Using the Unreal Engine 4, Abzu is bursting at the seams with color and saturated with detail. Right off the bat, you will notice how gorgeous this game is.
![abzu ign abzu ign](https://gameranx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ABZU7-700x393.jpg)
What this game does differently is that it focuses more on an exploration of this beautiful world rather than pushing the player through a short journey and telling a quick story. If you played Journey then you know what to expect with Abzu. The story plays out similar to Journey in which you figure out what's going contextually as you progress through the game via images and scenes. You play as a character that swims around the ocean exploring trying to stop some sort of mechanical infestation from destroying all ocean life. Some of the people from Journey are back at it again with Abzu, an underwater cinematic adventure. With minimal UI, gameplay, controls, and story, you are swept through a linear journey of emotions, visual beauty, and auditorial bliss. Journey was one of the first of this kind of new adventure titles. Surreal adventure games are the next generation of the adventure genre, and if they are done right, can be quite memorable and mesmerizing. More if you take your time to explore and find all the nautilus shells that are scattered throughout the maps. Value isn't horrible at 20$ MSRP, because you'll get at least 2-4 hours out of it. So yeah, I definitely recommend this game. It's fairly linear, in that it takes you from one area to the next to the next, but you can stop and explore for as long as you like in each area. I would've really liked a multiplayer aspect to it like Journey had, where you're joined by another player but you don't speak except for a monosyllable varying in strength. Still, it's a lot of fun, and in many ways, I found it very similar to Journey, which I also loved. I'd love to learn more about the culture presented in this universe, but I guess that'd ruin the mystery of it. I really enjoyed the ambiance and the environmental storytelling. It was absolutely a joy to explore, and even to meditate and watch the different fish swim by, or to catch a ride on the many larger variants of sea-life. However, I found the game beautiful and engrossing. While beautiful, it didn't run very well on my system, sometimes dipping as low as 16fps, which I found surprising! Likely my fault for running it at 4K on a 1080ti.
![abzu ign abzu ign](https://assets1.ignimgs.com/thumbs/userUploaded/2016/7/27/abzumusictrailer-1469634771297.jpg)
I played it for the first time last night.