Black Plague Review

A Dark Medieval Take on the Survivors Formula

Black Plague drops the player into an endless arena where relentless waves of monsters close in from every direction, and survival depends entirely on the upgrades picked between fights. It's built squarely in the "bullet heaven" mold popularized by Vampire Survivors: enemies never stop coming, the player's arsenal grows automatically as runs progress, and the real decisions happen in the upgrade menus that pop up between waves, where weapon choices and perks combine into increasingly absurd builds. Edraal Games frames it around a plague-ravaged, dark medieval setting rather than the genre's usual gothic-horror or anime trappings, leaning into fast, high-density arena combat, build-defining synergies, and the promise of high replayability from run to run. Developed and published by the small studio Edraal Games, Black Plague entered Steam Early Access in June 2026 and reached its 1.0 release on September 10, 2026, priced at $4.99 with a launch discount currently bringing it to $3.14, backed by a steady cadence of content updates, controller support, and leaderboard additions across its Early Access run.

Over its roughly three months in Early Access, Black Plague added full controller support, a global leaderboard, and a batch of new achievements, alongside multiple rounds of weapon, item, and map additions and balance passes aimed at smoothing out the difficulty curve as builds snowball. The store page lists Steam Cloud saves, Steam Achievements, and support for playing without timed input alongside the core custom volume controls, positioning it as a fairly accessible package for a budget-priced genre entry rather than a stripped-down Early Access shell.

A Small, Overwhelmingly Positive Launch

Black Plague has drawn 26 reviews so far, with 25 positive and just 1 negative for a 96% approval rating. The pool leans heavily Turkish alongside English and a scattering of other languages, and while most of the reviews are short, enthusiastic endorsements rather than deep technical breakdowns, the consistency of the praise across a genuinely broad set of players is itself a meaningful signal for a $4.99 Early Access release barely three months old at review time.

The Genre's Core Hook, Executed Cleanly

Reviewers across languages converge on the same core praise: the moment-to-moment loop of picking upgrades, watching a character snowball in power, and getting swarmed by escalating waves of enemies is genuinely satisfying here. One English-language reviewer calls the combat "really satisfying" and singles out experimenting with different upgrades and builds as the highlight, adding that things get "insanely chaotic" later in a run in a way they specifically enjoyed, alongside praise for the dark medieval atmosphere and pixel art fitting the tone well. Another reviewer compares it favorably to Megabonk, a well-regarded peer in the same genre. Several Turkish-language reviews describe losing entire nights to "just one more run," with one reviewer joking they should rename the game "Time Machine" for how easily hours disappear once the right weapon combination clicks. Multiple reviewers specifically credit the power-progression curve, saying the game gets its hooks in once a few upgrades are secured and the on-screen chaos ramps up, and more than one specifically flags that the game already feels unusually stable and well-performing for its Early Access stage, holding a steady frame rate even with large numbers of enemies on screen simultaneously. At $4.99, more than one reviewer calls it plainly good value, with one English-language review calling it "one of the best things you can buy for $2.50" at a discounted price point.

Thin on Content Variety, With One Reported Bug

The genre Black Plague sits in is an exceptionally crowded one, and even fans in this review pool acknowledge the familiar shape of the loop: a Turkish-language reviewer who otherwise enjoyed the game notes that runs start to feel repetitive after enough time with it, tempering their recommendation to specifically fans of the genre rather than newcomers. A Korean-language reviewer reports a specific bug where experience orbs stop dropping from defeated monsters at a certain point in a run even without being deliberately ignored, a real issue for a genre where snowballing power growth is the entire point. Another reviewer's only request is more achievements to chase, a minor ask that nonetheless points to the current Early Access build being fairly light on long-term structure beyond repeated runs. None of this amounts to a troubled launch, and the studio's steady cadence of content updates, controller support, and leaderboard features through Early Access suggests ongoing investment, but the honest picture is of a well-executed, if familiar, entry in an oversaturated genre rather than something reinventing the format. Notably, not one review in the current pool raises a concern about pricing, performance stability, or a broken build, which is a rarer outcome than it sounds for a three-month-old Early Access release in a genre this saturated with rushed, half-finished clones.

Verdict

Black Plague is a tightly executed bullet-heaven roguelite that leans into a dark medieval plague setting rather than the genre's more common horror or anime aesthetics, and its near-unanimous 96% approval across a genuinely broad, mostly Turkish-and-English review pool reflects real, consistent satisfaction with its core loop of escalating chaos and build-crafting. It doesn't do much to distinguish itself mechanically from the genre's now-enormous field of Vampire Survivors-likes, and the one detailed bug report about experience orbs failing to drop is worth watching for anyone diving in during this stage of Early Access, but at $4.99 with a discount bringing it even lower, reviewers across languages consistently frame it as a satisfying, well-priced time sink. For genre fans specifically looking for another solid entry in the bullet-heaven space, Black Plague delivers cleanly on that promise; for anyone hoping for a fresh twist on the format, the appeal here is mostly in the execution and atmosphere rather than any new ideas.