''Ruiner'' is a
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...
twin-stick shooter video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by Reikon Games and published by
Devolver Digital
Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...
. It was released for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on 26 September 2017 and for
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
on 18 June 2020.
Gameplay
''Ruiner'' is a
shoot 'em up played from an
isometric perspective
Isometric video game graphics are graphics employed in video games and pixel art that use a parallel projection, but which angle the viewpoint to reveal facets of the environment that would otherwise not be visible from a top-down perspective ...
.
The game takes place in 2091 and is set in a
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...
metropolis known as Rengkok.
The player takes control of a silent, masked protagonist who attempts to rescue their kidnapped brother from a failing conglomerate, known as Heaven, that controls Rengkok.
Plot
''Ruiner'' takes place in 2091 in Rengkok and its surrounding facilities, owned by Heaven, a conglomerate led by a man referred to in-game as the Boss. Initially the player character, a silent protagonist dubbed "Puppy" by another character, is being led by a rogue hacker named Wizard to assassinate the Boss. Before he reaches the Boss's office, the signal from Wizard to the protagonist is overridden by another hacker known only as Her. Her explains to Puppy that Wizard was contracted by another group and that his brother has been kidnapped, and urges him to track Wizard down. She leads him to a territory filled with Creeps, a group of psychotic gangsters led by a swordsman named Nerve. After fighting his way through the Creeps' territory, Nerve challenges Puppy to a duel and is defeated in battle. Earning the Creeps' leadership, they find Wizard and hack into his brain, killing him in the process and leading them to the Hanza Compound, a factory that manufactures machine parts. Her tracks Puppy's brother down with a signal leading to him.
They are greeted by armed guards and the angry
AI that manages the compound, Mother. Puppy fights his way through the Hanza facility and fights against mercenaries hired by TrafficKing, a cyborg in the form of a UFO-like device piloted by a human head, who runs the facility alongside Mother and presumably contracted Wizard. As he follows the signal that leads to his brother, Puppy battles Mother and then TrafficKing, hacking his brain to reveal where his brother is being taken; the Imagination Farms, which use human beings as hosts to lend brainpower for running Virtuality, a
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
device that Heaven manufactures and sells to civilians. As TrafficKing has clearance for entering these areas, Puppy and Her kidnap him to gain access to the farms.
Puppy, led by Her and accompanied by the tamed TrafficKing, scour the Imagination Farms for his brother's signal, and are confronted by Geminus, a dual-personality cyborg that presents itself as two twin sisters that act as host to Mother. TrafficKing has been working for Geminus and it has been established that they were using Wizard to form a
coup to overthrow the Boss and control Heaven. TrafficKing dies after begrudgingly helping Puppy through overheated obstacles, burning to death. Puppy confronts Geminus but is attacked by the resurrected TrafficKing, now controlling a humanoid cyborg body. Puppy kills him and battles Geminus, killing both sisters and finally finding the mechanical pod that holds his brother.
Upon approaching it, a cutscene showing two small children leaving the facility plays, and the game cuts back to Heaven, where Puppy is restrained in a jumpsuit as two guards and the Boss, who wears a mask identical to Puppy's, approach him. The Boss reveals that Puppy was only being used for spare parts due to their biological similarity, and that he was hacked by Wizard as he could potentially be anywhere the Boss could be. Her is an independent hacker contracted by the Boss to hack Puppy and make him believe he had a brother who was kidnapped, thus leading him back to the Boss while also exterminating the people who attempted to overthrow him. The Boss remarks that he will keep Puppy closer to him, when Her makes a reappearance and reveals that she is not human and has been tricking the Boss since their agreement; she has led Puppy to Heaven to kill the Boss. Her advises Puppy to 'meet her where heaven falls' if he survives. He escapes his restraints and kills many of the Boss's guards before finally approaching the Boss himself, and, depending on a dialogue prompt, will either bludgeon him with his weapon or hack his brain. The ending shows Puppy riding away on his motorcycle to an unknown destination.
Development and release
''Ruiner'' was developed by Polish indie game studio Reikon Games and published by
Devolver Digital
Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...
.
The game was released for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on 26 September 2017.
A
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
version was released on June 18, 2020.
Reception
Critical reception towards ''Ruiner'' was generally positive.
Omri Pettite of
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
stated that "''Ruiner'' is gorgeous, a sensory feast inspired by the works of cyberpunk's 1980s heyday, in which a silent, masked protagonist travels through the nightscapes and industrial jungles of a grit-tech 2091. Underneath, a thumping top-down action game delivers sword-sharp combat, the familiarity of its design offset by the constant urge to simply stand still and drink everything in."
Notes
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://ruinergame.com/
2017 video games
Cyberpunk video games
Devolver Digital games
Dystopian video games
Linux games
MacOS games
Twin-stick shooters
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Shooter games
Single-player video games
Video games developed in Poland
Video games with isometric graphics
Windows games
Xbox One games