Grave Rush, week one: can the zombie shooter carry it alone?

Verdict: Grave Rush is, according to the studio, the flagship mode among the three arcade games in HAUNTED: Are You Alone? One of your walls breaks open onto a moonlit graveyard, and the dead come through the hole. After a week, it’s clear: the mode carries if you like high scores. Headshots, slow motion and the combo multiplier give every run a goal. If you’d buy HAUNTED just for Grave Rush, know this: it’s a short story with a good shooter in the bag, not a pure shooter.

Then vs now

On launch day, Grave Rush was mostly an effect. Your real wall breaks open, with fog, crows, lightning and a chapel behind it. You’ll know it from Chapter V of the story, ‘The Darkness’.

After a week, the effect is familiar. Now the game behind it matters: waves, enemy types, weapons, points.

What shipped

The documented building blocks of Grave Rush:

Enemies: Walkers first, then Runners from wave 2. They climb out of their graves and come through the hole in your wall.
Starting weapon: the pistol.
Other weapons: Every unlocked weapon — shotgun, assault rifle and sword — lies on the ground ready to be picked up.
Headshots: award bonus points.
Special kills: play out in slow motion.
Reloading: A tutorial in the first run shows it. Flick your wrist, or with the rifle pull the weapon down and slam in a fresh magazine.

Plus the systems shared by all three arcade modes:

Combo multiplier up to ×8 for fast kills
Bonus for every wave cleared
three hearts, one hit costs one
coins for kills and waves
top-five high scores per mode

What holds up after seven days

The combo pressure. A multiplier up to ×8 rewards speed. Hesitate and you lose points. That turns every run into a rhythm game with weapons.

The headshot question. Bonus points for headshots force precision while Runners come at you. That tension between speed and accuracy is the core of the mode.

The weapon path. Through the Bone Market you unlock the shotgun (450 coins), sword (600) and assault rifle (900). Each weapon can be upgraded across five tiers, for things like damage, fire rate, reloading, magazine or range. That gives the first week a clear curve.

Gesture reloading. A small detail that sticks. Reloading is a movement, not a button press. Under pressure, that becomes a challenge of its own.

What wears thin

One location. Grave Rush has one graveyard behind a wall. There’s no change of environment.
Two enemy types. Walkers and Runners are documented. More variety isn’t described.
The horror recedes. After a week, Grave Rush is more shooter than scare. For score chasers that’s good; for horror fans, less so.

What’s missing

No online leaderboards are documented. The top five applies per mode.
No co-op. Zombie waves for two would be an obvious fit, but the game is single-player.
No details on further weapons or enemies in future updates.

Tips for week one

Master the pistol first. It’s the starting weapon. Headshots with it earn bonus and keep the combo alive.
Room to turn. Enemies come through a wall. Even so, open space helps with dodging and aiming.
Keep the lights on in the real room. Grave Rush is set in moonlight. For tracking, the Quest still needs light.
Breaks. Endless doesn’t mean without end. After several runs, take the headset off.

What to watch next

Whether Grave Rush is still the mode you return to most often in the month-one verdict, or whether Arm Cutter and Skull Hunt catch up. And whether an update brings new enemies. Nothing has been announced.

Buy, wait or skip?

Buy if you like wave shooters with combos and upgrades and want a short horror story along for the ride. At £3.99 (UK store, as of 10 October 2026), Grave Rush alone is fair value. Wait if you’re after a sprawling zombie shooter with lots of maps. Skip if the PEGI 18 warning applies to you. Store page: HAUNTED: Are You Alone?

Launch Score

8.8 out of 10 for Grave Rush after week one, as the editors’ opinion. A clear, fast mode with a good upgrade path and physical reloading. Docked for a single location and little enemy variety.