Abyssus Dives Deep Into Roguelite FPS Action
There are times when I’m reviewing games that I see the same genre, even the same blueprint which hides beneath the surface, time and time again. There are an increasing number of ways to describe such games in an attempt to try and differentiate them from each other. However, Abyssus has genuinely surprised me (and saved me a job) by describing itself as “brinepunk”.
Thoughts on that aside (you can probably guess my opinion), brine is an extremely coveted resource in the world of Abyssus. You and your crew are dispatched to the deep, dark depths of the ocean to retrieve a huge deposit of the stuff, before being attacked by the critters that lurk beneath.
In layman’s terms, Abyssus is a roguelite first person shooter. It’s at this point I’m obliged to remind you that in roguelites, some elements of progression are retained between runs, unlike in roguelikes where you start again from scratch. Abyssus adopts the roguelite run format as a way of driving replayability whilst at the same time allowing players to dip in and out with short bursts of gameplay.
Procedurally Generated Expeditions Keep You Diving Back In
These runs are called expeditions, and are made up of several ‘depths’ which take part across a variety of biomes. Each consists of numerous areas, in which an elite foe and a boss battle awaits you. The action is fast, furious and ratchets up with each area you clear.
Thankfully the brine hunters are very fleet of foot, able to double jump and dash to dodge enemy projectiles. I did have to tweak the axis sensitivities a little, as the default settings felt far too sensitive for me at first. It’s fair to say it took a short while for me to adapt to gameplay in Abyssus.
Each expedition is procedurally generated, meaning no two runs are quite the same. However, even after a short time playing I found myself recognising the same room designs over and over again, which somewhat undermines the claim that every run is a new experience.
Enemies vary on each level of the expedition, however they can mostly be sorted into a handful of categories. Many will launch projectiles or light up the ground beneath you, whilst others will charge towards you or hover above the battlefield protecting the ground troops. Some are stronger than others too, making picking off weak spots crucial.
Occasionally a depth will offer an additional objective to complete before clearing it, such as destroying healing flowers or repairing broken pipes. This adds a little variety, but the tasks are basic and the enemies still need to be dispatched no matter how quickly you tick off the objective.
Weapons, Upgrades And Boss Battles Reward Every Run
Elites and bosses can take a serious amount of damage. They usually have some pretty devastating attack patterns you’ll need to study carefully, but the rewards are worth it. Once killed, they’ll drop a variety of items such as charms, health orbs and most importantly, soul fragments (more on those shortly). Aside from the goodies the bosses drop, treasure chests can spawn at random along with locked rooms stuffed with gold which, of course, you’ll need a key to access. Gold is important for purchasing items from the merchant just before facing off against each boss.
Limited time buffs (which are restricted to your current run) can also be obtained from blessing altars. These boost abilities that help you hold back the enemy hordes such as spawning tentacles, or creating a powerful barrier. Choosing which of these to stack as you go deeper into your run is influenced by your play style.
Weapons are, of course, a big part of Abyssus. There are numerous which can be discovered on expeditions, and each has a primary and secondary firing mode. Various mods can also be unlocked as you play, meaning each feels distinct enough to swap around between expeditions. The brine hunters can make use of abilities too, my favourite being mobile turrets you can quickly deploy mid battle. There are also other artefacts that you can unlock which appear mid expedition, including wishing wells and sacrificed altars.
Permanent Progression Gives Every Expedition Purpose
Roguelites are all about incremental progression, as you retain some hard earned benefits from each run in the hope they will take you further on the next attempt. Vanquising the big bads offer soul fragments, which can then be spent on an upgrade tree to take you deeper on future expeditions. The choice is left to the player, with numerous options such as extra health, the chance to bag better loot and even unlock additional abilities. The good news is that your decisions aren’t locked in, so you can play around with different skill builds.
If you start regularly completing expeditions then you may think that’s mission accomplished. You’d be wrong. The deep water tank allows extra modifiers to be activated to make life even more difficult for the brine hunters on their expeditions. As well as beefing up enemies there’s even the option to tackle a bottomless chasm to see how deep you can go. Various cosmetics are unlocked as you tick off the achievements in Abyssus too, and you can head to your wardrobe to try them out from the hub area in between expeditions.
Online Co-op Is Where Abyssus Truly Shines
Abyssus is designed to be played with others (despite the option to play solo) and that’s where the online co-op comes in. Matchmaking was nice and swift, and luckily I was accompanied by three very experienced and powerful players. As you can imagine the difficulty is heightened as up to four of you try to reach the deepest depths. The gameplay feels even quicker in co-op, with the ability to skip to the battle if you find yourself lagging behind.
A Rewarding Roguelite Shooter Experience
In a very crowded genre, Abyssus does not necessarily have the wow factor, but it gets a lot right. Aesthetically it feels different enough to catch the attention of players, and has enough to keep most of them coming back for more.
Important Links
Grab Your Squad – Abyssus Brings Brinepunk FPS Chaos To Game Pass And More – https://www.thexboxhub.com/grab-your-squad-abyssus-brings-brinepunk-fps-chaos-to-game-pass-and-more/
Abyssus Confirmed For Xbox And PlayStation – Underwater FPS To Finally Surface On Console – https://www.thexboxhub.com/abyssus-confirmed-for-xbox-and-playstation-underwater-fps-to-finally-surface-on-console/
Download via the Xbox Store, through Game Pass if you like – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/abyssus/9p8nkvvb0xqj
There’s a Brine edition too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/abyssus-brine-edition/9N4GC435MW99/0010
