Review of the end
The End is a surreal new puzzle platforming jump and run adventure from ‘Channel 4’ and ‘Preloaded’ with writing by Tom Chatfield and music by Phonotheque. It is an online game, consequently you only need a computer with any operating system and a browser in order to establish a connection with the internet. An additionally nice aspect is that it is free of charge and accessible for everyone.
Imagine strolling down the road thinking about nothing but the nice weather, when suddenly the world blows up with a bang. Then you find yourself trapped in a bizarre shadow realm watched over by enormous extra-terrestrial beings: this is the point where your journey begins.
The End, conceptualised by ‘Channel 4 Education’, has a remit to help young people develop life skills and assist them on their journey to adulthood, encouraging the debate of moral, philosophical and practical issues. Moreover, it is a game of self-discovery for teens, which integrates strategy, puzzles and philosophical questions into a world of exploring death, philosophy and science. The game takes the player on a metaphysical journey, recording their interactions in the world of The End to reveal their attitudes towards mortality. These views are presented alongside their friends and some of the most important thinkers of our time, such as Gandhi, Descartes and Einstein.
At the beginning of the game, you can create a character to be your avatar, and from then on the gameplay is fairly straightforward. [A/S] or the left and right [arrow] keys moves around, the [spacebar] jumps, [E] turns your special shadow power on and off, and [W] or the up [arrow] is used to interact with switches, open doors or climb ladders. Most of the gameplay is quite clear; you have the possibility to explore three different realms, collecting stars for special challenges and answering questions designed to make you think about your personality and attitudes. After each level, however, you will have to challenge the particular empire’s guardian to a game of ‘Death Cards’ - a simple but tricky strategy game where you compete for dominance over a board by placing numbered cards on a grid and trying to flip your opponent's pieces with higher numbers. If you win, you will be granted an object that represents a philosophical concept and allows the player to proceed. If you fail, you just can try it again.
The End is a rather new approach to the sensitive topic of death, using the game itself as a means to make young people think about deeper personal emotions and issues. The bulk of the game is standard run-jump-die puzzle platforming that someone interrupts every once in a while to ask you personal questions without much of a narrative. On the other hand, these “interruptions” can be a stimulating alternation of the usual jump’n’run way of playing. The challenges in the platform puzzles may be time consuming obstacles, which you learn to master in more creative ways as you proceed. Another example for disruption are the card battles, which are implemented in a wonderfully simple fashion that can lead to some satisfyingly strategic gameplay without overwhelming the player with rules and difficulty.
Simply put, The End looks fantastic. With his art design, Luke Pearson does an amazing job of crafting the characters and the environment. Mysterious and cryptic sounds in the background allow you to dive even deeper into this creepy and somewhat uncanny world. When creating your character you have the possibility to decide on your avatars name and appearance, for example your wardrobe and hairstyle, as well as the physiognomy of your face.
Basically, the straightforward navigation doesn’t require one to have advanced gaming skills, but implements some difficulties in coping with the encountered obstacles. The entire game includes various requirements for the cerebral of the player: the controlling skilfulness is demanded by the hindrances of the jump’n’run part of the game, the puzzle game require strategic thinking, whereas the philosophical questioning involves the emotional part of the brain by instructing the player to reflect one’s own personality and thus results in an enhanced self-awareness. Due to a lack of controlling skills, which becomes apparent in the jump’n’run part, you might soon lose interest because it prevents you from proceeding in the game. Still, the progress report functions as motivation for continuing playing: apart from general scores, such as game completion displayed in percent, collected objects or won puzzle games, the localization on a certain thought space-map, called “The Death Dial”, provides a major stimulus for getting to know your mental capacity and the philosophical streams and directions your thinking fits.
Generally, the game is not about winning or losing: in the jump’n’run part there is nobody to compete with, though the navigation through the levels themselves embody a competition. Contrastively, in the puzzle-games you need to play against and compete with an opponent - a computer, a friend or a random match.
Generally, the game is not about winning or losing: in the jump’n’run part there is nobody to compete with, though the navigation through the levels themselves embody a competition. Contrastively, in the puzzle-games you need to play against and compete with an opponent - a computer, a friend or a random match.
Set across three worlds – Mind, Body and Spirit – the player must use a unique shadow and light mechanic to solve physics-based puzzles, answer questions and battle the world’s Guardians. The ultimate prizes are the Death Objects, ranging from a memorial diamond to a human heart, which are supposed to deepen a player’s contextual knowledge of death and help him or her to progress in the game. However, as the game’s name already suggests, The End is particularly interested in the approach to death, belief and science. Nowadays, many children and teens have a secular upbringing; hence, this may leave them feeling unsupported when trying to make sense of death outside of a religious viewpoint. This is exactly the issue to which the game tries to provide assistance.
In conclusion, it is a beautifully presented attempt to get you to consider aspects of life you normally might not think about; The End is both strange and strangely satisfying in the best possible way. Thus, the underlying challenge is to develop a positive and engaging way of getting teens to think about these major questions, encouraging debate and forming their own views.
Let's Play: The End
Contact
Lukas Schnabel, a1206147@unet.univie.ac.at
Nicole Nedeltschew, a1204344@unet.univie.ac.at
Johannes König, a0808022@unet.univie.ac.at
