{"id":1519883,"date":"2026-03-07T15:25:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/XRv7Bd95MsMw97BjXfgPaT"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:25:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:25:24","slug":"i-was-pleasantly-surprised-by-this-bioshock-coded-roguelike-fps-and-its-latest-update-adding-a-speargun-has-me-yearning-to-dive-back-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-was-pleasantly-surprised-by-this-bioshock-coded-roguelike-fps-and-its-latest-update-adding-a-speargun-has-me-yearning-to-dive-back-in\/","title":{"rendered":"I was pleasantly surprised by this BioShock-coded roguelike FPS, and its latest update adding a speargun has me yearning to dive back in"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Roguelike FPS Abyssus<\/a> was one of the more interesting games to embed itself in my Steam library last year. Generally, I am of the belief that first-person shooting and roguelike randomisation should never meet, as it generally results in mushy combat and poorly paced levels.<\/p>\n

But Abyssus beat the odds, successfully infusing the power-curve of a roguelike into blasting goons with a gun. Its clever genre synthesis lets your diving suit-clad Brinehunter enter battle with chain-lightning revolvers and shotguns that pummel opponents with ghosts. But there was one thing missing from DoubleMoose Games’ nautically-themed blaster\u2014a harpoon gun.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing more entertaining in an FPS than a speargun done well, as games like Painkiller<\/a> and FEAR<\/a> will attest. In a game set underwater, meanwhile, a speargun is practically mandatory. Remarkably, the original BioShock<\/a> omitted all harpoon-based action, one of several reasons why BioShock 2<\/a> is secretly the superior game.<\/p>\n

Abyssus made the same mistake when it launched in August last year. But the recently released 1.2 update<\/a> fixes this grievous error, folding in a harpoon gun as the primary feature of the patch.<\/p>\n

As you might expect, the harpoon gun is a slow-firing, but heavy-hitting weapon designed to be effective at all ranges. Alongside damaging enemies, its primary fire increases your hunter’s combo-point gauge, with the secondary fire spending all accrued points for a massively damaging attack.<\/p>\n

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