Shadowgrounds Survivor: Co-Op Survival, Weapon Upgrades, and Special Attacks

Surviving Ganymede: Campaign and Survival Modes

Shadowgrounds Survivor sets its campaign on Ganymede, Jupiter's moon, where the remaining humans face a full alien onslaught. The mission-based campaign follows that fight across a story that deepens the Shadowgrounds narrative, and new players pick a difficulty of Easy, Medium, or Hard when starting. Three playable characters bring their own tactics, while an upgrade system applied to weapons and characters functions like light role-playing progression. Progress is saved between missions, and each mission grants a number of lives; dying respawns the player somewhere safe at the cost of one life, and dropping below zero respawns ends the run until the mission is reloaded. Twenty secret parts are hidden across the single-player campaign, unlocking bonus features and Survival missions for those who find them all.

Survival missions unlock during the campaign and can also be launched from the main menu. Before each one, the player selects a character and weaponry, and upgrades apply as usual. The arena is intentionally small, and aliens arrive in an ever-growing wave, so the goal is simply to last as long as possible. When death finally comes, the score is calculated from survival time and the number of aliens killed. In the campaign, the core loop is surviving alien waves with weapons, upgrading equipment, and pushing through mission objectives; Survival strips that down to pure endurance under the same upgrade rules.

Same-Computer Co-Op for Up to Four Players

Shadowgrounds Survivor supports same-computer cooperative play for up to four players across both the normal campaign and the Survival mode. Participants can periodically choose their characters and take tactical advantage of the different features each survivor offers. Input is flexible: gamepads work alongside keyboards and mice, and multiple keyboards and mice can be enabled by checking the multiple input devices box in the launcher, which the manual notes should work with all USB keyboards and mice. The default scheme maps movement to W, A, S and D, dashing to the left shift key, primary and secondary fire to the two mouse buttons, reload to R, use to E, flashlight to F, the map to Tab, grenades to G or Q, the special attack to the space bar, and weapon selection to the mouse wheel.

Because several people may share one machine, the game uses separate player profiles. Setting up one profile per player is especially useful when two or more people play single player or cooperatively on the same computer, and each profile keeps its own save slots. Players are told to make sure their own profile is selected when playing. Control settings are also stored per profile, so each player can reconfigure the default keys and buttons to their own preferences without disturbing another player. Sound options and gamma settings, by contrast, are universal, so those changes are shared rather than attached to an individual profile.

Three Survivors and Their Special Attacks

Three survivors anchor the roster: Luke "Marine" Giffords, an IGTO military squad member; Bruno "Napalm" Lastmann; and Isabel "Sniper" Larose. Each brings a signature attack that changes how a fight is approached. Luke wields Brute Slayer, which lets him climb onto the large Brutes and target the brain of the furious creature rather than chipping at it from ground level. Bruno's Napalm Flame lays down a devastating ring of fire, covering an area around him. Isabel's Killing Spree slows time so she can place precise shots. The special attack sits on the space bar by default, and since control settings are stored per profile, each player can map it differently when sharing a computer.

Special attacks sit inside the same progression loop as weapons. Killing aliens fills the Experience bar in the upper-left corner of the screen, and when it reaches the end the character advances to the next experience level. Some characters then receive points to spend on character improvements, while the upgrade system also applies to weapons, giving the game a light role-playing layer. Because Survival missions run under the same upgrade rules and let the player pick a character and weaponry beforehand, any levels and improvements earned carry into the arena. Three characters with distinct specials also give co-op groups different tactical options when selecting survivors between missions.

Weapon Upgrades and Character Improvements

Weapon upgrades are purchased with weapon upgrade parts, sometimes dropped by aliens or found in levels, through the Upgrade menu (default Enter). Each weapon has a fixed set of enhancements: the HP2 Pistol MK II can gain Enhanced Damage, Target Lock, and Electric Tazer; the AM-92 Pulse Rifle MK II offers Radiated Bullets, Clip Extension, and Tag Grenade; the IZR2 Rocket Launcher lists Double Warhead, Targeting System ic-4, and Nuclear Warhead; the HX-1 Combat Shotgun has Assault Extension, Capacity Extension, and Burst Firing; the WP650 B.R.N Flamer includes Extreme Heat, Continuous Flame, and Fuel Trap; the IZ8 Minigun provides Heated Plasma Bullets, Improved Rotation, and Minigun Sentry; the TCM-1 Railgun MK II offers Bouncing Projectiles, Clip Extension, and Magnetic Burst; and the AR-X Plasma Rifle has Damage Upgrade, Recharger, and Plasma Burst.

Character improvements are separate general upgrades. Health Upgrade raises maximum health by 25 points. Motion Sensor adds a device that automatically picks up moving hostile signals. Critical Hits gives a chance for a deadly shot, while Improved Critical Hits provides marksmanship-like accuracy for such shots. Automatic Medikit automatically uses a medikit if health drops below 50, now with only a 1 second delay. These improvements sit alongside weapon enhancements in the same light role-playing progression, and the Upgrade menu is accessed with the default Enter button.

Health, Ammo and the HUD

The health bar sits in the bottom-left corner of the screen, showing how much health remains, and it turns red when the character is in desperate need of a medikit. Keycards in the player's possession are displayed near the health bar, and the flashlight's on/off status appears just above it. That flashlight is a 2096 model that does not run out of batteries, and the manual recommends using it in dark areas; some aliens react to light, which can be turned to the player's advantage in a fight. Health recovery items restore player health when collected.

The currently selected weapon appears in the bottom-right corner, with the ammo counter and the ammo clip counter next to it. Grenades count as the fourth weapon, and holding the left mouse button down adjusts the throw distance. When weapons are cycled with the mouse wheel, any weapon with no ammo is skipped automatically rather than selected. Each of the main weapons has a secondary fire that becomes available through the appropriate upgrade. Among the camera options, Free Camera presents the character in a more isometric perspective, showing much more of the surroundings, and it also lets the player shoot in any direction and rotate the camera by moving the cursor to the screen edge.

First published Oct 22, 2026.