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1507870cookie-checkRuiner Annihilation Free Update Adds New Skins, Arena Mode, New Fatalities
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2018/02

Ruiner Annihilation Free Update Adds New Skins, Arena Mode, New Fatalities

An underrated gem of 2017 was the hardcore hack-and-slash game, Ruiner, from Reikon Games and Devolver Digital. The game came out for home consoles and PC, featuring a dark, disturbing cyberpunk world where people are used as meatbags for rich and slaves for the corporations. The isometric action game slipped under many a gamer’s radar, but Reikon is hoping to recapture some attention with the free Annihilation update that brings an all new game mode and new weapons and finishers to the game.

The Annihilation update adds some all new skins to unlock for the Puppy – two new outfits, in fact. You can earn them by completing certain challenges in the all new Arena: Colosseum mode. This will give gamers some extra to play after beating the main game and zipping through the speedrun mode.

Reikon also made it where you can switch on and switch off the snow mode, and they’ve added two new achievements and four new finishing moves. I don’t know if the finishing moves are all that special given that they mostly useful for getting out of a tight bind and planning your next kill move.

You can see some of the new content in action with the Annihilation update trailer below.

It’s a pretty significant thing to add free content to the game without settling for making it DLC. Most AAA titles use the excuse that there’s no way that free content can be added to a game that made $1 billion because all the devs are starving and the publisher can barely afford to keep the lights on.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Ruiner. It’s a hardcore throwback to a bygone era where characters were violent and unrepentant; where villains didn’t mind hacking up bodies to get what they wanted; and where everyone got a good comeuppance where they deserved it. There’s obviously still some elements of an empowered female (sort of) but the man driving the blade and wielding the gun gets it done with one good hand and a cybernetic arm.

There’s a cache of satisfying kills to be had throughout Ruiner, and the atmosphere is steeped in cyberpunk style. Reikon’s artists had a field day creating a very dangerous and violently intoxicating world that is both frightfully grotesque and intriguingly gorgeous.

Those with a palate attuned for the sweet taste of isometric violence will likely enjoy Ruiner and the free Annihilation update. You can pick up a digital copy over on GOG.com or the Steam store, along with it being available on Xbox One and PS4 as a digital download. During the update’s release you can also get the game for 50% off, making it available for only $9.99 for a limited time.

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