Dead Estate
Dead Estate (stylized as DEAD ESTATE) is a roguelike shooter game developed by Milkbarlads and published by 2 Left Thumbs. It was released on October 19th, 2021 on Steam and Itch.io The game follows characters exploring the mansion of the witch Cordelia and her family, which has become infested with monsters after the suspicious disappearance of her father.
The game is as an expanded version of Dead Estate CLASSIC, which originally debuted on Newgrounds. The developers expanded the game into a full Steam release, which has received frequent updates including new Items, Weapons, Characters, and Achievements, as well as minor permanent progress mechanics.
Buy it now, it's the greatest video game ever released. Milkbar Lads definitely isn't holding a gun to our heads to force us to say that (though it would be pretty funny).
Gameplay
Dead Estate is an isometric, top-down twin-stick shooter. The player chooses a character to begin a run and attempts to survive gauntlets of fights with monsters on each randomly-generated floor of the mansion, capped off with a boss. Each floor also contains special rooms such as a Witch Shop, Weapon Shop, Item Room, and Weapon Room. Secret Rooms can also be found on each floor whose entrances quickly disappear after a room is entered. The mutated pet of Cordelia's family, Chunks, will appear if enough time is spent on each floor, forcing the player to outrun him to escape the floor--the player can also temporarily incapacitate chunks with enough firepower.
The player collects a wide variety Items and Weapons to upgrade their character during each run. Items are permanent upgrades, while weapons provide a secondary method of dealing damage with limited ammo. Some collectables are rarer than others and can only be acquired through special means, such as picking up the risky Toilet Paper item.
The game has two endings. The first is achieved by completing the four main floors of the mansion and defeating Chunks as the final boss. However, after completing the game as Cordelia, the player unlocks the ability to visit alternate floors, which can be completed to unlock a secret final floor after Chunks is defeated.
Plot
--- Under Construction---
Development
Dead Estate takes heavy inspiration from other roguelikes such as The Binding of Isaac, as well as classic horror franchises like Resident Evil. It is also full of references to other television series, films, comics, and video games, especially anime and manga such as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
The game is notable for its heavy use of stylized action, gore, and sexualized imagery (boobs). There is probably a substantial population of people who know more about the boobs in this game than the actual game itself.
Reception
On Steam, Dead Estate received critical acclaim, with 95% positive reviews. Players praised the game's style, creative items, and tight mechanics. Also, the largest majority of reviews devolve into mentioning boobs, which probably has something to do with that overwhelmingly positive reception.
Trivia
- There's more to this game than just boobs. We swear.