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Ruiner is one of those games that kept nagging me. I would frequently see it on Steam and thought it looked cool so I eventually bought it, probably during a sale. This was years ago and I haven’t played it because I’ve been busy with other games. Yet, it still shows up for me on storefronts like it’s just nagging me to play it. So I decided it was time. Developed by Reikon Games and published by Devolver Digital, Ruiner was released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in September, 2017, and Switch in June, 2020. For this review, I played the PC version. Ruiner is a twin-stick shooter with a cyberpunk theme. I like twin-stick shooters, I like cyberpunk, and I like violence and Ruiner checks off these boxes.
The story is set in the metropolis of Rengkok in the year 2091. The player is put in the shoes of a silent masked protagonist who sets out on a quest to rescue his kidnapped brother from a conglomerate, known as Heaven, that controls the city. Ruiner portrays a violent and moody world complete with psychotic gangsters and cyborgs and I think the plot is pretty good and takes some interesting turns. The game does a great job with worldbuilding and visual storytelling. There is no voice acting so all interactions are conveyed through text. I should mention it doesn’t take very long to get through the story. I beat it in about five and a half hours on the Normal difficulty level. On the plus side, Ruiner does have a good amount of replay value thanks to numerous difficulty levels, New Game+, and additional game modes.
Ruiner can be described as a twin-stick shooter. I would even call it a story-driven twin-stick shooter. I tested playing with a keyboard and mouse and controller and preferred the controller, however both options are viable and work well in my experience. The game opens by throwing you into a level that teaches you the ropes and after you complete it, you end up in the city of Rengkok. Specifically, Rengkok South. While the levels are linear, the city area is open-ended to an extent. But very small. You can roam the streets and interact with NPCs and complete side missions (if you want to call them that) and initiate story missions which take you to different levels.
I don’t think the whole city hub-like area is fleshed out enough to be necessary. It’s very small and the side missions, themselves, are not very interesting. It’s the rewards that makes them worthwhile. There’s some other things you can do like have your fortune told in exchange for coins found in the levels and access the Colosseum which is just the Arena game mode but, ultimately, I feel like the game would have worked just as well as a straight up linear level-based shooter. I can’t say the city area is a detriment because it helps with worldbuilding, but from a gameplay perspective, it doesn’t offer much.
You must complete levels to advance the story and levels consist of stages. Stages are basically the encounters. You approach an area and get locked in until you defeat all the enemies. You are then scored and ranked based on your performance in each stage and then level. Just like many other twin-stick shooters, you run around the environments and can shoot and attack in any direction. The protagonist will always have the Ruiner gun on him after its acquired in the first level. He can pick up other firearms and melee weapons and killing enemies will award him Karma. Killing multiple enemies in succession will lead to combos. After earning enough Karma, he levels up. Every time he levels up, he acquires a Skill Point which can be spent to unlock gadgets and upgrades.
Ruiner comes with an excellent variety of weapons that are fun to use and a cool set of gadgets and trying them all out is all part of the fun. From multi-dashing to slowing down time to hacking enemies to fight for you – all prove to be pretty useful. Enemies come in different types and wield different weapons and the combat is fast-paced and can be very hectic and intense. With you and enemies dashing around, projectiles zipping around everywhere, and explosive objects littered about, a lot can happen during during a battle so you’ll want to stay alert and utilize your gadgets to overcome the challenges. The combat looks and feels fantastically brutal. The visual and gore effects are excellent. Muzzle flashes look cool, blood will splatter, and enemies can be burnt, frozen, electrocuted, and blown up, and their bodies will ragdoll. The protagonist can also perform Ruiner kills on downed enemies which are violent finishers and they all look awesome.
For the most part, Ruiner’s pacing is pretty consistent. Going back to the city after completing a level is the only time things really slow down. Every level basically has you going from stage to stage with bounties peppered throughout and a boss at the end. I guess bounties can also be seen as bosses. They’re just specific enemies you need to kill. Every boss is unique with their own behaviors and weapons and you will have to fight certain bosses multiple times. The enemy variety in general is pretty good. New baddies are thrown at you as you progress and the ramp up in challenge is done well. As things get more challenging, you’ll be able to unlock more gadgets and upgrades to help balance things out.
As mentioned earlier, the levels, themselves, are linear. You want to be on the lookout for chests or boxes and specific resources. You’ll have to hack certain things to get them open or to progress and completing certain missions in the city area will grant you access to things in the levels. The levels are pretty straightforward. You go from A to B and shoot all the enemies in between. Typically, you move along narrow paths and when you reach a more open area, that’s when you get locked in and can’t leave until you defeat all the enemies that appear. My only complaint with the levels is that they all kind of look and feel similar.
Ruiner showcases a slick presentation. Some of the character models have a plastic-like look when viewed up close but when viewed from a distance or the normal isometric perspective, everything looks great. The environments are detailed and the lighting and effects help give off dark and moody vibes which I feel is a good fit for the story and world on display. Personally, I think the audiovisual presentation nails the cyberpunk feel the developer is clearly aiming for. The soundtrack consists of ambient, techno, and synthwave tunes that not only fit the theme of the game but also add to the atmosphere. There’s some real kickass songs here. On the technical side, I’m happy to say I did not encounter any major issues.
I had a blast with Ruiner. I wonder if a bigger budget could have resulted in some things being fleshed out more but what’s on offer is still excellent. Ruiner is a wonderfully fun and violent twin-stick shooter. It’s a very stylish game with a slick presentation, dark and moody atmosphere, and fast-paced action. While I feel certain aspects of Ruiner could be expanded upon further, the gameplay, itself, is great. I wish it wasn’t so short but with the scoring system, numerous difficulty levels, New Game+, and the Speedrun and Arena game modes, there’s plenty here to keep players coming back.
I absolutely recommend Ruiner. It’s fun and atmospheric with brutal and satisfying action. It is a bit on the short side and I feel certain aspects could be improved but what’s here makes for a good time and offers a good amount of replay value. If you’re a fan of twin-stick shooters, Ruiner is a game you should definitely check out.