PREVIEW: White Knuckle - Gamecritics.com

The title delivers on its promise — I was gripping my mouse so hard by the end of it that my knuckles were literally white.

White Knuckle belongs to the “Getting Over It” genre of difficult platformers where tons of progress can be lost in a moment. However, White Knuckle takes it a step further through the use of roguelite and horror twists, and tops it all off with PS2-era graphics.

White Knuckle takes place in an abandoned underground research facility called Sub-Structure 17, which is divided into three regions (more regions to come later, as it’s currently in early access) and play revolves around climbing, which the player does with their own two hands, quite literally.

The first-person climbing is achieved by alternating between each hand to grasp any sort of handhold within reach, and this must be done quickly, as each hand will tire and let go after holding onto a handhold for too long. There are also items to be used, some create handholds, some buff the player, and some are used for defense.

Sub-Structure 17 is host to a variety of life. There are oversized flies called Bloodbugs that
knock into the player, which does low damage but forces the player to let go of a handhold.
They’re incredibly annoying, and were the bane of my existence. Bloodbugs can be defended
against by hitting them with a hammer or throwing things at them — which I preferred, as it was
way funnier. Not every creature is dangerous though. Roaches can be found everywhere, and occasionally
silver and golden variants will appear which can be collected to use as currency to buy perks
and items.

White Knuckle being a roguelite is such a natural progression of roguelike concepts that I’m surprised more games haven’t tried it. Failure is inevitable, so randomizing things like items and level generation keep each run fresh and alleviates some of the annoyance that comes from restarting.

However, as with any roguelite, things aren’t over after completing one run. There’s also Hardcore and an Endless mode where the player can climb through a region of their choosing to unlock more perks. Unfortunately, most of the perks are simple stat increases like more stamina, longer reaching range, and so forth. Perks that are more impactful, like a double jump, are incredibly rare. So for the most part, getting new perks through additional play didn’t shake things up.

Beyond the mechanics of vertical platforming, the horror elements of White Knuckle are phenomenal because there are so many things to be afraid of — falling, creatures, running out of tools… everything.

During my first run, I hammered some pitons into a wall to create handholds, swung across a few gaps, and felt things were going great until I realized that the souls of the damned were below me, and slowly filling up each room that I had previously climbed up through. I immediately started panicking and started ascending as quickly as I could. Then, I misjudged a jump and fell to my doom.

Every subsequent death played out similarly. I’d reach a new height, White Knuckle would introduce a new room or creature that made me uneasy, I would panic because I didn’t know what to do, and then I would die.

Overcoming panic is what led to my first successful ascent of Sub-Structure 17. Knowing what to expect and being confident in my skill took the fear out of White Knuckle, but this is the unfortunate reality of pretty much any horror game. Fortunately, this loss of fear gave way to something new — I began to experiment with different mechanics and creatures, and realized how much I had been held back by my fear.

One of the first creatures encountered is a fleshy growth that appears on the walls, and shoots tendrils out across the room it’s in. Getting hit by one of these tendrils drags the player towards the growth, and it begins to attack. However, these tendrils can be grabbed and used for climbing, as if they were rope. This discovery (and others like it) only happened when I stopped seeing every creature as an obstacle or enemy, and started trying to imagine them as opportunities to climb even faster.

Finally, I would be doing White Knuckle a disservice by not mentioning the aesthetics.

Sub-Structure 17 and the three regions currently available look great — not graphically, but stylistically. Everything is incredibly dystopian thanks to hardly any metal surfaces that aren’t rusted, paint peeling off the walls, and a darkly oppressive atmosphere. Everything is either in a state of disrepair or incredibly unwelcoming, but what I appreciated most is that every handhold looks like it belongs. I climbed broken ladders, swung onto crumbling walkways and shimmied across metal beams. The fearsome horror aesthetic isn’t compromised for gameplay with bright yellow paint, and that commitment kept me immersed.

There’s nothing quite like White Knuckle. Adding roguelite features to a difficult platformer feels like a natural progression of both genres, and the horror elements are the cherry on top. The ‘dated’ PS2 style graphics are an amazing stylistic choice that enhance the overall experience, and despite the content still being in early access, there’s plenty of replayability to be had here.

White Knuckle is expected to stay in early access until the end of 2025, and due to popular demand, the ability to save a run and come back to it later is coming soon.

— Zackary Edwards

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