End of Abyss Release Date, Gameplay, and Preview: Is This Sci-Fi Horror Metroidvania Worth Buying?

Release date, price, gameplay and the big question: should you actually buy it?

Okay, chat, gather round. Every once in a while a game pops up that makes me stop scrolling, put the controller down and go “wait, WHAT?” End of Abyss is one of those. Sci-fi horror, twin-stick shooting, Metroidvania backtracking, a Souls-like difficulty vibe, and a price tag that doesn’t make my wallet cry. Who greenlit this and where do I send the thank-you basket?

I’ve been digging through the Summer Game Fest previews, dev interviews and Reddit threads, so here’s the full breakdown. Grab a coffee (or an energy drink, no judgment) and let’s get into it.

Why This Game Is Already on My Radar

Let’s start with the pedigree, because it’s the reason I care.

End of Abyss is developed by Section 9 Interactive, a Malmö-based studio, and published by Epic Games Publishing. The founders are Mattias and Marcus Ottval and Gustaf Heinerwall, and yes, these are the same people who were key leads at Tarsier Studios. You know, the team behind Little Nightmares and its sequel. That series has been living rent-free in my head for years, with its creepy creature designs, that “something is watching me” feeling and storytelling without a single info-dump.

Now imagine that DNA dropped into a dead underground research facility in the middle of a sci-fi nightmare. Yeah. My hype meter just snapped off its hinges.

Release Date, Platforms and Price (The Boring but Important Stuff)

Here’s the quick cheat sheet:

A few thoughts on this.

October 1st is a genius move. You get the whole spooky season to drown in dark corridors, and honestly it’s the perfect excuse to turn off all the lights and pretend you’re a brave person. (Spoiler: you’re not. I’m not either.)

$29.99 is wild. In a world where everything costs $70 and then asks you for another $20 in battle pass nonsense, a mid-priced, single-player, no-live-service campaign feels like a breath of fresh air. No microtransactions, no “daily login rewards,” no grind. Just you and the horror.

One small note for my PC crew: the game is an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC, so no Steam library flex this time. Small price to pay, I guess.

The Story: Congrats, You Picked the Worst Shift Ever

You play as Cel, a young combat technician sent to check out a sudden loss of communication at a massive, heavily fortified underground research compound. It’s supposed to be a routine diagnostic and containment job, the kind of “should be home by dinner” assignment.

Narrator voice: it was not home by dinner.

Things spiral out of control fast, and suddenly it’s a pure survival situation. Something went very, very wrong down there, and the whole game is you piecing it together while trying not to get turned into a smear on the wall.

The Vibe

Forget shiny neon cyberpunk. This place is cold, industrial, decayed and seriously claustrophobic. Think muted grays, icy blues and thick shadows, with the only light coming from flickering terminals and your flashlight beam. The devs name-drop Ridley Scott’s Alien and Carpenter’s The Thing as inspirations, and honestly you can feel it just from the description:

• Pitch-black corridors with ancient machinery humming in the walls
• Distant mechanical groans that make you question everything
• Unseen things skittering through the vents above your head

Yeah, I’m going to be looking at every ceiling vent like it owes me money.

Gameplay: A Beautiful Genre Frankenstein

This is where it gets spicy. Previewers at Summer Game Fest Play Days, including IGN and GameSpot, described it as a dark mix of Metroid Prime, Dead Space and classic top-down Zelda with a Souls-like difficulty curve on top. That’s a wild combo, and somehow it sounds like it works.

1. Top-Down Isometric Metroidvania

Most Metroidvanias are 2D side-scrollers. End of Abyss takes the formula and drops it into an isometric 3D world. Reddit’s Metroidvania community is already losing it over this, since true top-down 3D Metroidvanias are super rare these days.

What to expect:

• Ability gating. Some areas stay locked until you find the right tool, keycard or upgrade
• Backtracking that actually pays off. Shortcuts, hidden material stashes and new wings of the facility
• A huge interconnected map that rewards curiosity (my favorite kind of map, honestly)

2. The Environmental Scanner

If you’ve played Metroid Prime, you know the scan visor feeling: click, analyze, learn something creepy. Cel’s scanner works similarly. You can pause, examine your surroundings, study weird alien bio-matter and slowly piece together what happened to the people who used to work here.

