The core satisfaction of the metroidvania genre stems from a sense of escalating mastery, transforming an unknown space into one you command. In its debut title, End of Abyss, developer Section 9 Interactive attempts to marry this exploration with atmospheric horror, employing twin-stick controls within a sprawling labyrinthine facility. While the game excels at instilling a striking sense of dread, its exploration and combat mechanics eventually devolve into a monotonous routine, preventing it from fully realizing its potential.
Players step into the role of Cel, a silent combat technician tasked with uncovering the mystery of a deserted, gargantuan complex. Guided by AI entities known as Security Control Units, Cel must navigate the facility, battling zombified station workers turned into monstrous Husks, while piecing together what transpired. The game's visual style, reminiscent of clay-doll aesthetics and isometric perspectives, is immediately recognizable and clearly influenced by former Little Nightmares developers. This design choice, coupled with dim lighting and unsettling environmental details, crafts a harrowing opening that effectively cultivates a palpable sense of unease.
Atmospheric Pressure
Initially, the atmospheric horror works, with jump scares and environmental cues creating a chilling experience. However, these elements become predictable over time. Corpses strategically placed near important items frequently signal impending combat encounters, and the supposed 'dead' enemies invariably awaken. This predictability transforms frightening moments into routine encounters, where the player is prompted to preemptively engage threats.
The narrative of End of Abyss often relies heavily on the absence of information. Characters communicate in vague uncertainties, offering little concrete detail about the player's predicament. Scattered notes and documents provide glimpses into the facility's past, but these details fail to construct a compelling narrative. The gameplay loop involves activating AI boxes, searching for power cells, and descending into lower levels, with the plot only gaining significant momentum in the final third of the roughly 10-hour campaign. Even then, the story's late arrival and lack of tangible stakes make its revelations feel like mystery for mystery's sake.
Despite these narrative shortcomings, the moment-to-moment combat can be engaging. The twin-stick shooting mechanics are demanding, requiring players to skillfully evade large enemy hordes and manage their positioning. New weapons, such as the unlimited-ammo Pulse Gun and a room-clearing flamethrower, offer variety in dispatching foes. The game encourages experimentation with tactics like using grenades, manipulating enemy behavior, and exploiting environmental hazards like red barrels. More challenging enemies, like the long-necked Husk Latcher, force players to maintain distance and react quickly to their aggressive lunges.
Boss fights, however, tend to be more rote, often confined to circular arenas where the pattern of dodging and shooting becomes repetitive. While some bosses, like the Centipede Husk, introduce slight variations by repositioning, many battles devolve into simply depleting a large health pool.
Resource management, specifically ammunition, initially feels reminiscent of survival horror staples like Resident Evil, requiring players to craft more ammo at workbenches. However, this tension dissipates quickly due to the abundance of crafting materials. Fragments, the game's primary currency, are found liberally throughout the environment, diminishing the significance of ammo scarcity and making exploration less rewarding.
Dazed & Confused
This abundance of resources bleeds into a larger issue with exploration. The interconnected hallways and complex layouts that define metroidvanias become a source of frustration in End of Abyss. A lack of visual distinction between areas makes navigation difficult, often forcing players to consult the map frequently rather than immersing themselves in the atmosphere. Unlocking shortcuts or doors rarely brings a sense of revelation, more often leading to confusion about the level design and the utility of the shortcut itself.
The Containment Sector presents a unique challenge, leaking radiation that gradually depletes health. This forces precise movement and careful navigation, but the subsequent discovery of a radiation suit mod felt less like an earned reward and more like a relief from a poorly signposted scavenger hunt detached from the sector's core objective.
Backtracking, even with a transit system, is cumbersome due to Cel's slow sprint speed. This padding of the runtime is exacerbated by bugs, including invisible walls that impede progress and force players to restart from previous checkpoints, losing valuable time.
To its credit, End of Abyss boasts exceptional audio design. Pulsating reverberations, distorted gurgles, and wet squelching sounds create a pervasive sense of dread, lending a grander scope to the claustrophobic corridors and enhancing the game's unsettling atmosphere.
Despite its promising atmosphere and moments of engaging combat, End of Abyss struggles to coalesce its various elements into a cohesive experience. It falls short of the standards set by genre leaders, with its atmospheric strengths ultimately unable to compensate for its underdeveloped exploration and repetitive combat. While glimmers of brilliance shine through, they are not enough to elevate the title above its fundamental flaws.