In Spring 2023, a solo Norwegian game developer under the pseudonym Agelvik began teasing information regarding his next big project, Death In Abyss, via early gameplay footage on his YouTube channel. This early footage showed off flashy, fast paced fighter jet dog fighting in what can only be described as the eerie black nothingness of a deep sea. Utilizing a PlayStation 2 inspired retro 3D art style, Death In Abyss’ earliest gameplay footage sees an astoundingly mobile, transforming fighter jet take on a constantly half-way obscured, hulking yet boney sea serpent, with a fully loaded arsenal of tracking rockets and straight-firing lasers. Thanks to these exhilarating early gameplay teasers and Agelvik’s Patreon, which acted to fund the project, a steady following of enthusiastic indie fans began to cultivate as the years of development went on. As we approach 2026, nearly three years have passed since the initial reveal of Death In Abyss on YouTube. Today, as of November 28, the wait has finally come to an end as the game was released to PC gamers via Steam.
Upon release, Death In Abyss appears unchanged conceptually from its earliest trailer footage. Though fans have witnessed the various changes to the player character’s fighter jet throughout much of the game’s early footage, the final release’s fighter jet that players take the helm of is a strikingly familiar silhouette to one of Agelvik’s primary inspirations for the game, that being Star Fox 64. Fans of the Star Fox series will be sure to recognize gameplay similarities aesthetically between Star Fox and Death In Abyss, however, the twist that Agelvik brings to the classic on-rails shooter formula is far greater than simply removing the rails. Death In Abyss is not an on-rails shooter like it’s most recognizable inspiration, which brings into question its two other inspirations, the PS1 mech combat game Omega Boost, and a boomer shooter from 2016 called Devil Daggers. Where Agelvik moves away from Star Fox’s on-rails shooting mechanics, he seems to be taking inspiration from these other two with their more open movement systems, and with particular notes taken from Devil Daggers with an incorporation of horror in its setting and enemy designs, and an emphasis on intentionally brutal level design. As opposed to being set in the far reaches of the cosmos, the disturbingly even greater unknown of the deep sea is the focus in Death In Abyss. With players taking on the role of a small submersible fighter jet, the prospect of what massive hostile unknowns might be hidden deep within this game is a hauntingly cool premise, especially given the game’s already unsettling retro 3D art direction.
Death In Abyss is described as an intense, brutally difficult at times, horror, flight shooter, where the player engages in quick reflex requiring, barrel rolling, and crowd controlling feats against an onslaught of mysterious, shadowed underwater abominations. Taking place over a host of mission-like objectives, fans of mech action games like From Software’s Armored Core series will find an exciting new horror twist on one of the most exhilarating video game genres with Death In Abyss.
Death In Abyss has released to PC via Steam as of November 28, however, last year saw the release of a perpetually available and recently updated free-to-play demo for the game.