Humanity has always been drawn to places it isn’t welcome, and Abyssus capitalizes on that masochistic impulse by throwing players into a world filled with strange golems, inventive traps, and an array of weapons to pick from. Described as a “brine-punk roguelike FPS,” Abyssus takes notes from Deep Rock Galactic, Dead Cells, and Risk of Rain to become an entity unique in its own way, but one that often feels like its identity is lost in common gameplay elements.
Abyssus is a roguelike that can be played solo or with up to four players, but it’s best experienced with friends. Why? Friendship is power, or in this case, just having another weapon or two on the field might give you breathing room. My first run was just over six minutes as I learned the ins and outs of the game, but then my second run lasted maybe 15 seconds more. And my third was about the same.
All of this is just a long-winded way of saying: Abyssus does not hold your hand. Starting out, the depths are relatively forgiving but quickly become overwhelming as more and more enemies flood the space. I managed to last until the first random event. Tasked with charging two beacons while fighting off a never-ending flood of spawns, I realized too late that I had to stand in the circles around the beacons to charge them.
Outside of teaching players how to destroy pylons (red crystals that appear as part of events), how certain mechanics work isn’t explained well. A basic tutorial introduces how to use weapons, abilities, and perform routine tasks, but Abyssus embraces its exploratory theme by leaving players to figure things out themselves. I caught on with only 10 HP left, and most of the attacks were knocking off around 30 per hit. It only took one poorly-timed dodge to add my character to the list of those claimed by the unknown.
Given its roguelike nature, though, death isn’t unexpected. I only unlocked a single perk upon death, and no Soul Fragments (the items needed to unlock permanent upgrades). You can customize your weapons with different skills after you unlock them, and there’s a handy logbook listing how to unlock most items in the game and what you need to accomplish to do so.
Though my first run was short, it felt like more time. Make of that what you will. I felt like I’d been playing a good bit longer, so it was fun in that respect, but the homogenous nature of the levels led to a not-insignificant amount of confusion as I tried to figure out whether I’d accidentally backtracked.
That’s the biggest weakness I noticed in my time with the game. The levels, while interesting in their design, aren’t interesting enough to be as repetitive as they are. Depth #1 looked roughly the same as Depth #2, and I swear I went through the same sloping staircase section (with totally empty, pointless rooms on either side) at least four times.
The only level of the Depths that looked different than the others was the fourth floor. That contained the boss, and it’s a doozy. After multiple runs, I’m convinced this game is meant to be played as a group. Trying to solo some of these areas is an exercise in masochism, and despite my best efforts, dodging and spamming the Space Bar to jump rope over shockwaves, he brought me down before I could reach his third phase.
The good, the bad, the briny
I started out with only the Engine Rifle, the lovechild of a steampunk machine gun and a diving bell. With a steady firing mode, I had a few seconds of sustained output before I used up its 40-ammo clip, but that was enough to take down the weakest enemies. The secondary fire mode unleashed a rapid-fire stream of lead, but it overheated quickly. Paired with a regenerating supply of grenades and a wrench that, ironically, did more damage than nearly anything else, it’s not a bad loadout for a first-time player.
After you die the first time, you’ll reach the camp. Think of it like the staging area from Deep Rock Galactic. There’s plenty to do, including finding eight glowing green orbs called Surge Fissures. Destroying these will unlock a new piece for your outfit, letting you change your look.
Again, the game doesn’t explain what these are, but my gamer instincts took over. I saw a glowing green orb I couldn’t reach, so my natural instinct was to shoot it. That worked. I had previously seen one on a level that I tried to reach, only to fling myself into the water and drown. I assumed it was just a light, which I suppose also means I Gatsby’d myself.
A workbench allows you to customize your weapon and loadout. At first, there’s nothing you can really change, but don’t miss the pistol tucked away to the side of the bench. You can’t carry both it and your rifle, so you have to choose which weapon to start the run with. While the pistol has a slight zoom function and does more damage per shot, its clip is significantly smaller. It would be excellent if you had a friend to play with, but I found the Engine Rifle to be much better for solo play.
During each run, you can visit the Blessing Altars scattered throughout the map to give yourself unique advantages. Think of these as temporary, run-specific buffs. For instance, one granted extra damage to my secondary fire and caused it to charge up a shield that would give me 50 additional health for a short time. Another powered up my primary fire mode and caused whirlwinds to erupt from enemies for extra damage.
It’s also interesting that the Blessing Altars look almost exactly like Sheikah Monks from Breath of the Wild, but that’s neither here nor there.
More permanent upgrades come in the form of the Soul Wheel. After you collect Soul Fragments, you can use the Soul Wheel to grant long-term power-ups to your character, such as an extra Syringe (a must-have for keeping yourself alive during runs) and extra damage. Soul Fragments are rare, earned by defeating strong enemies and by completing specific challenges in the game.
Once I earned a few Soul Fragments and could carry a second syringe, it addressed the biggest issue I had: healing. There’s no way, at least that I could find, to heal yourself without the syringe item. And there doesn’t seem to be a way to get your hands on more once the level starts, short of finding a key and purchasing one from the merchant (who is a creepy-looking skeleton that I absolutely pumped full of bullets before I realized it wasn’t trying to kill me.)
All in all, Abyssus was a fun game — but its defining feature is its setting. The “brinepunk” description caught my eye, but without that moniker, the game doesn’t feel particularly remarkable in any other way. It’s a fun, solid FPS roguelike, but it lacked any gameplay elements that set it apart from similar games. Despite that, it executes a tried-and-true formula in a way that’s both fun and familiar, and I can definitely see myself spending more time with Abyssus, even if it isn’t game of the year.
