Challenging dystopian future twin-sticks shooter

RUINER is a twin-sticks shooter set in a dystopian cyberpunk world. The story follows the efforts of a crazed madman to find his brother with guidance from a mysterious voice known only as ‘Her’.

Future insanity

RUINER is an action first style game. The brutal twin-sticks combat is deliberately intense and, at first, unforgiving. Deaths are frequent as the player follows the fairly linear level progression. Walking down a hallway leads to a locked room filled with enemies which once defeated leads to another corridor and so on. There is a hub world of sorts which looks impressive in a dark, neon-lit futuristic style, but there is little of anything to actually do. Despite this lack of real plot or immersive world, RUINER succeeds due to the range of abilities, interesting skill point system and great techno score. While it won’t be for all players, those who are a fan of either challenging combat or the dystopian theme will enjoy their time within the world, even if it is a little short at around ten hours with no new game plus.

Middle of the road

RUINER is a fairly average twin-sticks shooter with a couple of well-designed extra features. The lack of overall length and punishing depth may deter some for different reasons.