I first got a chance to play Deathstate earlier this year as part of the Indie Minibooth installation at PAX East. The game’s retro style helped it stand out amidst this sea of monitors, but I have to admit, its tagline definitely didn’t hurt. According to developer Workinman, Deathstate can be described as a… “top-down roguelike bullet hell single-stick shooter.” That is a lot of adjectives for one game, but you’ll also find plenty of Lovecraftian story elements once you start to dig deeper:
In Deathstate, you are a traveller of the outer realms. You have discovered the secrets of deep astral projection by entering into a fully death like meditative state. While in your Deathstate, you can go beyond the beyond to realms previously only imagined by those enlightened or mad enough to dwell upon them. Tread lightly though, for these far planes of demi-existence that you choose to explore are extremely hostile to mortal souls.
So Deathstate is actually a “Lovecraftian top-down roguelike bullet hell single-stick shooter” and Workinman has just announced it’ll be available to download through Steam on October 20. If you think you can handle all that, you might want to check out the brand new trailer embedded above.
