[2] Endgame was the first album to feature guitarist Chris Broderick, following Glen Drover's departure in 2008, and was the band's last studio album with bassist James LoMenzo until he rejoined after 2022's The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead, as original bassist David Ellefson rejoined the band several months after Endgame was released.

There are eleven tracks on the album, with lyrics inspired by subjects ranging from The Lord of the Rings and the Great Recession of 2008, to insanity, torture and crime.

[5] On May 27, 2009, Megadeth frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine confirmed twelve songs were complete and the group was currently mixing and mastering the record.

[6] The first preview from Endgame was a six-minute video featuring Sneap describing the process of mixing "Head Crusher" at his studio in Derbyshire, England.

[26] As promotion for Endgame, Megadeth performed "Head Crusher" on the September 17, 2009, edition of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

[27] Megadeth toured in support of the album, beginning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in November 2009 and ending on December 13, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[12] Mustaine said "Bite the Hand" was written "about the greed of the fiduciary leaders of the financial world and how they just didn't care about the responsibility they had to the public.

"[11] The title track was written "about a bill that ex-President George W. Bush signed into law that gave him the power to put American citizens in detention centers here in the United States".

You know, when I start thinking that I'm gonna be moving with [Megadeth drummer] Shawn Drover back up to Canada, that's scary.

[35] According to Roadrunner Records' website, a download of "Head Crusher" was available for 24 hours on July 7, starting at 11:00 AM Eastern Time Zone.

[36] The track was previously available for listening by calling Dave Mustaine's number through the TheLiveLine.com, a service he launched that enables musicians to connect to their audience over the phone.

The video's plot is roughly based on the story of Shawn Nelson, an unemployed plumber who rampaged through San Diego in a stolen M60 Patton tank.

"[43] AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia said "Megadeth's second release for Roadrunner, Endgame, whose title apparently refers to "coming full circle" rather than any sort of goodbye, and finds the latest iteration of Megadeth – debuting new guitarist Chris Broderick (ex-Nevermore, Jag Panzer) – working primarily within their technical thrash comfort zone (think Peace Sells through Rust in Peace), with only a few latter-day elements and rare experimental diversions.

"[44] Adrien Begrand of Popmatters noted "not a moment is wasted on Endgame" and said "it's all due to Mustaine sticking to his strengths, and with the extraordinarily talented Broderick as his new wingman, the record positively scorches with an intensity we haven't heard since Rust in Peace.

With its furious back-and-forth solos, opening instrumental 'Dialectic Chaos' wastes no time in showcasing that dynamic between Mustaine and Broderick, and combined with the pure speed of 'This Day We Fight!

', longtime fans will be instantly reminded of the bracing 'Into the Lungs of Hell'/'Set the World Afire' one-two punch that kicks off 1988's great So Far, So Good...