Ruiner is a third person top-down dark cyberpunk action shooter...

And it's not afraid to give you a piece of its mind. In the dirty streets of Rengkok South, a battered cyborg rises and is rescued by a mysterious hacker, with their goal to reach his brother, past the numerous goons and delinquents that block your path. Violence is the only answer in this game, partnered with a large variety of weapons and skills that enhance your stopping power and combo meter. Find out about leads to track your brother and save him from his captors, and become stronger after powering up and exercising abilities. Dash about to manouver around the onslaught of attacks.

Gameplay

The gameplay is quick and punishing, where dashing and shooting or slicing have to be performed consecutively to remove enemies and keep a combo count going. In battles there can be waves of tough enemies so you can use enemy-dropped weapons and abilities to survive. The gameplay can be overwhelming since enemies can do a lot of damage and the screen can be filled with excessive bullets and combatants to deal with. The missions are linear and the game doesn't offer variety in objectives than 'defeat this'. After each section a weapon grinder will fly in which is neat, to recycle those scattered firearms and grant you Karma credits is rewarding. The weapon drop ability is also great and I used it to get my favourite sword in desperate times. Weapons have durability and limited ammo so it's a matter of time before they waste.

Audio Visual

The environments are interesting and there are a variety of objects, lights and markings to characterise the world. However, the whole colour palette is dunked in red paint and I don't like the emphasis on violence and gore that the game presents. There are a lot of flashing images and a couple of weird dialogue and topics that bring reduce the funness of the game for me. And throughout the story I never once felt my character was a hero, underdog, or survivor so it was hard to root for him. There is a curated and thumpy soundtrack that is used to make you feel like a cyborg matrix man. Sorry. There are also slow motion kills which are funny more than anything.

Pros

• Decent campaign length
• Lots of guns and swords
• Nice upgradeable abilities

Cons

• Quite dark themes
• Overwhelming gameplay
• No good guys

Conclusion

Ruiner is an intense and graphic cyberpunk action shooter that is not for me. I score it 4/10.

Information

• Release date: 2017
• Developer: Reikon Games
• Platforms: PC, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch