There seems to be interest in the gaming community about trying to
make crossover games–games that will appeal to the different genre players. The
Abyss is one such effort. The Abyss is trying to appeal to the shooter
crowd as well as to the adventurers. (The promotional material mentions an aim
at the role-players, but the role-playing element is so insignificant as to be
nonexistent.) The challenge to make a crossover game is very difficult, but I
think Sound Source has a solid contender here.

The Abyss is a sci-fi
game based on the James Cameron movie of the same name. Brett Durrett, Vice President
of Sound Source Interactive, said, “The Abyss is a great movie and
a favorite of many around the office. The movie has a great story line and, like
the game, does not rely on violence, sex or shock value to hold the interest of
the audience. We worked with James Cameron’s group to create a story for the sequel
to The Abyss, which the game incorporates.” In short, during a terraforming
project on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, an alien race trying to build a new
life for itself has accidentally uncovered a viral disease that mutates life,
including human life. Your mission is to find a cure for the virus to save the
aliens as well as the humans who are infected. You choose to play Bud Brigman
or Lindsey Brigman. (That’s the role-playing element. Your choice has no significance
on the game.) During your mission, you will visit four different worlds: Deepcore,
the human underwater exploration vessel; the NTI ark; Europa; and, the caverns
beneath Europa. The plot receives a B.

The look of The Abyss reminds
me of a comic book. Maybe it was all the mutants roaming about. During the course
of the game, you will explore lots of rooms, swim under water, and explore many
caverns. All these surroundings are effectively detailed. The underwater sequences
made me feel as if I really was underwater. Not an easy task for a graphic artist,
but very well done. My only complaint about the graphics is that you have to travel
down lots of long hallways, and the passing graphics have a hypnotic, almost eye-blurring
effect. After playing the game for a several hours before bed, I couldn’t get
the vision of traveling down those hallways out of my head. The graphics receive
a B.

There are a lot of mutants roaming the rooms and hallways, so you
get to hear a lot of growling, moaning, and groaning. These sounds create a sense
of danger and foreboding to the game. The music is also effective at establishing
a sense of urgency and danger at the appropriate times and places. The music never
interfered with the gameplay, which I for one always appreciate. With four different
worlds to explore, there are plenty of different sound effects and all are done
quite well. The sound, music, and voice acting all receive a B.

I
found the puzzles fun and challenging. The main puzzle is, of course, to find
the three ingredients that combine to make the cure. Some of the supporting puzzles
were unique and very creative. As I mentioned, The Abyss is a hybrid shooter/adventure
game. The shooting consists of using your weapons to stun the mutants, who are
constantly trying to impede your progress. Since you are just stunning them, you
only temporarily stop them while you try to explore and solve the puzzles. The
mutants can kill you, and probably will several times, so save often. In fact,
knowing when and where to save is essential to success in this game. Save often
and save several copies.

Now for my two major complaints about the gameplay.
First, and foremost, is the interface. Are you so used to point-and-click that
you just expect it and most likely are getting quite good at it? Well, have I
got a surprise for you. The Abyss uses the keyboard for all movement and
interaction throughout the game. This is very awkward and will take some getting
use to. (My right wrist, which I used to control the arrow keys for movement,
would ache after playing for an hour or so.) To open doors or pick up an inventory
item, you bump into it! Seriously. I laughed when I first learned this in the
game. The interface is going to be a serious flaw for a lot of players. Secondly,
this game has mazes, and more mazes, and even more mazes–too many mazes. Indeed,
the buildings themselves are mazes. The developer suggests that the player map
out the various locals. Good luck! Mapping out all these mazes would take a long
time.

When asked what age group Sound Source was attempting to reach with
The Abyss, Durrett responded, “The Abyss is designed to appeal
to the everyday computer user, with special considerations to keep the content
acceptable for play by the entire family. The game uses an engine that can run
comfortably on a low-end Pentium so that it is accessible to users who purchased
their computers several years ago. All content in the game is acceptable for younger
members of the family, and violence is kept to a minimum–no mutants are ever
killed in the game. Finally, none of the puzzles are time based and most mutants
have limited mobility to allow for escapes or safe resting areas. This makes the
game playable for people that have difficulty with games requiring quick reflexes
or super-human agility on the keyboard.”

The Abyss is a challenging
game, mostly because of the mazes. But, despite the interface and the mazes, the
game held my interest, which in the long run is the main thing. The puzzles
in The Abyss get a C.

Can we hope to see more adventure games
from Sound Source in the future? According to Durrett, “Sound Source Interactive
is not currently developing another adventure, although this is a field that we
would like to consider in the future. The games group that we acquired earlier
this year has experience in creating higher-end adventure engines, so it is a
distinct possibility.” I for one hope they do.

Overall, I enjoyed the
challenge of The Abyss. I just couldn’t sleep until I found those three
ingredients for the cure. The shooter fans may not like that they are just stunning
the mutants and not killing them, and the adventurers may not like the shooting,
but I think Sound Source got the balance right. For all you adventurers who are
not good shooters, just save often! Did I mention you should save often?

Final
Grade: B-

System Requirements:
Windows 95/98
Pentium 90
24 MB RAM
2X CD-ROM