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The End is Nigh is effectively an unofficial sequel to Super Meat Boy: it's a reflex-oriented platformer with quick deaths, quick respawns and very dark humour. Protagonist Ash "flops his way through a future of pain and suffering" in search of a friend whose body parts are spread around a spike-filled hellscape. Collectibles are tumours.
I think The End is Nigh is better than Super Meat Boy, and while that might be controversial for some, I doubt anyone would argue it's not better than Super Meat Boy Forever, an autorunner primarily designed for phones. The cartoon darkness of The End is Nigh is more appealing than Meat Boy's referential, jokey presentation, and I think the level design is more interesting too.
For some reason The End is Nigh got nowhere near as much love as Super Meat Boy, probably because it's not called Super Meat Boy 2 (Edmund McMillen split from Team Meat in 2017 and didn't work on Super Meat Boy Forever). I guess it's true that it doesn't do a whole lot to differentiate itself from its predecessor beyond the darker atmosphere: there are still retro-themed cartridges to collect, and player ghosts still exist to remind you of every aborted attempt at a level. On the other hand it's far less linear, with some light metroidvania trappings.
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It's definitely a game made by the creator of The Binding Of Isaac. More specifically, this is the first game McMillen made with Tyler Glaiel, the other half of the duo responsible for Mewgenics. I think it's pretty obvious when you compare the two.
If you haven't tried it, now's definitely the time: The End is Nigh is $3.74 on Steam at the moment. I'd highly recommend you do, because it's one of the best action platformers I've played, and the presentation can be genuinely, oddly moving at times. It also features Steam Workshop support, so if you do 100% it (and few will), there's always new community-made stuff to play.
Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.
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