Four new zones, seventy items, thirty-one guns and all the nightmare horror references you can dream up
Big guns, big pixels and… one particularly buxom witch—the calling cards of action roguelike Dead Estate. If you’ve missed out on it so far, now’s a great time to check it out, because it just received its sixth and final update, freeing developers Milkbar Lads to finally explore other projects. Or just go outside.
While not a mega-hit, it’s been a pleasant success for Milkbar Lads and new indie publisher 2 Left Thumbs. Like an isometric Binding of Isaac or a more horror-themed Enter The Gungeon, it’s a twitchy, messy roguelike shooter set in a mansion overrun by every horror trope imaginable, from zombies to science mutants, demon cultists and even some obscure urban/internet legends. They all need shooting with screen-shaking guns.
The game has seen a series of free major updates since it dropped three Halloweens ago, adding more characters, features, enemies, guns—just more of everything. Arguably most impressive was last year’s Assignment Anya update, adding a whole Resident Evil-inspired side game: a good couple hours of stealthy, puzzley adventuring if you want a break from the main game’s action.
But all good things must come to an end, but they’re going out with a bang. Probably the biggest update yet, Good Night feels like the team’s tried to cram in every last idea it had before calling it quits, and looking at what’s on offer here, this could easily have been sold as paid DLC.
This final update adds a whole new four-level alternate plot branch to follow, with its own ending. Good Night breaks away from the spooky mansion setting to get weird. Set in a series of surreal dreamscapes, there’s five new bosses to take down and dozens of new monsters to meet, plus a new ‘mutation’ system to make Chunks (the game’s ever-present invulnerable stalker enemy) a bit more menacing on higher difficulty modes and loops.
All ten characters have a full set of four costumes each now, and there’s also 10 more special challenge runs for determined players to tackle. There’s 70 more items to multiply the chance of game-shattering synergy shenanigans, and a hefty 31 new guns, bulking up the game’s arsenal to impressive size and potentially unpleasant levels of chaos if you pick up the ERROR item that shuffles your secondary weapon every three seconds—I know I shouldn’t, but I grab it every time I can.
It’s been a while since I’ve properly dug into Dead Estate, but this update seems like the perfect excuse to dive back in. Dead Estate is on Steam or Itch for £11.39/$14.99, and you can check out the demo before you shell out.
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