Shaun Munro reviews The End is Nigh on Nintendo Switch…
The End is Nigh is the latest brutally difficult 2D platformer co-developed by Super Meat Boy‘s Edmund McMillen, and while at first it might give off the whiff of a hastily churned-out rehash, this deliriously challenging game is a fiendishly, infuriatingly addictive romp on its own merits, and should tide Switch owners over until Super Meat Boy Forever lands sometime next year.
Much like Super Meat Boy (and the genre in general, to be fair), gameplay is propelled forward by only the most fleeting and minimal of narratives. Things kick off in ticklingly meta fashion as the game’s black blob of a protagonist, Ash, is live-streaming a retro version of The End is Nigh itself, when the cartridge stops working and he’s forced to head into the post-apocalyptic wasteland outside. To make matters worse, he’s the only survivor of the catastrophe, and so goes about attempting to gather body parts to create a friend to share the doom and gloom with. Yup.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first; yes, the comparisons to Super Meat Boy aren’t baseless. Stylistically and mechanically, the two games share many similarities, in that they’re both hard-as-nails 2D platformers which have you controlling a crudely cute, pint-sized protagonist as he dies thousands of times on the road to glory.
Unlike Super Meat Boy, though, the game’s dozen worlds unfold over a series of single screens, with around 20 screens/levels typically comprising each world. The screen never scrolls in any direction, instead laying each level out to the player from the outset, which on a pure psychological level makes it feel decidedly less taxing than Super Meat Boy, because it’s generally incredibly clear where the end lies. Mercifully, each completed screen also acts as a checkpoint; the game may be comically, brutally hard at times, but it’s not cruel enough to throw you all the way back to the start of the world if you end a play session.
It’s a shame, though, that again unlike Super Meat Boy, there’s no level select feature, and if you want to play through a particular screen again, you’ll have to battle all the way back to it from the start of that world. Traversal wise, there are also many clear differences to McMillen’s earlier cult classic; without Meat Boy’s precious meaty juices, you can’t stick to walls and bounce between them in order to climb, instead needing to rely on strategically-placed hooks, ledges and moving platforms to gain height.
Obviously, you will die a lot, and yes, it’s absolutely frustrating, but near-instant reloads make the pain of death a lot less upsetting than in many other similar platformers. You will probably rack up well over 3000 deaths by the time you’re done with the 6-or-so hour campaign, and certainly more if you strive to pick up the collectable tumours scattered around each level, not to mention hidden game cartridges which will unlock even tougher bonus levels that’ll test the sanity of anyone mad enough to try them.
With a game this demanding of player precision, controls are God, and it’s a joy to report that The End is Nigh effortlessly translates from PC to the Switch’s unique button layout. Adjusting your jump height and nailing hair-pullingly precise timing feels about as fluid and intuitive as it can in a game like this, suggesting that Super Meat Boy Forever is going to be in very good hands when it finally releases on the console (and let’s be honest, the original game will definitely get a port, too). For those in love with the Switch’s divisive HD Rumble feature, it’s put to solid – if simple – use here, by making every death register with a hard vibration, as if to remind you, “Yep, you died…again.”
Visually it’s obviously no technical powerhouse, but the grim, stripped-down art-style is a nice shift from Super Meat Boy‘s often quite bland colour palette. The music is meanwhile appropriately groovy and enhances the mood even if it’s not exactly full of memorable zingers, though the sound effects are relatively minimalist and forgettable, aside from the satisfying sound of Ash’s gooey death splat, of course.
If you love Super Meat Boy and are craving a game that can have you swearing your head off in public, this is a no-brainer. The End is Nigh is infuriatingly difficult, and to that end doesn’t necessarily lend itself to lengthy play sessions, but the handily-segmented gameplay promotes a pick-up-and-play style that’s perfect for the Switch. Plus, the unbridled elation of clearing some of the later screens is an adrenaline-surging reward in of itself.
The sheer number of times I’ve mentioned McMillen’s previous game in this review is proof enough that his latest is going to struggle to escape from its shadow, but as a superbly engineered work of interactive masochism, it scratches the self-flagellation itch extremely well all the same.
Pros:
+ Addictive, rewarding platforming gameplay.
+ Campaign is just the right length.
+ Sharp, minimalist visuals.
+ Enjoyable soundtrack.
+ Quick restarts and comprehensive checkpointing respect the player’s time.
Cons:
– Perhaps too similar to Super Meat Boy for some.
– Could’ve done more with its meta premise.
Rating: 8.5/10
Reviewed for Nintendo Switch (also available on PC)
Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more video game rambling.
