The End is Nigh is the spiritual successor to Super Meat Boy. It’s everything a sequel would be but lacking the name, and the character. Yet once again Edmund McMillen challenges players to go through many many challenging platforming.
And also, it’s once again, a delight. There’s something wonderful about the way Edmund McMillen designs a level. The End is Nigh isn’t simply a hard game that will insult or laugh at the player, but instead gives the player a fair challenge that is probably higher than their perceived skill level.
From there the player usually has to understand the level presented in front of him, execute the moves required, and move on to the next level. Of course both of those challenges are easier said than done. A solid physics system and a jump that will respond remarkably well to the player. The controls here never become a problem with the game, and the game never pushes the player to make movements that would become frustrating.
Though there’s still a good amount of challenge even with the tight controls. There’s always a pressure on every level, whether it’s simply making the jump, dodging dangerous objects, or something causing a time limit on the level such as a collapsing building, the player feels both the pressure and danger inherent in the levels while still feeling like their goals are achievable even when they fail.
And yet it’s still one of the most frustrating experiences that players can have. I literally gave up the entire game mid level at least six times over about six hours to play through the main levels. And yet I continued to push on. I wasn’t able to even put down the game, I just had to keep going. That level of despair and addiction to a game is quite rare, and while it might sound like an abusive relationship, in fact it probably is one. I still found The End is Nigh to be a rather special experience and well worth playing through.
There’s also additional collectibles such as tumors that the player can find which seem like a simple object but actually hides a small secret. Though I’ll allow players to find that one out for themselves.
Overall, I enjoyed The End is Nigh and recommend it to anyone who enjoys any of Edmund McMillen’s work
I’m going to give this game a 9/10 on a completely arbitrary scale I’ve just adopted for my reviews.
Synopsis: The End is Nigh is another excellent platformer from Edmund McMillen, it’s everything Super Meat Boy was but even better paced and well designed. It’s worth playing though it will be challenging and frustrating for most players, but it’s the right type of challenge.
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4.5