- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: Sep 26, 2017
- Also On: PC, Switch, Xbox One
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Playstation Official Magazine UKNov 22, 2017A roughhouse riot when you find its rhythm, alternating between bloody attacks and essential damage avoidance, Ruiner may be little more than the sum of its parts, but what parts they are. [Dec 2017, p.97]
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Oct 9, 2017Ruiner offers a particularly demanding gameplay, with very cool gun fights that will surely satisfy hardcore twin stick shooter fans. Unfortunately, the visuals are very repetitive, and the story is nearly as much absent as the multiplayer mode.
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Sep 29, 2017As striking as RUINER is with its bold visuals and violent gameplay, the effect initially wears off pretty quickly thanks to some very repetitive level design. Stick with it though and the game's varied arsenal and multitude of upgrading options give it some depth and make the core shooting action stand out from the crowd.
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Sep 26, 2017Ruiner feels like a fantastic slice of action orbited by a bunch of mediocre elements, so the experience never coalesces into something truly exceptional. However, that gameplay is solid enough to prop up this bloody sci-fi adventure, even if it never amounts to anything more than forgettable fun.
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Oct 16, 2017Ruiner has some great set pieces and a dark, bleak world that I would normally gravitate towards. Yet when the dystopian renders everyone inhabiting it to be as relatable as raw sewage, there was little for me to latch onto. Maybe you’ll find the world of Ruiner to be more bearable than I did, but even the best films of the genre have a glimmer of hope for the audience to cling to, something Ruiner is devoid of.
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Oct 9, 2017This feeling of style over substance largely describes Ruiner in total — the aesthetics are on point, but style alone can’t carry a game. It’s a shame that it fizzles out so soon after starting, but I’m left with the sense that this studio will be turning out great things in the future… they’re just not quite there yet. If their next project manages to bring gameplay as rich as their visuals, it’ll be a real crackerjack.
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Sep 26, 2017Fighting my way through Ruiner felt like work, and if I weren’t obligated to finish it for the review I probably wouldn’t have bothered. It’s too bad it focuses on being difficult over being fun, because the combat totally works when you’re given access to the full range of weaponry and gadgets and can finally stand up to the nearly endless waves of varied enemies thrown at you. This one is definitely better the second time around. Games should be fun right from when you hit the start button – that’s kind of the whole point – but Ruiner puts you through too much of a hazing ritual to get there.
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Sep 26, 2017While falling into a genre saturated with thousands of titles, Ruiner is a shoot ‘em up like few others. Sure, it’s not as fast paced as most, and it features far fewer enemies than the norm, but it’s a game that requires precision, calculation and a hell of a lot of patience. The number of upgrades and abilities to play around with make it worth playing through to the end but it’s ruined (get it?) by a short campaign, and repetitive levels. If it were to feature a well-executed endless/survival mode the play re-play factor might have increased slightly but in its current form you’re unlikely to play this more than once. Only drop coin on this if you’re a huge fan of the genre.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 42 out of 59
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Mixed: 9 out of 59
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Negative: 8 out of 59
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Sep 28, 2017
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Sep 29, 2017Great cyberpunk adventure! Super dynamic combat system, beautiful graphics, fat beat and crazy creeps. This is a new quality in top down action games!
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Oct 5, 2017