One game that I’ve been keeping tabs on for a couple of months now is Abyss Chaser, an indie action-roguelite with an eye-catching demonic biker theme. I covered it very briefly in May, and after that the developer reached out with a couple of codes, which was nice of them.
Fast forward to this weekend, and after a polite nudge to the inbox, I jumped into Abyss Chaser for a look at the game following its first major content drop. I played for a couple of hours last night, and really I’m glad that I took a look.
What is Abyss Chaser?
Abyss Chaser, is an Early Access action-RPG about an angel-turned-biker who likes to hit demons with a giant sword. The game plays out from a top-down perspective, and it’s set in a gritty post-apocalyptic-style wasteland that descends into the depths of Hell itself.
Your biker-angel is called Abaddon and he carries a big ol’ sword that he slowly but purposefully swings this way and that. His face is permanently consumed by shadow and darkness, and his bike is used as a base of sorts while he’s out on the road.
Abbadon also wields a pistol (at first), which opens up mid-ranged combat and plenty of strafing around the arena. Finally, he also comes equipped with a magic amulet that changes for each new run and allows you to throw down huge sigils with powerful effects, both helping you and hindering your foes.
The combat in Abyss Chaser took me a little while to get into, but once I found its particular rhythm I started to enjoy myself. The rhythm involves very deliberate sword strokes, and an Isaac-inspired approach to dodging chonky bullets and telegraphed attacks.
Each new arena is filled with demons, giant bores, and grim-looking scenery. As you enter each new room, the exits close and you must deal with the immediate threat, before then choosing which exit to take. The overworld navigation reminded me of Star of Providence, but with motorbikes instead of spaceships, of course.
Death becomes you
You job in the game is to smash demons in the face, but sometimes the aforementioned demons are gonna to smash you back. Your inevitable death will take you back to a central base, a rusty old dive bar on the edge of the desert.
It is from this home-on-the-road that, in-between runs, you can upgrade your weapons with two different resources gathered in-game, as well as buy items for the next run. Then, once you have taken care of your statistical business, you’re off for another round of sword swiping and demon slicing.
The meta side of the game is relatively streamlined at the moment, but the scope of the project is balanced right, I think. You can see that a lot of time has gone into the combat system, and I found the pixel art graphics and overall aesthetic to be rather charming, too.
A Third Circle of Hell
The content update alluded to in the headline also warrants a mention. It adds the Third Domain of Hell, a new enemy type, and bosses.
The update also throws in a handful of new weapons, a new amulet/sigil, and a new ally. All in all, given the scope of the project, it’s a significant update, and it adds an interesting blend of new ingredients for existing players to engage with.
As I’ve already mentioned, Abyss Chaser is still only in Early Access on Steam PC (Win), however, I think what’s already there is in decent shape. Just as important as polish, though, is personality, and Bitrunner is already delivering that in spades.
