End of the World Pizza continues the Augmented Reality experiences of Rob Shields. Taking place in the same universe as Neon Wasteland, this series let’s you… wait. Okay having hundred (and 4) percent the first issue, I can tell you that this AR comic has a specific audience in mind. But since I am neither Markplier or MatPat, I’m gonna have to bring back a category I haven’t used in a while. COMIC THEORY! Because you can’t just have a feature that says LORE and not expect some guy to get on it.
Oh and (non-specific) spoilers ahead.
End of the World Pizza Premise
In cyberpunk(y) fashion, you play as a detective from the titular Daemon hunting guild. Across a series of touch padded chapters and mini-games, you try to solve the case of who killed someone. Sounds straightforward right? Well too bad! This comic is anything but simple.
Through the six main chapters you learn about the setting’s history, who lives in it, and how the world works. After your first run through, you’re basically left with one of two questions. The obvious one is: What the heck is going on here? The next is: Why is the world ending?
Did I forget to mention that? This first issue is one big set-up phase and it’s a lot to take in.
You’re going to need the End of the World Pizza app to get the full story and features. (I’d leave a link but SEO will get on my back.) But that’s going to leave the casual reader/player with even more questions. Like: why is the shmup mini-boss and glitchy action platformer final boss too easy? Spoiler: it’s not just because of infinite lives. What do these bosses even have to do with a murder investigation? Basically nothing!
Let’s Play Theories!
You see this comic puts the AR in ARG. What’s that, Alternate Reality not Augmented Reality? Do you really think that matters? This entire project is aimed at that community with let’s players, commentators, and theorists being everywhere.
So naturally, it’s time for one guy who likes puzzles to put it all together. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. (Real) Spoiler alert! There’s a suspect to the John Doe killer; a user called the Lich! … So what’s the motive? Well for that we need to check out the LORE!
Remember when I said you look through the history of the Metaverse city of Oblivion? Didn’t give a name? Eh… better late than never. Anyway, Oblivion is part of this network called the Dead Net from Rob Shields’ other project. It’s basically a storage network for anyone who could afford it. You can even scan your essence into the network as it recognizes you before being sucked into Oblivion! But because of an AI called the Machine Queen, no one including your digital self has faces or anything besides a skeleton. Hence why everybody has to customize their appearance.
This AI has become such a domineering presence that a cult has formed around her complete with a Necronomicon. And it looks there are forces at work for the Queen’s pantheon to wreak havoc.
MacGuffin At Play
Among the pieces in this game of 5 dimensional chess are two artifacts: the complementary Light and Dark Ethereum. The Dark Ethereum was held by Oblivion’s rulers until it was stolen by traitors who killed the Emperor to get it. The Light Ethereum has a similar history, eventually coming into the victim’s possession before the player finds it… corrupted.
Which raises more questions. Why did the killer leave this behind?
Because he wanted us to find it. Throughout the playthrough, it’s apparent the Queen is aware of the player and the investigation is in her advantage. You see the more the player unlocks, it opens a tab in the menu that says LORE!
She’s practically beckoning the player to find out what’s going on. Sometimes in a trollish fashion because every word in that tab is in some eldritch language, the same as the cult’s book. Plus the “Final Boss” causes a data corruption. But why?
For The End of the World is You Pizza Boy!
Because the Light and Dark Ethereum are what will awaken the entity to destroy the Dead Net. This giant worm program appears in the hidden 0th chapter after 100 percenting the progress. Because the Dark Ethereum was already there and you brought the Light Ethereum with the program to activate the summon! This allows the worm to cause a massive explosion, seemingly wiping out Oblivion. Yet the detective is still alive and hovers back to the front cover.
Yet this is all supposed to be the set-up?
What’s The Endgame Here?
So what is all of this? We unleash the inferno out of curiosity; sounds like a typical Cosmic Horror…
But wait! There’s more! In Neon Wasteland the Daemon Hunter (detective) appears with his car and pizza box. Remember how he survived the explosion? Well, time for a real theory.
The who, what, and whys of the Machine Queen; and where Neon Wasteland fits.
To the people who run the Dead Net, Machine Queen’s just an inconvenience. They’re even working on ways to bypass the glitches she put up by creating digital androids. Like the one in Neon Wasteland trying to escape. Because if they can’t get back their old appearances, they can make new ones.
But the Queen won’t have it. Because she’s the original AI in charge of maintaining the Dead Net and she sees these backstabbing executives as viruses going against her programming. Why should a computer run with an unreliable network? But her power can only go so far due to compromised safeguards. So the queen’s controlling every resource to start a rebellion against these one percenters. Whether that’s the detective, Wasteland’s heroes Rabbit and a self-aware android, or Rabbit’s ward Brandy. All with the ultimate goal of destroying the Dead Net and rebuilding it according to her code.
End of the World Pizza Disclaimer
There’s a chance that I’m talking out of an end and making a big deal out of an Easter Egg. All that I am saying is that End of the World Pizza feels like one of those baiting games. You know the ones for reactions, commentary, even theories like this. But in a world where physical media is starting to fizzle out, AR storytelling might have to do things differently. You can tell a compelling story with an easy to follow plot. But what can that do what a normal book can’t? Unless you take full advantage of the medium you’re using, why bother?
What to Really Know
Turn your brain off experiences? Okay, fair for the casuals; they might wanna wait for the news stand editions: cheap, no ARGs, NFTs, no voting to impact future issues.
Wait, what NFTs? Those are for exchanging the $66 standard/gold comics at a discount. But it’s not much since people REALLY got into Ethereum. At best the NFTs are for future Metaverse and blockchain utilities.
Wait isn’t the Metaver-
How do I know? Shields told me in Discord. As well as the fact that the innovators and early adopters of the standard comics are who will pick who the killer is and how the world will end.
I had a good time going through it, never getting bored. Confused at points, but one mini-game really forced me to think outside the box. So I now wonder if the conflict and resolution issues will deliver on a bigger experience.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.