Recently, I had the chance to go hands-on with an early preview of White Knuckle, an upcoming first-person rougelite speed-climbing horror game from Dark Machine Games. Full disclosure: I’ve been hooked on White Knuckle since I tried the demo during the last Steam Next Fest. For those familiar with the demo, the update—playable in the April 17th Early Access release—brings hefty improvements to the lighting and level layouts and adds an entirely new area that effectively doubles the playtime.
I don’t really get excited about new games anymore; I’ve just played too many. I’ve been gaming since the NES, and since sometime in the mid-2010s, most new releases started coming with a heavy dose of déjà vu. But occasionally, a game like White Knuckle comes along, drawing from a deep well of influences, blending the best parts of the “been there” while leaving behind the “done that.” It’s a rare moment of refreshment for my curmudgeonly soul.
Visually, White Knuckle is a low-poly throwback to the late 90s; tonally, it feels like the most macabre Orange Box title we never got—but its frantic, momentum-based parkour is peerless, unlike anything I’ve ever played. The closest comparisons I can think of are Mirror’s Edge (2008) and, at times, Portal (2007). White Knuckle shares the free-flowing movement of the former and the spatial reasoning puzzles of the latter—but has a frenetic intensity all its own.
The rougelite setup ensures that every climb is a unique combination of premade obstacle courses, undertaken with the knowledge that permadeath is only a misclick away. A good climb feels like trying to solve a math problem while playing five-finger fillet and chewing on a Carolina Reaper. If you’re the right kind of sicko, it’s sublime.
White Knuckle takes place in a sprawling facility called SUB-STRUCTURE 17. It’s equal parts industrial hellscape, Black Mesa-like science complex, and extradimensional nightmare. It’s unclear what the structure’s purpose was, but we enter it well into the aftermath of some undefined cataclysm. What’s clear, however, is that the facilities’ corporate benefactors have taken an interest in the chaos—and we’re not the first climber to try and escape the ruins.
“… there’s plenty of room for creativity in White Knuckle, making each climb feel like a new experience.”
The preview covers three areas: the ventilation silos, the pipeworks, and habitation. We start in the ventilation silos. It’s impossible to tell how deep underground they are, but the silos definitely feel like the bowels of the structure. And judging by the ominous musical stings and the oozing sounds of an encroaching flood, if we don’t start climbing soon, we’re going to be in deep shit.
Our mission in SUB-STRUCTURE 17 is simple: climb as fast as possible and try not to die. Which, as it turns out, is exceptionally difficult. Not only have malfunctioning subsystems become lethal hazards, but an entire ecosystem of hungry monsters has sprung up in the wake of the disaster—and they are all keen on sampling our sweet, sweet meats.
The speed-climbing mechanics are deceptively simple: click a hold to grab it with your left or right hand, use the WASD keys to maneuver your free hand toward the next hold, grab it, and repeat. Often, you’ll need to make swinging leaps to distant holds, timing the release of the mouse button with a spacebar push and grabbing the next hold at just the right moment.
But all of this happens against the ticking clock of our climber’s grip strength. As we move from hold to hold, the white glove indicators slowly turn red. If they turn entirely red, our grip gives out, and we plummet to our doom. Adding to the pressure, our climber is relentlessly pursued by environmental threats and nightmarish creatures like the aptly named “Teeth.”
If you fall behind, there’s no shortage of climbing gear scattered around the facility to help you craft shortcuts. From hammerable pitons and throwable rebar to DNA alterations for higher jumps and stretchier arms, there’s plenty of room for creativity in White Knuckle, making each climb feel like a new experience. But be careful—gear has weight and can affect your grip strength and speed, and DNA alterations can be….unpredictable.
The pacing is dialled in. Even in its pre-Early Access state, White Knuckle expertly ramps up the intensity and alters its gameplay conventions to keep players on their toes. Core mechanics are slowly introduced and give plenty of space for players to learn and make mistakes. But just as you get comfortable with the basic climbing mechanics, you’ll have to start negotiating larger rooms with fewer breaks, less obvious paths, and more aggressive threats.
“White Knuckle expertly ramps up the intensity and alters its gameplay conventions to keep players on their toes.”
What starts as simple hand-over-hand climbing slowly morphs into precariously dangling in an elevator shaft, alternating between a flare gun and a hand-cranked flashlight—praying you have enough light left to see your pursuer, enough ammo to keep it at bay and enough grip strength to avoid falling into its maw.
The breakneck pace of the climb and the constant pressure is always alleviated at just the right time—either by the pitch-black humour of the facility’s AI administrator or by a brief stop in the breakrooms, where you can save your game and feed any cockroaches you’ve caught into a vending machine in exchange for gear and DNA alterations.
I’ve attempted to climb SUB-STRUCTURE 17 more times than I can count, and while I can reliably reach the upper floors, it’s clear I’ve only scratched the surface of how fast it can be done. Every playthrough is a test of will, reflexes, and stress tolerance. The entire game is a nerve-wracking spatial puzzle that will undoubtedly find a loving home with streamers, speedrunning fanatics, and gluttons for punishment.
White Knuckle is slated to hit Steam’s Early Access on April 17th and is definitely one to watch. The current build is little more than a prelude, but it already has more replay potential and tighter gameplay than most of the AAA titles I’ve played this year. You don’t have to take my word for it, though—you can try the free demo on Steam now.
