Ruiner is momentum. The art drives the story, the story drives the setting, the setting drives the music, and the music drives the combat. Which in and of itself, needs none of the above. There are other very cool elements to be found from the versatile progression system to the way in which the boss battles evolve and really put your skills to the sent. And there are stretches where the momentum lags and cues are repeated. But with the sound turned up, the lights drawn, and your eyes firmly watching each enemy movement and background detail come to life there’s nothing better. Ruiner gets it. And I love it.

Ruiner is a truly magnificent ode to Akira and Ghost in the Shell. It builds a brilliant world with a lot of narrative undertones for you to grasp, should you wish to. The physical ultra-violence is only the entry point to the dystopian atmosphere of the game. All the gameplay elements are complex enough without being overbearing to the player. You'll find yourself easily juggling through skills while you deliver carnage. In Ruiner, everything seems to have fallen into place: artistically, narratively, technically. Give it a go, you'll be amazed at how good it is.

RUINER is a great game. It’s polished, offers a unique world and some solid combat mechanics. Although it doesn’t necessarily revolutionize the twin-stick shooter, RUINER’S attention to story, graceful and synergistic combat and pacing set it apart from many of its brethren. Fan of the genre or not, RUINER is a game to keep on your radar.

RUINER is a spectacular and harsh action game. It doesn't ask if you like to hurt other people - you just have to do it.

A solid cyberpunk action game that has exceptional gun and melee based combat taking place in a beautifully fleshed out world that it, unfortunately, doesn't utilize to its full potential. It may not be perfect but I can wholeheartedly recommend RUINER if you are looking for a good challenge or a game that would fit perfectly in a dark room with your headphones cranked to maximum.

Ruiner’s budget presentation does little to sully what is otherwise a challenging, addictive and sublime twin-stick shooter experience. Whether you’re head-hunting a particularly nasty criminal, taking on a group of cyborgs or arduously battling against a fearsome boss, Ruiner is action-packed, stylish as hell and fucking awesome. In fact, it just might be one of the most memorable experiences I’ve played this year. Just play it on PC if you can though, yeah?

RUINER is a tight experience that transcends its inspirations and becomes an experience of its own.

RUINER is surely a title not suitabile for everyone because of its top-down shooter mechanics; it's easy to learn, but very, very hard to master. The solid cyberpunk setting gives the game a dark-neon atmosphere that perfectly fits around the gameplay: this should be enough to turn on the attention of the genre lovers.

With no one single way to finish a level and constantly changing enemies, the game’s intense electronic soundtrack will get your adrenaline pumping as you slice, dice, and blow your enemies into pieces.

Dazzling, dangerous, and dripping in style, Ruiner is a superb, if short, whirlwind of cyber-violence and sightseeing.

A great action game, well balanced and with a unique personality. It's not very long, but we've enjoyed it, and we think any fan of this genre will too.

Over-the-top and frequently overwhelming, Ruiner might be the first cyberpunk game to give an inkling of what it’d be like to have a deluge of sensory stimuli downloaded directly into your head. A guilty pleasure, and a damn good twin-stick shooter to boot.

Devolver Digital hits the target one more time. Ruiner is a really solid game, with great personality and gameplay.

Ruiner features an extremely fun and exciting combat alongside various weapon types, satisfying boss fights and tons of other stuff. But all in all, it is the games incredibly engaging atmosphere that makes the difference.

Fast-paced and extremely brutal cyberpunk smasher with excellent visuals. The higher difficulty is compensated by a wide arsenal of weapons and perks, which can be freely configured on the fly. Pity, the environment offers relatively small variability, and sometimes the clashes are just extremely confusing.

[Recommended]

Cyberpunk enjoyment full of blood and decadence. An audio-visual feast goes hand in hand with a sophisticated gameplay, which detracts only more or less negligible problems. [Issue#279]

Ruiner creates a future teeming with interesting concepts, fascinating people and hidden despair. But it is the combat which stands front and centre. Through the endless bodies that fall by your hand, the grim layers of the story peel away to reveal a few surprises about the meaning of life, death and revenge. It is a revealing journey that's well worth taking but it is apparent from the opening scene to the mysterious finale, the only thing that is pure and absolute in the world of Ruiner is murder.

Even if you don’t go back to the game after finishing it once, there’s plenty in that four-hour experience for you to enjoy. RUINER is a no brainer if you are interested in fast-paced action games that require real skill to truly perfect.

