Absolver And RUINER Previews – Devolver Digital At PAX East 2017

We played two of Devolver Digital’s upcoming games at PAX East: the in-depth multiplayer fighter Absolver and the brutal action shooter RUINER.

As usual, the indie game publisher Devolver Digital had a strong showing at PAX East 2017. Which makes sense considering how PAX has become a sort of breeding ground for indie video games. This year, we got the chance to demo two of their upcoming two titles: the complicated, martial arts based fighting game Absolver, and the brutal top-down shooter RUINER.

Absolver

Devolver’s primary focus at PAX East this year was Absolver, and for good reason. This martial-arts themed combat RPG provides a unique take on online multiplayer gaming. For comparison’s sake, Absolver is as if for For Honor was a player-driven MMO and utilized more complicated combat mechanics.

From what we saw during our demo, Absolver will have a dedicated PvP mode for solo duels or 3v3 battles. But its primary game mode is essentially one big free-for-all lobby filled with NPCs and other players. It’s up to the players to decide how they want to interact with each other and the environment around them. Do you want to try to kill everyone around you? Or would you rather venture out with a group to take down some tough bosses? Or maybe you want to find a mentor to teach you new moves?

That’s right, Absolver has laid the groundwork for an in-game dojo system. The game features a unique progression system that is more than just experience points. Absolver treats experience not as a number, but as literal experience. When you experience an attack you’ve never seen before, you get a little indicator that that was a previously unseen move (like a martial arts Pokedex).

Once you find a way to parry or block that attack and defeat the enemy using it, you will then learn the move for yourself. This lends itself to a player-driven mentor system, where you can befriend other players who can help teach you new attacks. As you might expect, trusting others will be a major aspect (or flaw) of Absolver in this open free-for-all-mode. I also worry that being a multiplayer-focused game, server population could potentially be problematic.

At its core, Absolver is a fighting game and an in-depth one at that. Your character can be one of three archetypes that focus on either parrying, dodging, or attacking. Absolver gives you an absurd amount of freedom as to how your attacks are setup, all customizable in your character’s “Combat Deck.” You can choose how different moves will flow into each other, enabling a wide variety of punch+kick combos that rotate between four tactical fighting stances.

Absolver‘s customization doesn’t stop there either. Combined with weapons (which have their own loadouts), gear with varying speed and weight stats, and special abilities and spells such as healing, Absolver features an intricate combat personalization system. You won’t win just based on your loadout, though: the combat favors perfect timing and strategic move decisions. The combat style and difficulty will feel familiar to those who have played the Dark Souls series.

The game’s blend of fighting games, RPGs, and MMOs look to provide a unique experience that we are interested to see play out. Absolver is set to release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC sometime in 2017.

RUINER

At first glance, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Devolver Digital’s hit Hotline Miami series and the upcoming top-down shooter RUINER. But although both games are quite brutal and share similar gameplay controls, RUINER‘s story-driven action, combat style, and thematic art set it apart.

This cyberpunk, ultra-violent shooter is set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis of Rengkok. In our demo at PAX East we didn’t get to dive too far into the game’s lore. From what we’ve gathered, RUINER tells the story of a sociopathic killer, who in tandem with a mysterious hacker ally, fight against the corrupt HEAVEN corporation to rescue his kidnapped brother. Vague instructions are shown across the protagonist’s LED helmet that along with mysterious instructions being voiced from an unknown source provide endless questions about RUINER‘s true story plot. I smell some interesting plot twists a la SUPERHOT…

When it comes to combat, RUINER doesn’t mess around: expect to die. A lot. This is a challenging high-octane shooter that matches perfectly with its equally energetic techno soundtrack. During our demo, we played through RUINER‘s tutorial prologue segment, which introduced its basic mechanics with the goal of “KILL THE BOSS” frequently flashing on the screen. You can equip a variety of guns and melee weapons to take down your savage enemies, everything from machine guns to swords.

You can also employ several high-tech gadgets such as an energy shield or dashing ability. These abilities use up a special charge resource, though, so you have to use them wisely as charge stations are typically only available between battle sequences. The combat starts out pretty simple but quickly ramps up as you are swarmed with constant waves of powerful enemies. Your success in RUINER will depend on balancing your attacks with dodges and constantly being alert to your surroundings.

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Similar to other games in this genre, there is no single correct way to defeat your attackers. You can focus on dashing to stay out of range or go for a more personal melee approach. Players can use utilize the environment as well, blowing up nearby explosives or hacking the opposition to fight on your side. My favorite was using the energy shield then dashing through bunched up enemies, immediately killing everyone in my path.

After completing the prologue, we got a brief glimpse of what appears to be a sort of RPG mode to the game. We were dropped into the city of Rengkok and could explore around and talk to various NPCs. This provides a nice break in between the game’s intense combat sequences and provides a platform to tell RUINER‘s story that other games in the genre don’t have.

RUINER is set to release sometime this summer for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.