IGN says end of abyss starts with a sharp sense of dread, then loses momentum as Cel’s journey runs through a roughly 10-hour campaign. The debut from Section 9 Interactive opens strong, but the same loop that sells the horror also starts to wear thin.
Cel, a silent combat technician trained to read the world through the scope of a gun, moves through a massive, desolate complex with only a few other soldiers four times their size. The facility seems abandoned, with AI boxes known as Security Control Units, and a mysterious voice asks for help freeing the place from zombified station workers called Husks.
Section 9 Interactive and Cel
The game’s clay-doll aesthetic and isometric perspective give End of Abyss a clear identity, and the review says that look works best during the first few hours. The Habitation Sector adds to that early unease with grotesque detritus and vacant bedrooms, a visual setup that does real work before the structure starts to repeat itself.
That early strength is the point of the review. IGN finds the atmosphere strongest at the start, but says corpse placements and enemy setups eventually become predictable, which drains the edge from both exploration and combat as the campaign goes on.
Roughly 10-Hour Campaign
Over the course of the roughly 10-hour campaign, the review says exploration and combat turn into a slog. Section 9 Interactive built its debut around twin-stick controls, but the report suggests the basic loop does not stay fresh long enough to carry the full runtime.
The structure matters because the game is not being judged on spectacle alone; it is being measured on whether its systems can sustain that spectacle. Here, the answer is uneven, with the horror presentation doing more heavy lifting than the play loop behind it.
Back Third Momentum
In the back third of End of Abyss, the plot starts to gain traction, but that late lift arrives after much of the routine has already set in. For players of End of Abyss, the practical read is simple: the atmosphere is worth noticing, yet the review argues the campaign spends too much time leaning on the same encounters before the story finally pushes forward.
That makes the game a fit for players who value mood first and mechanics second. If the appeal is the early crawl through a hostile, visually distinctive complex, End of Abyss has that; if the expectation is sustained variety across the full campaign, the review says the answer is no.
