"The game that changed side-scrolling games forever"

At the first look, Abuse seems to be just another action-horror shooter, but it's clearly not. The whole game doesn't have the high-res graphics or a very original story, but what makes this game so special is the character control. As early developed games go on this aspect, I have yet to see any game combining both keyboard and mouse.

If you examine the controls, you should find that it is very easy. The cursor keys move your character, make him jump onto obstacles and use switches for doors, for saving your game and for switching weapons. The mouse moves the aiming cursor on the screen, lets shoot with LMB. When you get used to it, you will be fighting alomost an endless horde of enemies.

The game also has four difficulty settings: wimp, easy, normal, and extreme. This might seem that the game might be suitable for people who are newbies, but to tell the truth - I couldn't tell the difference from "extreme" and "wimp" difficulty settings.

The story is like this - it is the year 2009, you are Nick Vrenna, a man falsely incarcerated in a high security underground prison, where illegal genetic experiments are taking place. The head research scientist Alan Blake, has isolated the specific gene which causes violence and agression in humans. This genetic sequence called "Abuse" is highly infectuous and causes horrific transformations and grotesque side-effects. You are the only one who shows immunity to it. A prison riot erupts and in the confusion all cell doors are opened. Soon everyone becomes infected and transforms into a horde of mutants, who take over the building. Your only chance to escape is to reach the control room which is situated in the deepest level and stop the "abuse" infected water supply from reaching the outside world.

The graphics are nice, the characters react to the light that shines when you shoot, bomb explosion and teleportation effects are very well made, the darkness is everywhere and all this creates a perfect spooky environment. This might seem nice at first but it can get dull if you play for a very long time. The map designs are great but tend to be repetetive at times and the character designs are a lot like "Aliens vs. Predator". The only question that is left unanswered is - why can't there be more well lit areas, maybe in the begining?

The sounds are very good. The effects of roars and screams, the gunfire, the mechanical hums and many more sounds create a very gruesome atmosphere. You can feel your pulse rising at every second.