Abyssus Review Summary

Enjoyable co-op with unique varied weapons, yet repetitive gameplay, thin content, and a poorly received skill tree rework drag it down.

Game is fun and enjoyable: Players consistently describe the game as fun, entertaining, and addictive, especially when played with friends. The gameplay is varied and challenging, providing a good time for both solo and co-op play.

Weapons are unique and varied: The game features a diverse arsenal of weapons, each with its own unique playstyle and feel. This variety allows for different builds and keeps gameplay fresh and engaging.

Excellent co-op experience: Co-op play is highly praised, with many noting that the game is fantastic with friends and that co-op elevates the overall experience. The game supports seamless co-op and is enjoyable with a full team.

Satisfying and unique boss fights: Boss fights are described as unique, amazing, and entertaining, with real mechanics that go beyond simple shooting. The bosses are fun and challenging, adding to the game's appeal.

Satisfying gunplay and shooting: Gunplay is described as satisfying, with shooting feeling great and the game being a very fun first-person shooter. The guns are cool and contribute to an enjoyable shooting experience.

Repetitive and boring gameplay: Many reviews note that the game becomes repetitive and boring quickly, with low variety in enemies, levels, and gameplay loops. This reduces long-term engagement and replayability.

Lack of content and depth: Players consistently report that the game feels barebones, with weak story, limited endgame, and insufficient content for the price. This is the most frequently mentioned issue, spanning multiple clusters.

Skill tree rework criticized: The 1.3 update's skill tree rework is widely condemned for limiting player choice, reducing build variety, and being a downgrade. Players feel it arbitrarily restricts options and removes viable builds.

Bugs and glitches present: A significant number of reviews mention bugs, ranging from minor annoyances to game-breaking issues. While some are not severe, they detract from the overall experience.

Low replayability: Players find little incentive to replay the game due to repetitive content, limited boss variety, and a lack of meaningful progression after completing the passive tree.

Diverse weapons and builds: Players frequently highlight the extensive variety of weapons, abilities, blessings, and mods that can be combined to create unique builds. This system is a core strength, offering many loadout combinations and elemental blessings that affect gameplay.

Roguelike shooter genre: The game is consistently described as a roguelike or roguelite shooter, often compared to titles like Gunfire Reborn. It features typical roguelike mechanics such as run-based progression, starting weapon selection, and subsequent upgrades.

Co-op multiplayer support: Co-op play is a major feature, with support for up to four players per session. Many players mention that the game is more fun when played with friends, and it can be played solo or with a squad.

Skill tree progression: The game includes a skill tree or talent tree system that allows for permanent character upgrades. Players note that the skill tree has limited points and caps, which affects build viability and adds strategic depth.

Difficulty modifiers and scaling: Players can customize difficulty through various modifiers that increase challenge, such as 14 additional modifiers. The game has a difficulty curve and hard mode options, allowing players to tailor the challenge to their preference.

Performance generally praised: Many players report smooth, stable performance across various systems, including low-end PCs and Steam Deck. Clusters 1, 2, 3, 11, 20, 30, 32, 37, 38, 39, 44, 45, and 46 highlight positive experiences with optimization and frame rates.

Crashes and instability issues: A significant number of players experience frequent crashes, especially during online play or mid-run, leading to lost progress. Clusters 5, 6, 13, 14, and 28 detail these problems, with some reporting crashes multiple times per session.

Stuttering and freezes: Players experience stuttering, freezes, and choppy gameplay, sometimes after extended play or on lower settings. Clusters 17, 21, 23, 29, 36, 43, and 47 describe these performance hiccups that can disrupt the experience.

Audio and system issues: Some players report audio glitches, such as permanent sound hangs or static affecting all apps until a restart, and even system lockups requiring hard shutdowns. Clusters 18, 33, 34, and 35 describe these severe technical problems.

Optimization problems on high-end hardware: Some players with powerful GPUs like the RTX 3060 report poor optimization and severe frame drops, even at minimum settings. Clusters 8, 24, and 25 indicate that performance can be inconsistent regardless of hardware.

Great for co-op play: The game is highly recommended for co-op play with friends, with some noting it's best played with others. Solo play is also mentioned as viable but less ideal.

