Death's Gambit is the latest indie 2D platformer to take a
swing at the Dark Souls formula and, I gotta say, it's my favorite one yet.
With surprising enemy and environment variety, satisfying combat, a fresh
storytelling style, and some interesting twists on the Souls formula, Death's
Gambit is an all around fantastic 2D action plaformer that is right up there
with the best of them both old and new. It does have some rough spots, and it
is pretty brutal and frustrating at first, but once it gets its hooks in you
Death's Gambit is very hard to put down. Continue reading our full PS4 Death's
Gambit review for all of the details.
Game Details
- Publisher: Adult Swim Games
- Developer: White Rabbit
- ESRB Rating: "T" For Teen
- Genre: 2D Action
- Pros: Cool storytelling; satisfying gameplay; nice presentation; connected world; twists on Souls formula
- Cons: Glitches; brutal stamina mechanic
- MSRP: $20
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The story is fascinating because it actually addresses some
of the problems that would come with being immortal. Living on while everyone
you care about dies is really a curse, after all, and Death's Gambit really
digs in and faces the tough questions about what it means to live forever. The
way the story is told is also interesting because you gradually learn more
about your character via flashbacks to the past and Death showing you bits and
pieces of what happened. Other characters you meet also flesh out the world
with their own pasts and thoughts on immortality and death. There are some
fantastic cinematic gameplay segments tied to this exploration of immortality
that really stand out as well. It does become a bit esoteric towards the end,
but I greatly enjoyed it overall.
Gameplay-wise, Death's Gambit is a 2D open world Metroidvania-style
action platformer. Once you beat the first boss and enter the main hub you are
free to take any path and fight the bosses in any order, though some will
certainly be more difficult than others depending on when you fight them. The
world is interconnected with secret passages and shortcuts, just like Dark
Souls 1, and seeing how the different areas connect is always fun. I also have
to give props to the surprising variety in environments. The game world isn't
actually all that big, but a snowy area, medieval town, sci-fi robot laboratory
(yeah, really), a prison full of Eldritch horrors, and several other areas are
all seamlessly connected in ways that totally make sense.
The Dark Souls influence comes in when it comes to combat
and leveling up. Similar to other Souls-likes, you collect a form of currency
by defeating enemies in Death's Gambit. Unlike other games, however, you don't
lose that currency when you die and instead lose one of your healing items.
Since you don't lose your level up currency, you feel a much more steady sense
of progression in Death's Gambit. You're always leveling up at a pretty steady
pace and really feel tangibly stronger over the course of the game, which I
really like a lot. It does take some of the stress and sense of dread out of
playing that is normally associated with a Souls-like, but I like that they
actually tried to do something different. Oh, and don't worry about losing
those health items when you die. You can either return to the spot and collect
them, or just spend some of your currency at a save point to retrieve the lost
healing items. Again, it's different and makes it easier, but I like it.
The core combat itself is a bit of an issue, however, as a
brutally strict stamina system has a huge impact on the flow of the game. Just
like other Souls-likes, jumping, dodge rolling, blocking, and attacking all use
up your limited amount of stamina, but in Death's Gambit your stamina is
ridiculously limited at the start to the point that you can barely function in
combat. The game is very, very, very hard at first because of this and you'll
definitely get frustrated early on because of it. The combat is also a little
on the simple side compared to some other games as well. There are multiple
classes and lots of weapon types to wield, but the gameplay loop itself is
pretty darn simple here, as you don't have a ton of moves and abilities. That
simplicity combined with the difficulty makes you feel a bit helpless early on
as you just don't feel like you have the tools you need to succeed.
I have to admit that I loved the game for the first
30-minutes, then hated it for the next 2-hours, and then fell in love with it
again until right through to the end after that. Why was that? Because there
was just something about the game that kept me coming back. I always had the
feeling that I could do a little bit better and use a different strategy and
overcome whatever boss was standing in my way. If that sounds familiar, yeah,
that's how every Souls-like game feels. The thing that helps Death's Gambit
stand out and enhances that feeling even more, however, is the fact that you
make progress and level up even when you die over and over. You get much, much
stronger over the course of the game in Death's Gambit and it feels really
great to grind a bit and level up and then just slam through a hard section of
a level or easily kill a boss. After you level up your endurance so you have
more stamina, pump up your haste stat so stamina and your abilities recharge
faster, and pour tons of levels into your key combat stat (Strength or
Finesse), you get ridiculously strong and it's freaking awesome.
There is another side to getting so swole, though, and that
is the fact it makes some later game bosses easier than they should be. Compared
to how helpless you are at the beginning of the game, feeling so powerful by
the end is kind of a nice change for the genre. It's still one of those games
where any little mistake still results in a quick death even when you're
over-leveled, though, so you still have to keep on your toes. The game does
something else interesting in that you can have a Heroic Rematch against a
harder version of most of the bosses, which is freaking awesome and something I
wish Dark Souls would let you do.
Unfortunately, the game is a little on the glitchy side now
and then with some potentially major issues that can cause problems. I had my
save get corrupted, but it was during gameplay so I was able to delete that
save and the game just auto saved like normal afterward, so I didn't lose any
progress. I also had the game crash totally with a PS4 blue screen of death,
too. During gameplay glitches pop up like bosses getting stuck and not
attacking like they should, items sometimes disappear, and I got pushed through
the level geometry and got stuck in a wall (you can use an item to teleport you
back to your last save point, thankfully) a time or two as well. The game also
has a lot of evidence of cut content that you can see but not access all over
the place as well as if it wasn't really finished and had to get rushed out the
door.
Presentation in Death's Gambit is quite nice overall.
Character and enemy sprites look great and the backgrounds range from very good
to absolutely phenomenal. There are a couple of later areas that are a little
too dark to the point you can barely see anything, but aside from that I love
the visuals here. The sound is also well done with solid voice work for the
supporting characters. Your character isn't voiced, however, which is a little
strange. Sound effects are typical swords and shields melee sounds, though you
do find some futuristic energy weapons later on with their own appropriate
sounds.
All in all, once I got over the difficulty hump and got into
the flow I really fell in love with Death's Gambit. The combat isn't as deep as
some similar titles, and the stamina mechanic is absolutely ridiculous and
takes a while to get used to, but I did eventually get used to it and really
enjoyed pretty much everything else about the game. The world is awesome, the
story is cool, the gameplay is satisfying, and I love the changes to the
level-up mechanics. Death's Gambit took some risks to mix up the pace and feel
of the game compared to other difficult 2D action platformers and I think it
was mostly successful. I think the obvious question people want answered is
"How does it compare to Salt and Sanctuary?" Well, I don't like Salt
and Sanctuary (I haven't ever reviewed it because I just can't get into it) but
I love Death's Gambit, so interpret that however you like. In the end, I think
fans of 2D action platformers and Metroidvania (more heavy on the 'vania part)
and anyone looking for a challenge will enjoy Death's Gambit. Buy it.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.
