Michael Crisman writes, "Abuse was a phenomenal action shooter with the misfortune to be released in 1996 when the PC gaming world was going apeshit for first-person shooters like Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. More’s the pity, because developer Crack dot Com’s first- (and only-) born did nothing to revitalize the world of video game storytelling, it offered a critical enhancement the platforming genre had been lacking since its introduction: the ability to shoot in one direction while moving in another."
