Section 9 Interactive’s debut, End of Abyss, hits PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store on October 1, and the review embargo that lifted on September 30 already paints a clear, uneven picture. Across fourteen verified numeric critic scores, our NGC Rating lands at 73 — Good — with Metacritic’s PlayStation 5 page sitting near 77 from a slightly different mix. The high cluster loves the Facility’s atmosphere and Metroidvania reward loop. The low cluster keeps coming back to a buggy map, padded backtracking, and a horror promise that fades into twin-stick action.
That 73 is the plain average of the fourteen numeric scores below, not a Metacritic or OpenCritic scrape. Polygon’s unscored piece is left out of the math.
| Outlet | Published | Score | Normalized bar |
|---|---|---|---|
| GamingTrend | 90 | 90 | |
| PlayStation Universe | 9/10 | 90 | |
| Push Square | 8/10 | 80 | |
| DualShockers | 8/10 | 80 | |
| Meristation | 8/10 | 80 | |
| Shacknews | 8/10 | 80 | |
| COGconnected | 78 | 78 | |
| ComicBook | 3.5/5 | 70 | |
| The Outerhaven | 3.5/5 | 70 | |
| DayOne | 7.0/10 | 70 | |
| GamesRadar+ | 3/5 | 60 | |
| GameSpot | 6/10 | 60 | |
| IGN | 6/10 | 60 | |
| But Why Tho? | 6/10 | 60 |
Excluded: Polygon (unscored on Metacritic).
I read the full reviews from IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar+, Push Square’s score context, ComicBook, Shacknews, DayOne, and PlayStation Universe, among others. The disagreement is consistent enough to be useful. Nearly everyone agrees the former Little Nightmares talent at Section 9 can build a mood: blue-lit industrial corridors, wet sound design, and creature work that recalls Resident Evil and Event Horizon as often as Tarsier’s clay-doll horror. Where critics split is whether that mood survives the second half, once keys, suit mods, and a map that sometimes lies start dictating the pace.
Where critics actually disagree
GamingTrend and PlayStation Universe sit at the top of the board with 90s, calling the game a distilled survival-horror Metroidvania that melds twin-stick combat, resource crafting, and a layered Facility without an identity crisis. Push Square, DualShockers, Meristation, and Shacknews land at 80 and still recommend it for genre fans, even while flagging bugs and the hands-off navigation. ComicBook, The Outerhaven, and DayOne settle at 70: the blend is novel, the scanner is fun, and PC performance looks solid, but ammo economy, map friction, and progress-halting glitches keep getting in the way.
The sharper takes come from GamesRadar+, GameSpot, IGN, and But Why Tho?, all at 60. IGN’s Jesse Vitelli argues the atmosphere is unrivaled early and then turns routine, with exploration that stops feeling rewarding and boss fights that settle into roll-and-shoot circles. GameSpot’s Mark Delaney names the unreliable map a “metroidvania cardinal sin,” noting doors that still show as locked after you open them. GamesRadar+ frames the same swing as tension one minute and weary jogging the next. That is not noise around a consensus score. It is a real buyer signal: if you prize labyrinth mastery and can tolerate launch polish debt, the highs are high; if you need a trustworthy map and sustained scares, the lows matter more than the Metascore band suggests.
Platforms, price, and how long it takes
| Detail | What critics and listings say |
|---|---|
| Platforms | PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Epic Games Store at launch) |
| Price | $29.99 USD / about £22.49 on PS5 listings |
| Release | October 1, 2026 |
| Length | Roughly 10–15 hours for a main path (IGN ~10h; GameSpot ~13h); heavy optional completion sits much higher |
| PC note | Epic Store launch exclusive; Outerhaven and DayOne report solid frame rates on tested hardware |
| Day-one caveat | Multiple outlets hit map icon bugs, soft locks, invisible walls, or crashes; a pre-credits patch already landed for some review builds |
At thirty dollars this is not a full-price AAA ask, which softens the mixed band. It also means waiting a week or two for map and collision patches is a low-cost decision if you already have a horror backlog. Console players get the same day-and-date release as PC; there is no Switch 2 version in the launch set, so cross-play or portable talk is off the table for now.
Who should buy on day one
| Player type | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Metroidvania fans who like opaque maps | Buy now | High scorers praise the Facility’s layered routes, scanner marking, and upgrade chase |
| Classic survival-horror fans | Try with eyes open | Atmosphere lands; infinite pistol ammo and soulslike respawns undercut scarcity for ComicBook, Outerhaven, and IGN |
| Little Nightmares nostalgia buyers | Adjust expectations | Shared DNA in look and silence; combat and structure are closer to RE + Metroid than cinematic platforming |
| Patch-waiters / completionists | Wait a week | Map lies, soft locks, and invisible walls appear across IGN, GameSpot, DayOne, and Outerhaven |
| Steam-only PC players | Wait for store news | Launch is Epic Games Store; no Steam page in the embargo coverage |
The plain read from today’s board is that End of Abyss is a strong atmosphere game with a middling systems game underneath it. If the Facility’s mood is what you came for, and you can live with a map that needs a hot patch, thirty dollars on October 1 is an easy yes. If you want the horror tension to hold for the full dozen hours, or you refuse to trust a buggy door icon, let the first week of patches land and revisit the score table then.