I found this game through Markiplier’s first playthrough when it initially came out. I was looking for a parkour game, and was considering Peaks of Yore, but when I saw the Half-Life inspired horror-parkour game where you’re escaping a sci-fi facility I was immediately sold. It’s as if someone had combined all my interests into one perfect package. In White Knuckle, you take the role of a maintance worker, trained to be able to climb around the subtunnels of the large complex the game takes place in. The game starts with you being told to escape, moments before this grey ooze starts filling the tall facility. The game is split up into four different “biomes”, being the Silos, Pipeworks, Habitation and the Abyss, with a fifth area planned.
The setting of the game is what really captivates me. I am a big sucker for settings like Half-Life or SCP, which White Knuckle fits right in with. The game is also aided by its gameplay, the mechanics all feel fresh and unique. I like the inventory system, it’s very intuitive, especially by how every item is worth the same weight- even though a granola bar may not be as heavy as javelin made of rebar- but it still feels great to play and it makes me want to use my consumables, instead of saving them until I die.
Although it’s branded as horror, the game really only begins to adapt this in section three, the Habitation. Without spoiling too much, the monsters become very active, and the flashlight mechanic is introduced, which creates a generic horror atmosphere, but it’s very tense and worked extremely well, especially with the inventory system.
White Knuckle is a good game, and after learning about the checkpoint mechanic you can unlock, it makes the game feel a lot more refreshing, knowing that you don’t have to do a long two-hour campaign just to get back to the point you were. Great game, glad to have got in early access and I’m excited to see where it goes!
Well this was a good review with some decent insights