A typical bullet hell shooter (think Ikaruga or TwinBee) is a top-down, two-dimensional dogfight anchored to an infinite vertical scroll. One daring starship or jet fighter must evade a wild morass of spherical, slow-moving projectiles while destroying fleets of tiny, fragile interceptors. In that sense, Luna Abyss deviates from established tradition in some fascinating ways. This is a first-person shooter that crib-free from an old-fashioned quarter-eating cabinet. Your field of view is bulging with floating bullets, but unlike Halo or Call of Duty, you’re not expected to hide to survive. It slips through tiny gaps between shells, just like it slips through empty spaces with . It’s a wild idea, and after a quick demo, Luna Abyss may stick to landing.
Luna Abyss dives headlong into a world gone terribly wrong. You control some sort of human-like creature named Fawkes, who wakes up with amnesia in an alien setting. The terrain is reminiscent of the desolate mechanical cities of the Matrix movies. It’s made up of twirling mechanical coils, shiny obsidian, and an intimidating neon floodlight. In fact, nearly every square inch of Luna Abyss is covered in black, red, and white. Fawkes navigates through some primitive jumping his puzzles before coming across the first firearm. You’ll also soon find that you don’t have to aim with your weapon. Left-clicking automatically locks onto unlucky targets near the crosshairs, immediately shattering them.
This is the main difference that makes Luna Abyss different from other shooters. Combat encounters aren’t built around reflexes and mouse dexterity. You’re guaranteed to land a clean, powerful shot on anyone who lives in your field of view. This is because the enemies you encounter have the means to unleash a profane barrage of plasma missiles, which is where Luna Abyss lays bare her DNA in Barrage Hell. All his isometric bobbing and weaving done on the flat arcade screen must be adapted to his full 3D environment. Victory and defeat start with your footwork, not your cursor position. It’s a whole new way to play FPS, and once you get the rhythm, there’s a way to get hooked on Luna Abyss.
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The best example of this dynamic is the single boss fight we encountered in the demo. I faced off with a monster capable of unleashing a psychedelic spiral of deadly orbs. You’ll have to identify a few safe spots on the floor while slowly shaving off your health bar, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the various ways Luna Abyss afflicts us. After a few more levels, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a very difficult video game.
Towards the end of my run, Fawkes discovered a brand new weapon. This added a new wrinkle to the arena. Blow away the target’s defenses, then quickly mousewheel the machine gun to finish it off. (Halo 2 Plasma Pistol/Battle Rifle If you’re a veteran of her combo, you’ll get used to it quickly.) This is a promising sign that Luna Abyss will continue to find interesting ways to enhance its formula. bottom. in addition. I also hope the deliberate pace of storytelling picks up. , only learning from the occasional Dark Souls-ish elliptical conversations with NPCs.
Again, the demo is supposed to be a glimpse into the much bigger picture. And from everything I’ve played, I’d be shocked if Luna Abyss didn’t have a few tricks up its sleeve.
