There's so much to like about this game -- the eerie underwater tomb atmosphere, the creative enemy and boss designs, the tight gunplay -- but I've rarely seen a better game get in its own way as much as this one. The balance and progression are terrible. This is a tough game that gets tougher each level you progress, which is fine and what I'd prefer, except the difficulty jumps are extreme. Those late bosses are comical in how difficult they are, as hard as any Dark Souls boss I know of. And speaking of Dark Souls, that's one of the things that sabotages this game: While a lot of people complain about the "runback" to bosses in Dark Souls, those runbacks are trivial compared to what you have to deal with here. Having trouble with end boss #3? OK, just keep doing that same run through levels 1-3, about 60 minutes worth including 2 end bosses and 3 mid-level bosses, until you get back to end boss #3. Then he kicks your ass again and maybe you got an idea of what to try against him next time, but hey, 60 minutes to get back. Even as you get better, that time won't get any quicker, at least not by much. Same stuff in this game, over and over and over.

This could be partially overcome if the roguelite progression in the game wasn't also among the stingiest you'll see. The skill wheel is very large and the points to unlock on it are few, besides which most of those skills are like a 1/3 thing. Spend a few points to get 1/3 of the skill, spend more to get 2/3 then 3/3. There are a bunch of cool guns in the game but they don't unlock easily. There's several meta games in Abyssus, like find that one pinhole in the sky or wall on a level and shoot it. So you can sit there and tediously scan the environment on every single level looking for that pinhole, and you never know how many you've gotten so far or how many are left, or just get hit with the feeling after a while "how is this fun?" Why is so much of this game's content locked behind what feel like chores?

It's like they were dead set to put 30 hours of game in here, but what's really here is 5 hours of game stretched like salt water taffy. I still recommend Abyssus, but not as eagerly as I would have otherwise. Everything is here for a 9 out of 10 game, but the tedious structure makes it more like a 6.5 or 7 thing. These are also the gripes of someone who really enjoyed the roguelite structure when it made a comeback/transformation 10-15 years ago, but by this point I'm just sick of it. Nearly every single indie/AA stuffs their game with incrementals like you have to re-read the same page of a book 4 times before you get to read the next page. For me, 5-10 exciting, replayable hours will forever and always make a better game than 30 tedious ones.

🔰SHREDVIEW🔰 - From someone who actually plays and finishes the games before reviewing.

NOTE: If you like my work, please check out the rest of my reviews, I put a lot of work in these to offer the best overall description of what you’re up against. Thank you in advance!

🔷 ABOUT THE GAME & LORE 🔷

In the world of underwater tom-foolery, we find Abyssus. A modestly honest and user friendly Roguelike FPS title which is awaiting more drowning enthusiasts to the teeth-grinding olympics. How much repetitive chaos do you want with those sunken hours? Yes, please!

The story of the game is not really that relevant, typical to the genre. Lore entries are scattered around the in-between sections of levels and it still doesn’t go anywhere near as deep as the action does. Short story: You are part of a team of deep-sea explorers sent into the ruins of a sunken ancient civilization to extract brine, a rare power source found in the abyss. Problem is, the place is corrupted, hostile, and full of weird s**t.

Unless it’s a diddy party, you can do this with friends rather than alone. CO-OP supports up to 4 players per session and works surprisingly well for a roguelike FPS without turning into a desync nightmare.

🔷 THE GAMEPLAY 🔷

👉 GENERAL:
Abyssus is a room-based roguelike FPS that cares way more about moment-to-moment combat decisions than it does about narrative babysitting. Runs are fast, violent, and end brutally. Here's the breakdown:

• The game POV's you straight into FPS style so your principal tools of killing your way up to the final encounter is based on weapons. You unlock 7 weapons through progression, challenges, or exploration. Each weapon has 3 primary fire modes and 3 secondary fire modes, meaning every gun can be tuned into multiple playstyles. Unlocking them requires doing weapon-specific challenges, which forces you to actually learn how the damn thing works. Melee exists and starts as a joke but turns into a lifesaver later.

• On top of guns and melee, you have an ability slot and there are 5 abilities to choose from. These are: Frag Grenade (AoE), Laser cube (powerful single target), Turret (AI target lock), Anchor (Melee) and the Brine Field (Defense/AoE). The point of these and choosing one is combos and planning ahead.

• Progression during runs is built around Aspects and sub-blessings. There are 10 main Aspect types with 15 sub-blessings each, creating a pool of 150 modifiers. You can equip only 3 Aspects total, one for primary fire, one for secondary fire, and one for your ability. Once these slots are filled, future rewards only support your chosen Aspects, making early decisions critical.

• Besides blessings, there are charms which are also run based and lost on finish or death. These are amulets that range from common - uncommon to legendary and they can have critical impact to certain builds. By unlocking a specific key in the permanent skill wheel, later on you will be able to carry 2 charms at once.

