A Dark And Atmospheric Sci-Fi Adventure
Sometimes science fiction becomes reality. Jules Verne, writing in the 19th century, basically came up with the idea of the submarine in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Stanley Kubrick’s film masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey introduced audiences to ideas such as tablets and video calls long before they became part of everyday life. It does make you wonder whether science gets inspired by science fiction.
On the darker side, games are constantly showing us futures where parasites infect human beings, kill them and then bring them back as something much worse. From Resident Evil to The Last of Us, I just hope that isn’t our future.
End of Abyss introduces a world where something along those lines has happened, delivering a gloomy, tense and atmospheric sci-fi adventure.
A Mysterious World
This is the debut game from Swedish developers Section 9, with some members of the team having previously worked on the Little Nightmares games, which this game certainly shares some DNA with. Set in a sci-fi world somewhere in the future, although one that isn’t particularly interested in explaining itself, you play as Cel, a technician being escorted by a heavily armoured group of soldiers. You find yourself inside an underground facility whose purpose is unclear and which has been left in a terrible state following some sort of incident. Your job is to bring the facility back online, while also trying to discover what happened to the place and its workers.
You pick up a few more pieces of the story from notes scattered around the facility, but there isn’t a huge amount of explanation beyond that. It doesn’t take long to work out that everyone has been infected by parasites that turn them into undead zombies, or something along those lines. Even when the story isn’t particularly clear, though, the game is packed with atmosphere, leaving you guessing about what might have happened. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, and I think that works well for this kind of experience. However, I would have liked to know more about this world and, perhaps more importantly, who you are within it.
A Metroidvania In A Hostile World
In essence, End of Abyss is a Metroidvania. You explore a map containing areas you initially can’t access, only to return to them later once you have the necessary skills or keys. You can’t run in this game, but you can walk and perform a barrel roll. You can also collect and interact with various items, while a crafting menu allows you to produce ammunition and medical supplies.
Your journey through the abyss is a tense affair. You’re given pointers towards your objectives, but actually reaching them can be considerably more complicated. At one point, for example, you’re tasked with turning on the reactor. Getting there involves navigating a complicated route, finding different paths and activating certain items to make progress. The layout of the maps can also make it surprisingly easy to get lost or miss a route towards your objective.
Combat is a huge part of the game, and I suspect this will be one of those mechanics that some players really enjoy while others absolutely hate. It reminded me quite a bit of Cronos: The New Dawn at times, particularly when it comes to combat and ammunition management. You start with a pistol that has unlimited ammunition, but later gain access to other weapons, such as a shotgun, which requires ammunition that can be considerably more limited.
You collect fragments throughout the world and from defeated enemies, which can then be used for crafting. As you progress, infected humans and creatures will come after you, with combat relying on aiming with one stick and firing with RT. It’s an old-school system that can be tricky to get used to at first.
Brutal Boss Battles
What really ramps up the tension are the boss battles. You’re usually trapped in a tight room with no way out, while the boss can spawn smaller enemies to make things even more difficult. You can’t run, so those rolls become essential. It only takes a few hits to see your health disappear, meaning you need to be prepared to repeat sections several times while you learn the patterns and get used to the encounters. Upgrading your weapons is therefore essential if you want to make it through the game.
Visually, End of Abyss is impressive, using an isometric viewpoint that will be familiar to anyone who has played games such as Little Nightmares or REANIMAL. The atmosphere of the world, along with the gloom and terror of the facility, is both impressive and oppressive. Every corner feels threatening, while the game also delivers some excellent cutscenes. The viewpoint can occasionally work against you during battles, though, and there were times when it became a little frustrating.
The soundtrack is fantastic, filled with horror drones and an ever-present sense of dread. There’s limited voice-over, but the sound effects throughout are excellent, adding another layer of tension and making the facility feel genuinely frightening.
An Intense Sci-Fi Horror Ride
I really liked End of Abyss and its sci-fi horror vibes. It creates a deep sense of suspense and leaves plenty of room for your imagination to fill in the gaps. However, I would have liked a little more from the narrative, particularly when it comes to understanding the wider world.
There is no doubt either that End of Abyss is hard, but I’m certainly not averse to a challenge. For the most part, I found the difficulty agreeable rather than frustrating. Some of the boss battles, however, were a different story and pushed my patience a little too far. But overall, End of Abyss is a very good game and a fun, intense ride into an unsettling world.
Important Links
End Of Abyss Wants You To Explore The Darkest Corners Of A Broken World – https://www.thexboxhub.com/end-of-abyss-wants-you-to-explore-the-darkest-corners-of-a-broken-world/
From the Vets of Little Nightmares Comes End of Abyss, a Dark Sci-Fi Adventure – https://www.thexboxhub.com/from-the-vets-of-little-nightmares-comes-end-of-abyss-a-dark-sci-fi-adventure/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/end-of-abyss/9n7qx8c7nsh2
