Review: Abyssus Is A Solid Roguelike Shooter That Struggles Going Too Deep

The roguelike style of game has become one of the more consistent throughlines of the modern gaming space, with all sorts of genres embracing the approach. One of the most prevalent has been the shooter, especially when it’s able to factor in multiple players. Take Abyssus, for example — a shooter that sends players into lost ruins to take down monsters and bring back valuable supplies to base camp so you can prepare for another adventure into the depths.

The art design catches the player’s eye as soon as they step into the world, elevating the largely solid (if somewhat glitchy) gameplay at some key points. The natural chaos and fluidity of the genre make for an entertaining time, even if it can become repetitive after multiple rounds. While it may not reach its full potential and there are enough drawbacks to keep it from becoming a must-play game, there’s enough going on with Abysuss to make it a great new adventure for FPS fans.

Review Score: 3.5/5

Pros:	Cons:
Strong world design lends Abyssus a unique identity in the current FPS space.	Lackluster scoring and sound design break the immersion.
Solid gameplay is easy to learn and perfect for a multiplayer experience.	Glitches and repetitive combat can become a drag over time.
Unique touches that blend the aesthetic well with the gameplay keep the players guessing.	Minor hiccups break the momentum and leave the game feeling incomplete.

This Roguelike Extraction Shooter Is A Great (If Imperfect) Game For Fans

The primary gameplay of Abyssus is a riff on the FPS roguelike, with players venturing deeper and deeper under the waves and into the ruins of a mysterious lost civilization. The central loop is the Expeditions, where players make their way through four different areas. Each one has a different scale of difficulty at play, with unique encounters and challenges awaiting players on each run. Collecting resources on these Expeditions is the key to unlocking new Blessings, Charms, and Runes at the base camp merchant, increasing the player’s skills and capabilities as they delve deeper into the depths. The actual gameplay of Abyssus leans into the chaotic and fast-paced combat that roguelikes tend to thrive with, with players sent charging through chambers and against hordes of enemies.

The primary firearms can come with distinct firing modes, giving players different options and combat and providing plenty of customizable options. While many of the enemies and bosses can feel repetitive over time, there are enough variable missions in the Expeditions — whether they be escort missions with water spirits, targeting crystals across the map, or bringing skulls to specific locations — to keep the player guessing. The gameplay is fun in both single-player and with multiple players, although the latter adds a natural sense of chaos to the proceedings that serves the actual loop well. An extraction shooter needs to keep the momentum going even on repeated playthroughs, and while Abysuss does run into a bit of repetition, the fast-paced action and variety in missions keep the players engaged — although the functional but standard mechanics might not necessarily win over doubters.

I Want To Explore More Of The World Of Abysuss

The world of Abysuss is the real appeal of the game, with a brinepunk aesthetic that invites the player to imagine a vaster world around them. The technology at base camp and the weapons available to players play with the same kind of visual flourishes that made games like BioShock stand out, with just a dash of Cthulhu-inspired creature design to be visually arresting. The world itself feels vast in the right kind of way, threatening in its expanse rather than feeling empty — which helps expand the feeling of isolation that adds tension to the combat encounters.

Especially whenever players can gaze off outside of the arenas and glimpse the larger world, Abysuss is the kind of game where natural worldbuilding happens within the player’s mind and goes far beyond what’s available in the game. Less impressive is the sound design, which doesn’t do a great job of drawing the player fully in — and only makes the repetitive nature of the combat encounters feel more pronounced.

Abysuss Could Be Great — But It’s Not There Yet

There isn’t really a lot wrong with Abysuss, although there isn’t enough to stand out to make it a must-play title, either. For the most part, Abysuss is a well-designed extraction shooter — but some glitchy gameplay does really throw things off. While the controls themselves are tight, there were occasional problems in the actual encounters that broke the immersion. The repetitive nature of the enemies doesn’t help either, which makes the Soul Fragment grinding necessary to upgrade your characters more frustrating. Little tweaks on the missions keep players guessing, but it doesn’t change the fact that the underlying gameplay is fairly straightforward and doesn’t do much to innovate on a gameplay level.

This is where Abysuss probably most benefits from the “forever game” structure of the roguelike. The creative touches and underlying mechanics of the game are really fun, even if the gameplay can become repetitive over time. As players advance in their expeditions, the little clues about the world offer an enticing tease for a greater universe at play. All of those elements could become more pronounced with updates and patches, especially if they also fix some of the glitches and errors that otherwise throw off the gameplay. New missions, enemies, and weapons could further entice players to venture deeper into the game. As it stands, Abysuss is a solid if flawed take on the extraction shooter that benefits from a unique art design. There’s a much better game baked into the DNA of the game; it just needs the developers to fully unlock it before this fun enough extraction shooter becomes a must-play addition to the genre.

A PS5 code was provided to ComicBook.com for the purposes of this review.