Review: RUINER (PlayStation 4)

RUINER is a brutal action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok. A wired sociopath lashes out against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother under the guidance of a secretive hacker friend.

Pros:

• Stunning graphics that are almost cell shaded in appearance but have so much detail.
• Three difficulties-Easy, Normal and Hard.
• Cyberpunk atmosphere, It is dripping in an almost hypnotic cyberpunk world. It is so hard not to fall in love with Rengkok, The hub world.
• Soundtrack is easily one of the best soundtracks in a game in the last 10 years.
• Tutorial.
• Platinum trophy.
• 14.78GB Download size.
• Autosaves regularly.
• Action shooter gameplay.
• Combat- you can shoot weapons, Use abilities and melee.
• Weapons- So many to pick up and find in the game from flame throwers to Katanas to rocket launchers, Pistols, Baseball bats and grenades.
• Loot- Weapons again but they have a coloured aura akin to Diablo 3 loot which gives you a visual clue to how rare or powerful the weapon is.
• Crates- Find and break crates for bonus Karma.
• Karma- Used as your EXP. You earn Karma from crates and killig enemies.
• Massive skill tree. Unlock parts of the tree as you level up. You can assign and unassign points at will. Items on the skill tree are things like deflect shots, Recharge health faster or have grenades. It really changes the game up.
• Weapon grinder- Once you clear a section out a weapon grinder will come in. It will grind any weapons on the floor and turn them into Karma, If you grind enought then a bonus weapon drop can happen.
• UI is clear and shows what ability is assigned to which button.
• Plays like a twin stick beat em come shoot em up.
• Combat is brutal, Blood everywhere but man it is so good and satisfying.
• Big boss fight set pieces.
• Energy- Used for executing your moves like dodge or shield.
• Story is a gripping non stop action filled orgy of violence.
• End of fight section breakdowns with kill count, Karma earned and an overall rank.
• Game is frantic but fair.
• Cut scenes are of a triple A game standard.
• Health and energy refill points.
• Hub world allows you to walk around and soak up the atmosphere whilst taking part in any side mission quests. You can talk with NPC and watch the living world play out.
• Get overall upgrades as you progress through the game.
• Combat levels take place in an almost dungeon crawler type scenario. You make your way from room to room and get locked in an area until you clear out the room.
• Quick restarts.
• The atmosphere, It has to be said multiple times as it is so intoxicating.
• When you get a target the image of them flashes up on screen in a hacked screen type of way.
• Many enemy types from bruisers to fast movers and flamers.
• Controls are very easy to pick up and learn.
• Hack- can hack weapon caches and doors by tapping in a sequence of button presses in the time limit.

Cons:

• Few random hard crashes happened.
• No proper speech instead opting for more text based conversations.
• A lot of red!
• Boss fights can be real tough as you work them out.