it also means you can build something new.
Bounty of One is a game I find pleasing on the eyes. I like the colors and character and enemy designs. I feel the game does a pretty good job capturing a western feel through its presentation, considering there’s isn’t much in the way of story, no deep narrative. Characters and enemies do have dialogue, typically words or one-liners conveyed in the form of text during gameplay. In general, the visual presentation is well done and even when the screen is filled with enemies and projectiles, I never lost track of my character or what was going on. I feel the audio side is a bit lackluster. The music isn’t bad, the tunes fit the western theme the game is going for but on the default volume, the sound effects are weak. It’s not a huge problem, the action feels good regardless, but I think punchier sound effects wouldn’t hurt, either. On the technical side, I did not encounter any major issues.
I enjoyed my time with Bounty of One. The gameplay is fun and addictive and it does some things that make it stand out and feel unique in the genre. It’s also an accessible game. Anyone can jump into this and complete runs without issue. In my opinion, it takes some time for things to really pick up in terms of challenge and you will need to play for a bit to see everything the game has to offer. You can probably get to Infamy level 10 in a single sitting but unlocking every single thing in the game will take time and is one incentive to keep you coming back. Although, I was only able to play the game solo, being able to play with buddies is pretty cool, too. I do wish there was more maps with more things going on, similar to the mines map, but what’s here provides good fun and should keep you occupied for a while if you can get into it.
I do recommend Bounty of One. If you enjoy games like Vampire Survivors and others of its ilk, I would say Bounty of One is a game you will enjoy. It’s not my favorite in the genre and it did take me some time to really get into, but once things got going, I was having a blast. I like the western theme, presentation, emphasis on mobility, and the option to play with others. It does some interesting things with the formula so it doesn’t feel like a complete copy and paste of others of its kind, and if it gets its hooks into you, there’s no doubt you’ll continue to come back for more. Definitely check it out.