RUINER

GRUNGY STREETS, HACKABLE MAINFRAMES AND ETHICAL AMBIGUITY.

From $24.95 | PC, PS4, XO | ruinergame.com If you’re a fan of games like Hotline Miami or Hyper

Light Drifter, prepare to meet their cyberpunkobsessed teenage son. Ruiner is a title that’s isometric, ultra-violent and unapologetically drenched in the neo-noir aesthetic found in ‘80s classics like Blade Runner and Neuromancer. The hint of cel-shading in the art brings to life the graphic-novel grit of the environment, and the grungy, industrial soundtrack enhances that setting without relying on tropes.

With a combination of a melee and ranged weapon at hand, you’re given your first objective — KILL BOSS — which is indicative of the arcade action that forms the core of the game. Despite the brief pauses between all-in brawls and the downtime you spend in hub areas, Ruiner spends most of its time testing your mettle in unrelenting combat.

While the action is fast-paced, it requires healthy doses of both strategy and fast reflexes, as you chain together different skills, dashes and attacks. Thankfully, you don’t have to settle on a single play-style; you’re able to reset and redistribute character points to favour differing abilities — like shields and dodging or weapon buffs and grenades — at will.

Ruiner is rich, rewarding and punishing if you want it to be, but for lovers of the setting and the style, this is a compelling concoction that deftly straddles the line between pleasure and pain.