RUINER is a game that wins the player with its very well done cyberpunk style, a gameplay system based on speed and a sweet violence aura that is everywhere. A great game that is one of this year best surprises.

Despite a bit of a hurdle when it comes to difficulty at the beginning, Ruiner is quite the addictive action game, one with a lot of variety in its combat that packs a lot of experimentation into a small package. The visuals are amazing when it comes to depicting the grittiness of Rengkok, the characters and enemies are well-designed, and the speedy gameplay works exquisitely, perfectly capturing the feel of a futuristic action film. The more you get involved, the more you discover just how much of a blast it is, so give it a shot. Seriously, the ice sword alone is worth it. I love you, fox blade.

So if you want a healthy dose of style and don’t mind potentially rage quitting every now and then when faced with a boss battle then this should be right up your alley. Also, I’m keen to see how the cosplay community go with that helmet because it is pretty darn awesome!

With its brutal, agile combat and engrossing slice of cyberpunk existence, you'll desperately want Ruiner to keep the story going.

Ruiner is a fast isometric shooter. Frenetic. With a good handful of playable possibilities that offer variety in action, although it can sometimes be repetitive. Exploring its city Rengkok and its cyberpunk history of hackers and street gangs helps to bring a little more variety to the set.

Reikon Games’ greatest achievement is that they managed to infuse this simple twin-stick shooter with more atmosphere than majority of expansive AAA games can offer. The game looks amazing and the soundtrack is superb. So is the satisfying, brutal combat. Unfortunately difficulty levels were balanced absurdly – you either face no challenge at all or repeatedly bang your head against a wall. I was also disappointed by the fact that the game promises more than it delivers (the city acting as a hub turned out to be just a hollow shell) and becomes tedious due to primitive design of final levels. [12/2017, p.41]

Ruiner is a good action game with a great background, but also with some flaws.

Ruiner won't be a revolution in video games but it doesn't aim for that. Instead, it tries to explore the violent isometric shooter adding a lovely cyberpunk aesthetic as well as gallons of blood. An average heir to Hotline Miami.

Ruiner is a fun and fast twin stick shooter that ends all too soon and leaves you asking way too many questions.

Ruiner's cyberpunk carnage and soundtrack evoke Hotline Miami, even if the gameplay doesn't quite measure up. It's a spectacle, but it's over too soon.

Ruiner is a dizzying affair in combat, offering tons of things for players to consider as music pounds their senses. However, a lack of weapon impact, fights that often feel too similar, and a lifeless world takes away from its appeal.

A brutal, chaotic top-down shooter that offers great focused gameplay but little else.

Not without some significant problems, Ruiner is still a satisfyingly difficult slice of twin stick grimdorkness. [Issue#267, p.73]

Ruiner is a competent top down sci-fi shooter that boasts an emphasis on difficultly, but a lacking in story. The gameplay sells it, for sure, just don't be shocked when the plot doesn't draw you in.

When a game is purposely difficult solely due to the amount of overpowered enemies it can throw at you, it makes for an unsatisfying experience. This blended with clunky gameplay only amplified my disappointment. I would not be surprised if someone stopped playing twenty minutes into Ruiner with its uninviting gameplay.

Ruiner has an amazing soundtrack and cool action, but when it comes to gameplay this is not a surprising game. The setting makes us long for more, especially combined with the black humor, but the gameplay is too repetitive to really enjoy it.

A game that’s far more pleasing to look at than to actually play. [Issue#226, p.67]

Ruiner has lofty ambitions but its frustrating, non-stop combat gets in the way.

Skills and arsenal are the only bright spots in this otherwise uninspired linear romp.

Fighting my way through Ruiner felt like work, and if I weren’t obligated to finish it for the review I probably wouldn’t have bothered. It’s too bad it focuses on being difficult over being fun, because the combat totally works when you’re given access to the full range of weaponry and gadgets and can finally stand up to the nearly endless waves of varied enemies thrown at you. This one is definitely better the second time around. Games should be fun right from when you hit the start button – that’s kind of the whole point – but Ruiner puts you through too much of a hazing ritual to get there.

In the genre of top-down action games there are far more competent choices. Ruiner seems to be over the top hard just for the sake of being hard, neglecting in the process to incorporate satisfying melee or shooting gameplay. Moreover, it may have the looks, thanks to the use of Unreal Engine 4, but its factory focused environments are extremely tiresome.

RUINER ruins its own explosive presentation and promising combat with poorly thought-out difficulty and incomplete narrative and gameplay concepts.