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10/11/2019

Free Game Friday 10/11/19: Abuse

The sole release of the inauspiciously named "Crack dot com" (founded by iD Software programmer Dave Taylor and Jonathan Clark), Abuse is a relatively unique game for a 1990s PC DOS action game - a sidescrolling platformer with 360-degree aiming via the mouse independent of the player's movement.  You'll need it too, as booby traps are frequent, walls and floors can be destroyed to reveal hidden passages and secrets and enemies are fast and relentless, often climbing up walls and onto ceilings to attack you and in surprisingly large numbers to boot.  You'll also get quite a few different weapons - in addition to the basic but plentiful laser rifle, you get grenades, heat-seeking missiles, and a flamethrower just to name a few.  And you'll need them all, as the action in the game is relentless and traps are just about everywhere.

The game's source code was released only two years after the game's initial launch, and as a result it has been ported to many different platforms, some with additional features.  The latest version available, SDL port 0.9a, is a port for modern Windows operating systems that adds in a few feature updates, including quickaves, graphical upscaling (no bad thing as the original version is locked to 320x200 resolution), cheats and even XBox 360 controller input for smoother gameplay.