Death's Gambit
Death's Gambit is a 2D platform game with role-playing elements developed by American studio White Rabbit and published by Adult Swim Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in August 2018. The game uses a pixel art aesthetic. Gameplay. "Death's Gambit" is a Souls-like Metroidvania that incorporates role-playing elements. The game is presented with 2D computer graphics with a pixel art aesthetic. Development and release. "Death's Gambit" was developed by independent studio White Rabbit. The primary inspiration for the gameplay of "Death's Gambit" was Metroidvania games. The  development team also wanted to integrate systems from games they enjoyed playing such as "Castlevania", "Dark Souls", and "Shadow of the Colossus". "Castlevania" games were also an influence for game's art direction, as well as indie adventure game "". The game was published by Adult Swim Games. It was released for Windows and PlayStation 4 on 14 August 2018. Section::::"Death's Gambit: Afterlife". Death's Gambit: Afterlife is the new and expanded edition of the original game was released on 30 September 2021. Afterlife offers players a wealth of new content to experience on top of the original game, including  10 new levels, over 30 weapons, 5 new bosses, mechanical overhauls, and more. White Rabbit released this expansion for free to new users based on the community feedback. Reception. Death's Gambit received mostly positive reviews from critics, ending up with a score of 71.5 on Metacritic. GameSpot's James Swinbanks praised the exploration and the story, but criticized the game's combat as being clunky. Samuel Horti, writing for PCGamer enjoyed the game's story, but disliked the stamina system. In a mixed review, Mike Epstein at IGN wrote, "Death’s Gambit is a very blunt attempt to fuse  two beloved games, Dark Souls and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, into one challenging 2D action-platformer. Developer White Rabbit shows a strong understanding of what made each of them great but glosses over fundamentals that all great games need, such as responsive controls and an understandable game world, and falls short of its promise." Death's Gambit: Afterlife received greater critical acclaim than the original Death's Gambit, with critics citing that Death’s Gambit: Afterlife makes a number of additions and improvements to the base game, while maintaining the qualities that earned it a lot of fans on  other platforms. Noisypixel reviewed Death's Gambit: Afterlife positively, stating, "Death’s Gambit: Afterlife is the product of a dedicated team that wants to provide the best action experience possible. This revamped version offers plenty of new systems for returning fans and puts its best foot forward for new players. There’s great attention to balance in this Souls-like Metroidvania that supplies enough challenging encounters and deep customization for all players to enjoy. It looks like the Afterlife ain’t so bad after all."