'SUPERVIVE' is the Blend of Genres I Never Knew I Wanted (Review)

The past week has been a blur ever since I downloaded SUPERVIVE. I can’t even remember how it first caught my attention, whether it was a promotional post on X or catching a quick glimpse on Steam’s front page carousel. Its flashy, vibrant visuals immediately drew me into its gameplay trailer. Once that grimy phonk track started playing, I knew this was a Cool Game for Cool Dudes (sunglasses emoji). I think it was around 2 PM when I first launched the free-to-play game. “I’ll just play a few matches, see how it feels.” Suddenly, it was midnight.

One by one, my friends would hop into Discord and ask what I’m playing. “What the hell is SUPERVIVE?” Most of my attention was on the match, so I could really only offer the same brief answer. “Imagine League of Legends, but only the fun parts, and then make it a BR.”

Videos by VICE

The usual response? “Sold.”

no time to waste in ‘supervive’

I’ve played my fair share of both MOBAs and Battle Royales — from League of Legends, to Smite, to Paragon; from H1Z1, to PUBG, to Apex Legends. You name it, I’ve played it (read: spent money on cosmetics). While each genre offers exhilarating highs, the lows often take the stage most of the time. Those adrenaline-pumping team fights in MOBAs are one of a kind. But, once the enemy team starts snowballing because your support isn’t supporting? You’re stuck in a sometimes 30-45 minute hellscape, sighing in defeat at a neverending respawn timer. BRs offer that same moment-to-moment intensity, but the droughts in between are often spent wandering around empty spaces, scanning horizons for something, anything, to shoot at. And no, I’m not one of those “drop on the outskirts and hide” kind of dudes. You either hot drop on Tilted Towers or get out of my lobby.

SUPERVIVE MOBA Battle Royale Team Fight — Screenshot: Theorycraft Games

And this is where SUPERVIVE shines the brightest. By taking these genres and trimming the fat, you’re left with a lean cut of grade-A gameplay on your plate. Sprinkled with NPC creep camps to farm, world bosses to take down, and quests to complete, your team always has something to do in between the frantic Battlerite-esque team fights.

From the moment your drop pod hits the surface, the wheels are already spinning. Do we take out these camps to gain a few levels, or should we smash that team around the corner first? Should we lay low and break into a few vaults for loot, or hop the train to the other side of the map?

it’s a vive

If your team is wiped out early in a match? A convenient “Find Match” button is instantly available to throw your team back into the queue, sometimes finding you a match so quickly that the game can’t even finish tallying up the score from the previous match. There are only so many hours a day for SUPERVIVIN’, and this game respects that.

Things can be a little confusing when you first jump in. While SUPERVIVE guides you through its brief introduction with digestible tutorial videos, some of that knowledge tends to get lost in the void once you’re in the heat of battle. The HUD is pretty busy. It took a few matches for me to realize my upgradeable gear near the bottom-right of my screen. Couple this with your character’s actual abilities gained through leveling up. And another pair of hotkeys for active item pickup slots. And another row of hotkeys for consumable items — new players may understandably feel a tad overwhelmed.

Of course, being in open beta, there’s always room to iron out the kinks. Although initially frustrating, SUPERVIVE conveniently nudges you toward abilities and gear recommended for your character throughout each match. Which helps to keep your mind on the prize and less on “builds” and “metas”.

The core formula of SUPERVIVE never changes, nor does the map itself. Yet, each match feels like a different story. A roster of 16 characters, each with unique abilities and stylistic design, is available to experiment with. Though not immediately available upon first launch, any Hunter can be unlocked just by playing the game. SUPERVIVE generously hands out XP and other in-game goodies to add to your collection through its pseudo-battle pass. In the future, we’ll get a premium battle pass with more rewards to grind.

‘supervive’ feels like A LABOR OF LOVE

The team at Theorycraft Games recently unveiled a roadmap of planned content for SUPERVIVE. In it, they detail future game modes, characters, and events for the coming months. That’s all fine and dandy, right? Standard for most live-service games. But what really caught my attention were the addendums later added to the bottom of their announcements, responding directly to player feedback and suggestions with transparency and honesty.

Even when it means breaking bad news, these developers remain genuine and open to what players want versus what they’re able to achieve right now. If SUPERVIVE‘s polish and functionality weren’t a dead giveaway, how these devs interact with their players should convince you that this team is different.

I got curious and checked out the team at Theorycraft Games to learn a bit more about who’s behind SUPERVIVE. To no surprise, a roster of industry veterans populates the page, each with their own bios and favorite games listed. Developers whose careers span from indie studios to gaming titans, like Bungie, Blizzard, Riot Games, and EA. Many of them worked on some of the biggest titles in the space — Overwatch, League of Legends, Starcraft II, Valorant. It’s no wonder why SUPERVIVE feels this good right out of the box. This team has the sauce.

Game development is hard and risky. But making a free-to-play live service game as an independent studio? Nightmare difficulty. The gaming space is a deep sea of choices. Yet, SUPERVIVE‘s proudly unconventional approach to a tired formula is the fresh take these genres desperately need. Theorycraft Games delivers a package that’s bursting with dedication and hope. SUPERVIVE is a banger I’ll be playing for a long time.