Damn this game to heck!
Not really, I really liked it, and what it had to offer. It’s just that I spent the beginning of the month running in circles around various critters and monsters, not even realizing that hours had gone by. But then again, I suppose that’s what good games do.
Army of Ruin is a bullet heaven game by Milkstone Studios where you take your various heroes and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting denizens of the different levels. Eventually, either you get swarmed by a bunch of jumping umbrellas, or you kill the end boss and triumph. Pretty simple, right?
So, let’s take a deeper look into the workings of this time sink. Prepare for a denser, less visual time. Gosh, I wish I had one of the old overhead projectors that used these clear sheets of plastic…
The main loop and mechanics
Army of Ruin is much like the rest of your reverse bullet hells. You kill foes, gain experience, and choose your power-ups when you level. There is something beautiful about a game you can just hop onto, mow through a horde of monsters, and get your shiny lottery drops for that dopamine fix. You know, unlike a narrative open world where if you take a week’s pause you may not know what is happening anymore… oof!
Unlike Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors, which is what I am playing at the moment, this game allows you to aim some skills actively. This is so much better than just the fully automatic way of different projectile patterns. I don’t know about you, but I’m used to using both my sticks simultaneously! And the dash… This game lacked the dash. It was such a shock coming from Soulstone Survivors. With the dash, it may have been even better!
I will say, though, that the crazy stuff you can do with the different weapons and their combinations, as well as the trinkets, was phenomenal. I will forever miss the fiery wings of Samael, and the freakishly strong hissatsu move of Michi… Or Azazels Chain Lightning, holy heck that thing could annihilate the whole map!
Systems and progression
Army of Ruin has two ways to make your hero stronger – inside the runs, where you get randomized bonuses, loot boxes, and other drops, and outside of the runs in a shop. I must say I prefer this way of doing it, perhaps because I am a filthy casual at heart. When I played Brotato for a bit, I was quickly bummed out by the lack of a progression shop outside of the runs themselves. Let me tell you, the players of Brotato are quite the fanbase, to say the least…
The shop in this game seems balanced, albeit the grand fees of 60k or more for some things seemed a little excessive. But hey, if you are like me and skip the whole extra lives upgrade, you may be able to enjoy your two extra bullets sooner.
All and all, all of the mechanics revolve around the core: you kill, you get stronger, beat levels, earn gold, spend gold, kill more, get stronger, and so forth. It is a fine example of a game where the mechanic takes the center stage, and everything else must support it and tie into it.
Levels and World
I have to give props to the way the game opens up the more you play it. The features you get from progressing the game, including map objectives, really made a difference. But then again, those optional bosses… Whoa, boy, why do they have to be on the other side of the world?
I also liked the fact that one of the levels is horizontal, and another is vertical. The others are your usual, everyday ‘open world’ style maps with infinite space to roam about. I also felt more comfortable using the archer’s bow, which only shoots right, when running the ice level, for some reason.
One of my biggest joys was the challenge getting harder when the player doesn’t kill the end boss in a certain time. I think it was some 2-3 minutes before the first difficulty bump, and then every minute after it. And then there are the in-game challenges to go with it, to keep pushing beyond the usual run time. The level bosses are one of my biggest gripes in DRG: Survivors – who the heck thought it a good idea to make the difficulty ramp up that fast?!
Player Experience
The game is very smooth. Some of the heroes work better than others, some have completely ridiculous skills, and others… well, that thing that was straight from HoTS Azmodan, just no. Please don’t give me an aimable, very small aoe thing to try and land while running away in panic. But then again, Michi’s button to insta-kill bosses was well, enough to justify the few runs I did for the unlocks on the less fun heroes.
I like that the game gives you plenty of variety in the way you build your hero in the runs. I tried out super melee, mid-ranged mages, and extremely long-range push builds. There’s just something about the way those pickaxes create that meat-grinder at the higher levels that I couldn’t quite replicate with the other weapons.
A huge thanks to the creators for adding an option to increase the transparency of the effects. DRG: Survivors doesn’t have it, as far as I can tell, and gosh, trying to see anything through the fire and carnage is EXTREMELY difficult. Who knows, maybe that is left as is to give another level of hardenship on the otherwise manageable hordes of monsters.
UI, Feedback, and Other points
As per tradition, these kinds of games don’t tend to tell you what is happening. They are easy and fast enough to get the hang of with a few test runs, and mostly you will just need to explore the menus to see about the shop and other things. Army of Ruin is extremely simple, yet beautiful, in the way it is executed. Confusion was not an issue, unlike with Brotato. But then again, Brotato doesn’t have all the features these other games I have mentioned tend to have as a rule. Who needs a shop, anyway, right?
The lottery aspect, the flashing lights, and crazy explosions of various things are probably what keep our lizard-brain entertained. It feels good to hit that legendary upgrade, or to bust a box open after some time fighting for it as the horde closes in on all sides. I can’t help but wonder if it tickles the same part in our brain as all the doom scrolling, albeit playing a game is inherently more involved. We actually have to pay attention, focus, when we play these games.
There is no story, no grand mission. Just you and a graveyard full of ghouls to smash back into the dirt. The music is catchy, and each level has its own theme. It lacked a dash, but gave me the ultimate assassin, the one-punch button. Not to mention the many ‘Oh Shit’ buttons.
All and all, I get why I spent nearly 90 hours getting all 221 achievements, as well as completing every challenge the game itself had to offer on top of that.