But here’s the part I love: it’s not just lore candy. Co-founder Mattias Ottval explained that the scanner exists to make navigation less confusing. Scanning terminals, structural points and enemies updates Cel’s tactical map, revealing hidden paths and weak points. Big Metroidvania maps can turn into “where the heck am I supposed to go?” simulators, and this feels like a smart fix for that pain.

3. Crafting and Resource Management

You’ll scavenge electronic components, metals and chemical compounds, then spend them at workbenches to:

• Upgrade Cel’s gear
• Modify her firearms
• Synthesize healing items

And here’s the classic survival horror dilemma: do you spend on firepower or on healing? Go all-in on damage and one mistake can wipe you. Play it too safe and you can’t kill anything. That’s the good kind of stress.

Combat: Don’t Let the Camera Fool You

I know what you’re thinking. “Top-down twin-stick shooter? Cool, I’ll just spray and pray.” Nope.

The controls are simple: left stick to move, right stick to aim. But this isn’t a mindless arcade blaster where you mow down hundreds of enemies. Combat here is slow, deliberate and extremely lethal.

The game asks you to:

1. Learn enemy attack patterns, because every threat has its own cadence
2. Master the dodge, since timing is everything
3. Watch your ammo like a hawk, because there’s no infinite bullet buffet

The creature design is described as skin-crawlingly grotesque, which honestly tracks with the Little Nightmares background. We’re talking mutated biological horrors and corrupted mechanical drones hunting you through tight corridors. In cramped spaces they’ll corner you quick if you get sloppy.

Bosses

The boss fights are apparently a major highlight of the previews. They’re described as grand, intimidating and demanding total mastery of your loadout. One mistake can end you fast. So if you’re a “just tank it and heal” kind of player, yeah, get ready to adjust.

Also, the camera angle apparently borrows tension from fixed-camera survival horror classics. That means you’ll often hear a monster screeching in the dark before you can even see it. Honestly, that’s worse than a jumpscare. My heart rate is already climbing.

What Are the Critics and Players Saying?

Early impressions are very positive, and the glow-up is real.

A very early build shown at the Summer of Gaming events in 2025 was reportedly seen as atmospheric but a bit forgettable. Fast forward to the near-final 2026 builds at Summer Game Fest, and critics were shook:

• IGN highlighted the huge improvement, praising the crisp, creepy Unreal Engine 5 visuals and calling it a tough-as-nails shooter
• GamingTrend leaned on the idea that atmosphere is king here, especially for psychological horror fans
• GameSpot named it one of their most anticipated games of the summer

Community reaction? Hyped, but cautiously so. Tarsier fans are dying to see how these devs handle sci-fi, and the top-down 3D perspective has people debating how exploration and backtracking will feel over a long playthrough. But the general mood is that at $29.99, the polish and depth shown so far make this a low-risk, high-reward buy.

Quick reality check, though: everything so far comes from previews and trailers, not the final game. So keep that healthy gamer skepticism handy until reviews land.

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Is End of Abyss Worth Buying?

Here’s my honest take: yes, if the genre is your thing.

Buy it on day one if:

• You love survival horror and atmospheric dread
• You enjoy Metroidvania-style exploration and unlocking shortcuts
• You want a tough, skill-based combat challenge
• You’re a Little Nightmares fan curious about what these devs do next
• You want a premium-looking single-player game without the $70 tax

Maybe skip or wait for reviews if:

• High difficulty and frequent deaths make you rage-quit
• You hate backtracking and prefer linear, fast-paced action
• You want co-op or multiplayer (it’s strictly single-player)

For thirty bucks, you’re getting a moody, Unreal Engine 5-powered sci-fi horror game that seems to have serious ambition behind it. Even at $26.99 with the PS Plus pre-order discount, that’s less than most people spend on a mediocre takeout order.

Final Thoughts

End of Abyss feels like a love letter to classic sci-fi horror and exploration games, made by people who clearly know how to make your skin crawl. It’s got the dread, the difficulty and a fair price. The only question left is whether the full game can keep that tension going from start to finish.

If it sticks the landing, this could easily be one of the sleeper hits of 2026. I’ll be there on October 1st, lights off, headphones on, regretting every decision. See you in the abyss, and try not to get eaten in the first hour. No promises for me.

End of Abyss – Exclusive Boss Fight Footage | New Gameplay Today