RIPOUT is quite unique take on the FPS genre with an actual, living pet gun that helps you during your battles.
FPS games have always been due to their action, adventure, and rich story elements during the gameplay. Fused into one category, FPS titles usually give a point-of-view representation in order to give the player the immersion of being the protagonist of an adventure. Sometimes, the goal is to aim better, which explains the current craze for less story-focused and more reaction-based shooters on the market. Although all kinds of genres are present in the FPS pool, we barely ever see a game with RPG elements thrown into it.
Until RIPOUT finally came out after two years of waiting, reminding me and others that FPS games can be pretty much suitable with whatever side-genre the developer wants. The core game might be a first-person shooter, but once you realize the actual terms to progress, it is as bright as day that RIPOUT tends to give the resource-gathering game with small story details thrown into the mix from time to time. If you have liked titles such as DOOM- especially DOOM 3- and the Quake franchise, you will love RIPOUT.
The story of RIPOUT begins in the distant future, where two space corporations have stabled their work in space after a war broke out in the vast space, and the involvement of alien beings turned the heat to eleven. Scientists worked on an extraordinary bionic matter that alters the DNA of living beings and even mechanical contraptions- for the longevity of soldiers, of course.
The cell turned them into extremely hostile and mutant-like creatures. The point was to take care of an alien invasion by creating superhumans. However, the plan backfires, and the bionic matter starts spreading to any living being on Earth, forcing humankind to leave the planet.
We, one of the last standing soldiers, are tasked to search for any living beings or find resources to get everything back to normal. But as you could have guessed, it is not going to be easy because the spread of the bionic virus has turned humans and machines into monsters. You need to take them down before continuing your journey to bring an end to this virus spread.
Luckily, the virus has been transferred properly to your assault gun during the trials, essentially turning it into something called the “Pet Gun”. The gun is a living being that has legs, a mouth, and is capable of thinking. Later on, our Pet Gun gets a lot of use during the story of RIPOUT, but it’s best to talk about the core mechanics first.
The game is an all-around okay FPS title with rudimentary gameplay like shooting, jumping, opening doors, finding keys, gathering ammo, and so forth. What makes RIPOUT a bit different is the missions you get to choose before flying to the ship and getting what you need in there.
In our base camp, a craft table, weapon mod table, mission briefing table, and room for entertainment exist. You can choose your next mission from the holographic table. Depending on the story or the loot it gives at the end, you are free to choose any of the missions available.
Once you select the mission, you can opt to mod your weapon or teach new moves to your Pet Gun, which will come in handy during the combat. When everything is set, you get onto your shuttle and visit the said spaceship to gather sources, help people, or learn vital info about the story of the spreading virus.
The shuttle lands on the main area of the ship, and you are tasked with clearing the entrance bay or clearing the air in the area. Once you clear the enemies from the main area, you get into the connecting hub and start your quest. Each ship has the same entrance but a different design style afterward, making it at least unique on its own.
Some objectives are searching bodies, opening crates, finding power sources, or waiting for a terminal to be opened. In the meantime, you are going to be busy killing mutants from very small to extraordinarily humongous in size. After finishing the objectives, you move on to the next area, and until you complete the main request, you are stuck on the ship. Fortunately, most levels last around 15 to 25 minutes, so they are not a huge hassle to go through.
Now, the gun part, which happens to be the most crucial bit of RIPOUT. I mentioned how your gun is a living being and acts like a pet throughout your adventure. One of the advantages of having a pet gun is letting it loose and watching it create havoc. This unique part, being able to throw your gun at creatures, is fresher, in my opinion.
And it does more than just deal damage to enemies. In normal mode, it just behaves like an assault rifle, but once thrown at enemies, the Pet Gun hops onto the enemies and eats quite a hefty chunk of their health. It has a cooldown, so it’s best to use it in a sticky situation; just a little advice from me.
Not only does the Pet Gun deal damage, but it can also retrieve something called Critters, walking around the dead spaceships. These are small bug-like mechanical creatures that grew out of components such as shields, laser guns, and health stations. Some of the Critters evolved to be their mutation.
Such as being able to attack with a bite or shoot a freezing ray to stop enemies in their tracks. Using the Pet Gun on them retrieves the Critter back to you, and for a limited time, you can use the Critter for your benefit. But you should watch out as Critters also can hop onto enemies, turning them into non-lethal enemies into something you should run from.
To explain Critters in detail, all of the enemies can be equipped with Critters if one of them is walking by it randomly. And the same effects can apply to enemies. For example, a slow-walking zombie man suddenly gets a laser gun-equipped Critter and turns into a long-range zombie. One of the worst ones to fight with is the shield Critter, as it can tank a lot of shots before actually going down. It is even more frustrating once it jumps on an enemy with quite a lot of health.
Pet Gun gets progressively stronger in the later levels as you keep unlocking new parts and additions. At some point, you can get a special update to let it act like a sentry or a walking rifle on its own while you are trying to defend yourself with your sidearm. The good news is that Pet Gun does not only have an assault rifle mode.
By finishing levels, different types of schematics for the Pet Gun can be obtained and turn itself into a long-rage rifle or a shotgun, so you are not stuck with only one type of weapon during your playthrough- though I wanted to grab the guns off from the shelves in the wrecked ships to just to have a variety, turns out you can’t.
The progression of your character and Pet Gun is made by collecting items through the levels. There are a bunch of items scattered around the forgotten areas of the spaceships, and you must gather them throughout your scanning to find survivors and power sources.
Once you bring those parts back to your hub area, you can use them to upgrade your Pet Gun’s abilities, create new armor pieces, mod your weapons, and equip perks that will help you during your adventure. The perks range from a basic upgrade, such as doing more critical damage often, to some different ones, such as the sentry gun perk for the Pet Gun, as I mentioned earlier.
From the outside, RIPOUT might seem like a game where you would most likely enjoy it by playing it yourself, but the game is more focused on being a multiplayer game, although you can run through the missions solo just fine.
RIPOUT provides both public and private games as well as a server browser to find strangers online to go through the campaign. The servers are provided with info such as which sector and part the players are currently playing, making it easier to jump into the game depending on your skill level.
For the downsides of RIPOUT, there were no undesirable factors that appeared during the gameplay. If I were to point out a few, the lack of enemy variety and slightly repetitive progression formula could be it. Visually, RIPOUT has a very eerie and icky style, which would certainly draw attention to freaks who love the post-apocalyptic style of mutation eating up through technology.
In every room you get in, there is always the feeling of being stranded among the undead and a feeling of lost hope. It might provide those with a visual style, but I cannot say the same for the music. Music in the background and heated fights are okay, but once it repeats every single time, it can get a bit annoying.
Overall, the atmosphere and care given to RIPOUT make it a likable title. The gunplay is great, options are viable, and a linear progression rate with unique ways of playing through the story will give a lot of replay value, too. Not to mention, the coop mode is worth checking, too.
Especially if you want to suggest it to your friends and play through the campaign together, it is still in the early phases, so we can expect to see some changes for the better from RIPOUT. It is highly recommended that you check out this title sometime if you are looking for a nice FPS game with your friends or simply building up your character.
