Ruindog Review (PC)

So, there I was, strapped to the teeth in an ill-fitted astronaut suit, incoherently moonwalking across an alien planet and batting away at a seemingly endless stream of bugs of bright yellow and crimson. In my mind, I was the be-all end-all of the ongoing warfare between the humans and the evolving infestation, and the one true candidate who was capable of holding a torch to the slimy banner of which the opposition profusely called their own. I had an infinite supply of ammunition, for one, and a volley of high-powered weapons to guarantee a slew of early victories in the turmoil that was, to my knowledge, the bread and butter of the so-called Ruindog and its casket of sci-fi conflicts.

Ruindog, for those who’ve yet to dip their toes into the latest third-person looter-shooter by Rama Studio, is a comic book-centric action-shooter in which players take to the craters and corridors of a bug-infested planet—a dystopian world that houses a plethora of nasty foes and thrice the quantity of bullets and gadgetry for fledgling warriors to equip and utilize. In this particular world, high-octane warfare is about as common as a three-eyed sorcerer, and it’s your job, as one of the combatants in the field, to wipe the arenas squeaky clean and essentially mop up a few nifty perks and upgrades along the way.

If you’re still loitering over the thought of getting your hands on Rama Studio’s newest arrival, then be sure to read on for a few quick pointers.

A World in Tatters

The concept of the game is all rather elementary: it features a world that’s on the brink of collapse due to an ever-evolving swarm of extraterrestrial creatures—bugs and fickle monsters that possess the raw power to thrive in chaotic environments and reap total havoc on the surrounding ecosystem. It’s here, at the epicenter of the outbreak, that you, a space cadet with a heart for quality loot and alien trophies, will begin your journey to dismantle the world’s questionable populace and become the jack-of-all-trades of hunting. It’s an incredibly simple concept, and one that doesn’t necessarily carve into any convoluted design or narrative choices. Is this a bad thing? No — but I certainly wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s an original idea, either; on the contrary, it’s a premise that we’ve seen hundreds of times before. But hey — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

As far as gameplay goes, Ruindog is spread across several unique maps, all of which feature their own win conditions, weapons, enemies, and abilities. To start out, you begin with a basic choice of primary weapon: SMG, Assault Rifle, or a Shotgun. After you select your weapon, you essentially enter one of several rounds and strive to complete an objective, whether it’s simply surviving for a set amount of time, or defeating enough enemies in order to acquire better gear and loot at the end of each battle. Simply put, you drop into a map that’s teeming with enemies, and play a bit of hooky with the bugs until either one of two things happens: you deplete your ammunition, or reach the end of the countdown timer, after which you collect four rewards from the level and progress to the next portion of the campaign. Simple enough, right? Right.

The Volume of Choices

There are several characters and classes to choose from in the game, all of whom benefit from some form of in-game boon, whether it’s higher speed, elemental damage, or a greater melee attack output. Aside from having the core attributes that tie in with each of the available characters, you also have perks that arrive in the form of milestones—valuable upgrades that can either evolve your abilities, or provide you with additional weapons and other faucets to use against your enemies out on the field. As with any game that adopts a time-based system, each map in Ruindog progressively adds more curveballs to the mix as you carve deeper into the opposition’s forces, which essentially means that, if you do happen to run short on ammunition partway through the level, then your only choice is to survive a little longer to obtain better weapons and attributes.

When it comes to combat, things can, and often do get a little heated—so much, that it’s often difficult to keep tabs on the situation and, above all, your head above water. In a typical situation, you’ll find yourself swarmed by dozens, if not hundreds of enemy mobs, at which point your best chance of survival is to strafe in a circular motion and lay waste to your targets with whatever ammunition you can spare. And that’s sort of what Ruindog centers itself around: action-packed arena battles that simply refuse to let up on the gas pedal from the moment you drop into the field, to the second you depart and make way with the loot. It’s all a bit manic, is what I’m saying, and so, if you are relatively new to bullet-sweltering pandemonium on a global scale, then you might struggle to roll with these punches.

Don’t Stop the Flow

Ruindog isn’t the most graphically impressive third-person shooter on the market, I’ll say that much. With that said, it does bring a certain degree of excitement to the table in its weirdly compelling cel-shaded form, and it’s mostly thanks to its inclusion of comic book-esque visual effects and transitions. It’s as if Borderlands had a baby with Risk of Rain; there’s a certain silliness to it all, and it takes great pride in being a little extreme in its simplicity. Granted, it isn’t the easiest of thing to keep track of — particularly in moments that involve having to deal with hundreds of enemies simultaneously with little to no room to budge or operate. But, weirdly, that’s half of the fun: sprawling about on a map and firing off rounds in a desperate attempt to whittle down a few more gains of sand in the hourglass. It’s simple, true — but effective.

Thankfully, the game does also play incredibly well, too; it doesn’t struggle to maintain a constant flow of frames, nor does it suffer from any unwanted bugs (if you’ll pardon the pun) or technical issues, either. Of course, I can only comment on the five or six hours that I spent playing it. It could be, then, that extended hours of play would result in a few more mishaps — but that’s just speculation at this point, and in no way, shape, or form, a solid reason to avoid it altogether.

Verdict

If you enjoyed a solid portion of Risk of Rain—so much, even, that you’d be willing to throw yourself into the thick of an alternate tide that leans on a lot of the same components and technical wizardry, then it’s highly likely that you’ll fall head over heels in love with just about everything that makes up Ruindog. It isn’t a “new” game by any stretch, as it does feature a tremendous amount of the same elements as its peers, but, in all fairness, this isn’t to say that it’s a crime; in fact, it still manages to find its own identity through its unique characteristics, terrains, and mechanisms. Is it the best third-person indie shooter on the current market? Eh — it certainly isn’t the worst we’ve ever seen.

Of course, there are several issues that do need addressing here: the lack of transparency in its dialogue and context, for example. As this is, indeed, a Westernized version of a Chinese game there are a number of language variants that often fail to connect with one another; for example, certain sentences in the global edition are often squashed together, or, in some worst case scenarios, incomplete — to the point of being either unreadable or beyond comprehension. This isn’t a major issue, given the fact that the bulk of the gameplay itself is all rather self-explanatory and by-the-books — but even still, it’s worth pointing out, as it can be a bit of a headache, especially when you’re just starting out with the basics.

Language barriers cast aside for a moment, Ruindog is, in all honesty, a very clean and addictive third-person shooter, and one that has more than enough in-game incentives and depth to persuade anyone with a heart for mindless mayhem and, you know, bugs, to explore it.