Recommended for roguelike FPS fans: Multiple reviewers recommend the game to fans of roguelike FPS games, roguelites, and arena shooters. The game is praised for its genre blend and appeal to players who enjoy similar titles.

Best with friends: The game is described as more fun when played with friends, with several reviewers recommending it for group play. Some say it's still enjoyable solo but better with company.

Worth the price: Reviewers feel the game offers good value for its price, with many saying it's worth every penny. Some suggest waiting for a sale to get the best value.

Highly recommended overall: The game receives strong recommendations from many reviewers, who praise it as a solid purchase. Some emphasize it's especially good when on discount.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 53.0h.

Story completion: 8.0h.

Session length: 0.8h.

Abyssus is generally fun from the start, especially in co-op, with addictive gunplay and build variety, though a few players find the early game slow due to limited aspect access.

Friction: Limited early access to aspects; Slow early progression; Sensitivity issues on start-up; Controller feels half baked; Multiplayer bugs at launch.

Unlock drivers: Unlocking more aspects; Soul fragment meta progression; Brine canister map modifiers; Multiplayer update fix.

Co-op Socialite: Plays in co-op groups, coordinates builds and synergies, enjoys chaotic multiplayer sessions. Motivation: Shared fun and teamwork with friends in a fast-paced co-op shooter. Stance: buy.

Solo Challenger: Plays solo runs, focuses on positioning and build optimization to overcome difficulty. Motivation: Personal challenge and self-reliance in a solo roguelike experience. Stance: sale.

Build Crafter: Theorycrafts builds, experiments with blessings and weapons, chases unlocks and synergies. Motivation: Mastery and discovery through build experimentation and meta progression. Stance: buy.

Performance is largely positive across most hardware tiers, but high-end VRAM users experience frequent crashes and instability.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Runs very well with no FPS loss, though occasional Unreal Engine crashes and initial shader stutter were reported.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Most users report good performance, especially on low/medium settings, with a few complaints about optimization and jitter on high settings.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Performance is generally stable with only minor micro stutters or occasional lag spikes.

Steam Deck: The game is generally playable on Steam Deck, with many users reporting smooth 60FPS performance and good visuals. However, it requires Proton Experimental for some users, suffers from shader compilation stutters, frame drops over extended play, and has notable bugs including co-op crashes and a persistent slow effect. These issues create a moderate level of friction, but the game is not broken overall.

Linux and Proton: The Linux/Proton experience is overwhelmingly positive across the provided reviews. Three users report the game running well or perfectly on Linux and SteamOS without any workarounds. One user mentions an initial issue that was fixed by switching to Proton Experimental, indicating a minor, isolated tweak rather than systemic incompatibility. No anti-cheat, DRM, launcher, or crash blockers tied to Linux were reported.

Monetization: The reviews indicate that the game has a fair monetization model with no pay-to-win, no real-money gacha, and only cosmetic DLC. The main complaints are about the base price being too high for the content, but that is not microtransaction-related. Therefore, the score should be low, within the 0-20 range.

External guides: The primary user complaint is the forced reliance on external wikis and guides to unlock content, find secrets, and understand achievements. This creates a significant barrier to enjoyment and reflects a lack of in-game guidance. A minor technical bug with the Steam overlay was also mentioned but is secondary to the data dependency issue.

Frequent comparisons to Gunfire Reborn: Many reviewers compare this game to Gunfire Reborn, noting similarities in gameplay, difficulty, and content. Some suggest Gunfire Reborn does it better, while others prefer this game or see potential with more content.

Good value for price: Reviewers frequently mention the game is affordable, often bought on sale, and offers a lot of content for its low price. It is recommended at a discount, with some noting it's under $30.

Quake and Doom-like action: Reviewers compare the game's movement, weapons, and speed to classic titles like Quake and Doom. The action style is described as fast-paced and reminiscent of old-school shooters.

Short but replayable experience: Reviewers note the game is short, with runs lasting 1 hour and total enjoyment around 5-20 hours. However, it has high replayability, though some hit a wall after 5-10 hours.

Active and responsive developers: The developers are described as active, communicative, and supportive, especially on Discord. They listen to community feedback and make positive changes, which reviewers appreciate.