Abuse

"A 2D Doom"

Abuse was unique among the shareware games of its time in that it wasn't backed by either Apogee or Epic yet still had some amazing graphics and was as manipulable as Doom. The game itself is an experience, and definitely worth playing, but like Doom, it can soon become rather shallow as you kill alien after alien after alien. Nevertheless, it is worth a look.

GRAPHICS: (9/10) These are some of the best 2D graphics of its time. Light ambiance is featured and your character, while spare, does his job just fine. The game area appears drab, but it certainly fits in with the theme of the game...

SOUND: (10/10) Some excellent soundwork here as well, there's an echoic sound effect played throughout the game that draws you in. Grunts and groans alert you to the presence of aliens, and you can feel their pain as you fry them with missiles and flamethrowers.

GAMEPLAY: (9/10) This is a shooter/platform style game, and you have LOTS of control of your character. You can actually control your character AND his gun at the same time. If you still play Robotron after all these years you'll be used for it, but the learning curve takes some time if you're not. Other than that, you just select your weapon of destruction and shoot, and pull some switches here and there.

REPLAY VALUE: (7/10). Not much to bring you back except the game itself ... as I said, it's an experience. You ought to try it for yourself.

OVERALL: (7/10). Had a lot of potential, but the makers of Abuse chose to make what can best be described as a 2D Doom. Nothing wrong with it, just not very deep and not my cup of tea.

STORY: (5/10) The story is, like Doom, just a deep fried side dish. Forgettable and unnecessary.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/99, Updated 12/10/99