With so many cooperative roguelite shooters out there, it's hard to stand out from the crowd. Abyssus, from DoubleMoose Games and The Arcade Crew, attempts to do just that, offering players an unconventional underwater setting and powerful gunplay.
Abyssus is a first-person shooter with roguelite mechanics. Thanks to its “Brinepunk” underwater setting, it stands out from other games in the genre. Imagine a cross between BioShock and Cthulhu. Players take on the role of deep-sea divers, or 'Brinehunters', and descend into the ruins of an ancient, sunken civilisation. They can play alone or cooperatively in groups of up to four, and the game now supports cross-play.
Abyssus © DoubleMoose Games and The Arcade Crew
The basic structure is somewhat reminiscent of Gunfire Reborn. Each playthrough consists of procedurally generated level sections or arenas, some of which include objectives, making each run different. If players die, they lose their current progress, but they can improve their skills and equipment through a permanent meta-progression system in the hub. The runs themselves are fairly short, focusing on fast-paced, reactive combat, intense gunplay and fluid movement during battles, which is reminiscent of modern Doom games and fast-paced arena shooters. Each run takes players through multiple Depths, each of which is divided into small combat areas, as well as mini-bosses and final bosses.
Players start with a customisable loadout and can unlock new weapons through boss fights or secrets, which can then be heavily upgraded. Temporary 'Blessings' boost weapons and abilities during a run, while permanent upgrades can be purchased with 'Soul Fragments'. The game also features the typical strengths and weaknesses of roguelite games, such as wild and overpowered synergies, but also the drawbacks of randomness within runs and the fact that meaningful progress can take a while. So it takes a while for the game to really get going. A little too long.
Abyssus © DoubleMoose Games and The Arcade Crew
Following the release of version 1.3, the game was also made available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Update 1.3 introduced a new god with a host of new blessings, as well as new blessings for the previously existing gods. It also added a new playable area with new enemies and bosses, new room objectives, new sea shanties, and a revamped and expanded skill tree. However, the changes to the skill tree were not well received by players and were subsequently reversed. "All the slots in the Soul Wheel can now be filled (provided you have enough Soul Fragments to spend), and the three top abilities are no longer mutually exclusive," the developers announced in a recent hotfix patch.
The game offers a total of over 250 blessings and charms to boost abilities, including increased damage, as well as over 50 weapon mods for the nine weapons and over 70 ability mods. These additions and improvements enhance build diversity and make standard gameplay more varied — a clear improvement on version 1.0. However, other games offer more variety, especially in terms of room layouts.
Abyssus © DoubleMoose Games and The Arcade Crew
Abyssus is the third game from DoubleMoose Games in Skövde, Sweden, following Just Die Already and Animal Super Squad. It draws inspiration from games such as Deep Rock Galactic, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and Gunfire Reborn. The game is being published by The Arcade Crew, Dotemu's indie publishing division. Dotemu is part of Pullup Entertainment. Other titles in their catalogue include Drop Duchy from Sleepy Mill Studio, Blazing Chrome from JoyMasher, Infernax from Berzerk Studios and Cross Blitz from Tako Boy Studios. So far, the tile-matching action roguelite Chivalware by Regal Pigeon and the action RPG Wardens of Avalon by Runes Studio have been announced.
Abyssus was released on 12 August 2025 for PC and on 23 June 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, priced at €24.99 each.
Abyssus is all-round good: a roguelite shooter that shines thanks to its solid gunplay, traversal and upgrades. However, it could definitely use a bit more variety.
