Ripout

• PUBLISHER: Pet Project Games
• DEVELOPER: 3D Realms
• PLATFORMS: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
• GENRE: FPS
• RELEASE DATE: October 24, 2023
• STARTING PRICE: 24,99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Pet Project Games can boast of having a very well-crafted, unique and polished title like Ripout in their portfolio. It is a game that combines exploration and looting of spaceships with shooter elements, and there are also rouge-like elements where the maps are procedurally generated as are the missions. What makes this title unique from the others is that it contains a Pet Gun, that is, a rifle that can attack enemies in addition to being used for shooting. Of course, the features don't end there. It can be said that Ripout is a bit more demanding to play in terms of its difficulty, there is a lot to grasp, that is, it will take you a certain amount of time to understand how the game works and only then does the real fun begin.

The atmosphere is superb

The atmosphere in this game is eerie, terrifying, just as it should be because you never know what can jump out in front of you or above you, be it space dogs, large mutants or simply an infected crew that can "awaken" at any moment even though they look dead. In fact, don't forget taht you are exploring a spaceship ravaged by mutants, and you'll never get enough of the gloomy images and strange sounds. As I mentioned, the game is quite well polished, with almost no bugs; the graphics are really nice, the world is full of details, and the parts of the map we go through make logical sense. All this is made with a lot of motivation and dedication, and the longer you play, the more you will fall in love with this game.

Missions and maps are procedurally generated

Exploration and mission solving in this game is linear. There aren't too many complications, you get one main mission that you have to reach by solving secondary ones, that is, when you enter a new area of the spaceship, you will always be given a new task. Missions are procedurally generated and will vary very often, whether you have to collect energy cells, open a vent in a certain time period or destroy marked enemies. The main mission is always one, for example, the killed engineer has very important information, you need to get to him, take what you need and return back to the ship.

Maps also vary and are procedurally generated. Some will be smaller and some bigger, you can see this when you take the missions that you will solve in your main ship, next to them there is a number that indicates the difficulty and the amount of content that awaits you. Also, we have several different sectors in the game. You start with slightly easier maps, you have a certain amount of missions and quests that you have to solve, and when you do that, you go to another sector that becomes more difficult until the very end. Each sector has its own story. Plus, all missions and maps are replayable, give different loot after completing them, and it's even more fun to explore the entire spaceship.

Looting and exploring is fun

Apart from solving missions in the foreground, collecting resources is also very important. There are five resources, from biotic, electronic and mechanical components to the defined alloy component and the one that is the most difficult to obtain, the goran component. Each one is used for a different type of upgrade and crafting. Some are used for making weapons, others for weapon modifications or for equipment and cosmetics. You will mostly combine them all and you will always have enough resources for everything. These resources are found while exploring the spaceship, when killing enemies that can drop them, and by unlocking crates or hidden rooms. They are scattered all over the map and they will always be visually marked so that you know exactly where they are, so it is very important that you explore every corner of the map so that you don't miss anything. That's the charm of the game, you're not limited, and you have plenty of time to explore everything.

There are not many enemies, but each one is special

As I mentioned earlier, during gameplay you will always have the same enemies, and most often they will differ by sector. Sometimes you'll only have an infected crew, sometimes you might encounter a slimy creature that throws bombs at you, or you might be engulfed by a huge mutated creature that acts like a mini-boss, meaning it takes a while to kill it and deals massive damage. The worst situation is if a large number of them come at you at the same time, which has happened, then your skills and what weapons you have play the main role. Each enemy is a special challenge in itself and they have weak points that if you hit give more damage, mostly it is the head or some special section that is always visible. In addition, the environment is also an enemy, there is a possibility to activate, let's call it a blue/black portal that pushes you towards the middle, that is, swallows you, deals a lot of damage and you cannot save yourself from it, but that's why you have time to react in time to avoid it.

The Pet Gun is the main feature, but there are other "guns" as well

Our Pet Gun is the main feature we will use during gameplay. In addition to being able to command him to attack enemies, that is, to jump on them, immobilize them and do a huge amount of damage, the Pet Gun can scan the area and deal a certain amount of "team damage" if you play cooperatively. It is very useful to throw it constantly because you have a secondary weapon at your disposal, and you can carry an axe or baton. However, melee combat isn't the best. These types of fights should always be avoided because the enemies deal a lot of damage and you can't always find HP cells. Also, we have at our disposal a large range of weapons such as laser gun, shotgun or long gun, of course, there are more, you just need to unlock them and find the scheme for them.

Furthermore, different types of "pets" can be found in spaceships that you can pick up and use only during that gameplay. For example, you have one that shoots lasers, another that can heal you, a third that throws out a spider web to stop enemies, a fourth that throws bombs, etc. However, these pets can also go against you and link up to your enemies who then get the same benefits as you. For example, that giant mutant can hold five of them, shoot lasers at the same time, have a shield that protects him from bullets, or make it impossible for your Pet Gun to attack him. Another feature worth mentioning is that you can upgrade the Pet Gun and yourself as you play through a special computer that you can find in each section of the map. This is where the rougelite elements come in, which give you the ability to regenerate stamina faster, have more energy, to be able to cast Pet Guns more often or to deal more damage, all of this is done randomly, you have no choice but to take what is best for you at that moment.

Spin de Ville

Besides finding most of the things while exploring, you can also spin the wheel and try your luck, who knows what you might get. The first time you die, you can respawn, and there are also respawn computers you can find during gameplay to cheat the system again. I mostly played singleplayer, but I had the opportunity to try multiplayer as well. Several of you can play on one map, so you are not forced to play this masterpiece alone, and there is also difficulty scaling so that the game is not too simple and easy if there are more players. Your character's appearance can be changed by the clothes they wear, which you also unlock and craft, and which give certain bonuses. Everything in the game is made to work with each other, it's just very important to know how to use everything the game offers us.

If you were to ask me, I would give the game a clean five, however, Ripout has a few things that hold this game back. First of all, you have no real ways to avoid enemies, you simply have to be faster than them, that is, you can run and try to kill them as soon as possible. In some moments, it could happen that the game really punishes you. Secondly, some elements of the game, such as the environment, are too poor. There is a possibility that you have to turn on or off the lights in the rooms, there are broken electrical cables that discharge electricity so they can give you damage or exhaust toxic gas that you can't really walk through but you have to duck to avoid it, but that's not enough. As the third and last, the sectors do not bring much variety as expected: they bring us different enemies and more difficult maps, but in principle everything else is the same. Ripout is a very fun title, there's a lot to it, everything is combined into one meaningful piece, and the price is quite solid for a title like this.