Ripout, the proven roguelike shooter like no other

Testing dozens of video games a year often encounters games that aren’t original, but they still hold their own dignity as well-made replicas or simple variations of a popularly appreciated theme. Recently, roguelike games of all genres have proliferated: from pure role-playing games to hybrid platforms to FPS, probably because a similar structure allows you to extend the duration of a game without having to invest millions of dollars. resource creation. In some cases they come out of real jewellery, in others they come out of titles that smell of derivatives from a mile away and seem to have little to say.

we therefore Tried Ripout to find out which of the two categories it belongs to.

game mechanics

First, we are asked to follow a short tutorial in which we explain the basic mechanics of the game. Ripout is basically an extremely classic first-person shooter. rogue to spice everything up. Given that there are dozens of similar games on the market right now, the formula isn’t particularly original, but there are certainly some intriguing elements.

The show area (a long corridor) explains how to move and shoot, then how to use it. interference we carry with us (the most original mechanics of the game): after pressing the scan button of the area surrounding the hero, the target to be attacked by our cute friend is determined. We will have different effects depending on the objective: enemies will suffer more or less consistent damage depending on the bonuses we collect during the mission, some creatures will be summoned and true secondary weapons that can be used until they are exhausted. Thus, for example, we will be able to throw biological bombs or very powerful energy discharges. Consider that some hostile creatures can do the same thing, i.e. they can use their smaller companions as weapons and become much more dangerous than they are basic.

As mentioned earlier, the use interference It is definitely the most original feature of Ripout and for the rest it runs on well-known tracks. After the training you find yourself in a space base that acts as a hub area where you can carry out various operations, first of all choosing weapons for a mission (in demo: assault rifle, shotgun and sniper rifle). ). In addition to the interference mentioned above, the hero will always carry a pistol with him and the classic hand-to-hand weapon that is indispensable when running out of ammunition: this way he will never be completely disarmed. You can access the next task from the hub area. We think there will be a choice in this regard in the final version, but in the demo we were only given a chance.

We embarked on a new mission where we found ourselves inside a large space base. enemies. We actually only encountered two types of enemies: mutant robot dogs and cybernetic-infused crooked monsters. It was very dark and we made heavy use of the classic flashlight. The map itself did not particularly impress us: it consisted of many procedurally generated, interconnected parts. The problem is that while Ripout isn’t graphically ugly (actually the opposite), the environments are somewhat unorganized and the sense of randomness is very strong. Even the targets to follow do not help in this sense, because they are all one-of-a-kind: killing enemies, finding a certain number of corpses, accessing a certain number of terminals, etc.

in terms of interactionsMoreover, the environments are very bad. There are doors that divide parts of the levels, there are upgrade stations that let you choose one of three improvements (more damage with weapons, more damage with noise, more resistance to damage and things like that), and quest objects that offer unique interactions however. For the rest, just shoot. You occasionally come across explosive barrels that can be used to inflict more damage on enemies, but that’s really all.

Speaking of hits, Ripout has many other first-person shooter issues with a roguelike progression: the enemies are bullet sponges. Especially monsters whose attacks are often impossible to evade. It’s definitely a way to increase combat, but it also creates little tactical variety because the point is to deal as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. So, basically, you shoot with everything you have and use the parasite several times until the enemy dies, retreating when needed. The hope is that with more enemies in the final version, there will be a wide variety of tactics to be used to make the action less obvious and ultimately less monotonous.