• Speaking of permanent upgrades, there is a very modest skill wheel that can be accessed from the lobby. Here you can spend soul fragments you acquire during runs to boost your character & rewards but remember the word "modest" because once unlocked completely, that's everything. The only other permanent upgrades are weapon firing types.

• The last run basef core mechanic is Gold. This drops from enemies or golden breakable vases. Gold can then be used for gambling altars, merchant or to power up the main Gold Aspect which boosts damage based on carried gold as well as boosting gold income. The Merchant sells charms, aspects, sub-blessings, healing syringes or health boosters and his options can be refreshed with gold as well. Gold is lost by the run's end.

👉 NAVIGATION SYSTEM:
The game follows a predictable format of room-based expeditions separated by intermediary corridors leading to the next room until the portal to the next area is reached. A run consists in 4 playable areas, with the first 3 being split each into 4 zones consisting of sections of 4-5 rooms each. The last area is the semi-final boss fight and the final encounter after. Once you die along the way, the run ends and here we go again.

After beating the pinnacle boss, there are options to increase the difficulty in the lobby. There is Deep Water mechanic buffing up enemies and runs as well as survival endless mode.

👉 PHYSICS & MECHANICS:
Gunplay feels tight and responsive. Hit feedback is clear and satisfying, especially once elemental Aspects start chaining effects across enemies. Enemy behavior is aggressive and somewhat readable, rewarding positioning and movement over blind spraying at all times. Physics interactions are clean, with knockbacks, explosions, and ability effects behaving consistently. Great work here.

👉 GRAPHICS & OPTIMIZATION:
Graphics are awesome. The color palette fits the underwater ruin theme perfectly. Environments are detailed without distracting from the real stars, which are enemies, weapons, and particle effects. It looks modern without trying to flex realism.

Optimization is rock solid. The game runs smoothly, stable, and efficiently. It behaves exactly like a well-built submarine system should. If someone complains about performance, they are probably running a Pentium 4 and fighting demons unrelated to Abyssus.

👉 ACHIEVEMENTS & COLLECTIBLES:
Achievements are some meat grinding business, but to be fair and square, they are perfectly made and perfectly numbered. A beautiful 100, meaning each milestone is a 1% more. They pretty much force you to experience absolutely everything as achievements always should. There are 5 grindy and fairly difficult ones but everything else is literally playing the game with all it throws at you. Now of course.. f**k those Deep Water 30 and Endless achievements.

🔷 CONCLUSION: 🔷

This was a fresh water breeze. Content-wise, Abyssus is short and limited, but the ways it lets you experience that content make it feel worth every drowned minute. I usually get bored fast with repetitive s**t but this one nails the loop of regret and motivation perfectly: “F**k me! I should’ve taken that thing earlier” becomes the fuel for the next run. A hidden pearl for roguelike FPS fans. Floats my boat just fine. But seriously, f**k those two achievements.

🔷 PROS & CONS 🔷

✔️ PROS:
- Tight, satisfying FPS combat with decent build depth.
- Weapon and Aspect variety keeps runs feeling fresh.
- Excellent performance and visual clarity.
- CO-OP works well without ruining balance.
- Achievements actually respect effort.

❌ CONS:
- Overall content pool is limited.
- Permanent progression is very shallow.
- Endgame builds funnel into fewer viable options.
- Deep Water and Endless achievements are pure pain.

🔷 SHORT REVIEW & STATS 🔷

• PLAY STYLE:
🔳 PVP
🔳 PVE
✅ ONLINE CO-OP
🔳 Online Multiplayer
🔳 SPLIT SCREEN
✅ SINGLE PLAYER

• GRAPHICS:
🔳 FIRE THE ART DIRECTOR
🔳 FAIRLY OLD GAME, WHAT YOU EXPECT?
🔳 NOT GREAT, NOT TERRIBLE
✅ GREAT
🔳 EXCEPTIONAL

• REPLAYABILITY:
🔳 YES
🔳 EVERY NOW AND THEN
🔳 NOT SURE
✅ RARELY / ON MAJOR UPDATE / DLC RELEASE
🔳 NO

• STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS:
✅ YES
🔳 NO (What the f**k man?)

• GAMEPLAY:
🔳 WTF IS THIS S**T
🔳 TERRIBLE
✅ DECENT
🔳 ENGAGING
🔳 HAD A BLAST

• DIFFICULTY:
🔳 DARK SOULS
🔳 BAFFLING
✅ CHALLENGING
🔳 MEDIUM
🔳 WALK IN THE PARK

• STORYLINE:
🔳 A WHAT? WE WRITE CODE NOT BOOKS
✅ GOES FINE WITHOUT ONE
🔳 DECENT
🔳 ENGAGING
🔳 SHAKESPEARE AINT GOT S**T ON THIS

❗ NOTE - This is a review based on personal preferences and opinions. I always suggest you try the games for yourself before letting others decide for you. Even though we're all gamers, we are sure not the same.

A fun game, but very short. I think I got all my fun out of it in 8 hours. Don't know if it is worth the price of 25 bucks.