Resident Evil Meets Little Nightmares in Terrifying New Horror Game
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Polygon’s review finds that End of Abyss creates a striking sense of dread, but its uneven execution keeps the game from fulfilling its promise. The debut title from Section 9 Interactive, founded by former Little Nightmares developers, combines that series’ eerie atmosphere with Metroidvania exploration and the feel of 1990s sci-fi horror.
Players follow Cel, a technician exploring an abandoned underground facility, where towering rooms, a top-down camera and darkness make the character seem tiny and vulnerable. Sparse dialogue and text logs hint at an unexplained plague while keeping the mystery largely intact; flares illuminate the metallic maze but can make each step feel more exposed. Polygon says the interconnected layout can be frustrating to navigate because its visually consistent corridors and passages are difficult to distinguish.
- The game’s atmosphere delivers real unease.
- Its labyrinth can be hard to navigate.
- A promising premise is held back by uneven execution.
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End of Abyss is a new horror game from Section 9 Interactive, a studio founded by former developers of Little Nightmares, the acclaimed indie game known for its unsettling atmosphere and dark aesthetic. The new game borrows that eerie tone whilst combining Metroidvania-style gameplay—a structure where players explore interconnected areas and gain new abilities to access previously unreachable zones—with sci-fi horror elements inspired by 1990s films and media.
The game casts you as Cel, a technician exploring an abandoned underground facility. The developers deliberately make you feel small and vulnerable through various techniques: your character appears tiny on screen compared to towering figures and enormous machinery, the camera angle and shadowy lighting create constant disorientation, and the minimal story is revealed only through environmental clues and fragments rather than exposition. This approach aims to create genuine unease and dread as you navigate the mysterious, seemingly deserted structure.
As a debut title, the game succeeds in delivering the atmosphere its creators intended, though some rough edges emerge in how levels connect and how visually consistent the world feels. The Metroidvania structure works well for a horror experience centred on exploration and discovery, but the intricate design required to make such interconnected worlds function smoothly remains a challenge the game is still working through.
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