Early Doors: RipOut

Geoffrey Wright | November 22, 2023 | Feature | No Comments

Co-op looter shooters are something of a dime a dozen these days, but RipOut does try to stand out from the crowd a little as it gives off vibes akin to Doom 3, Dead Space and GTO. Releasing to Early Access just a couple of weeks ago and pencilled in for full release sometime in 2024, is it worth jumping into RipOut early as it grows?

Taking place across derelict ships found during a hunt for survivors, Your journey is long as you search the remnants of human fleets for clues to the last sanctuary of humanity. The game offers some exposition on the why etc with a neat enough intro, and as you progress through the chapters, further expansion of the story to go along with an expanding field of operations.

Surprisingly you can tackle the game solo and, even though the game can be a blast in co-op, it doesn’t really feel as if you are missing out if you do go lone wolf. The game has a slightly more survival feel if solo as you no longer have others to watch your back, the ambushes during missions can hit harder if you don’t listen out for the audio cues.

Graphically the game gives off some serious Doom 3 style vibes. The places you visit are usually dark with low lighting and the occasional flicker from damaged machinery or fire. Enemies range from simple zombies to more twisted fusions of flesh & metal, and this where most variety comes visually for now. Environments don’t differ enough just yet unfortunately and stages kinda meld together.

Performance is great with a large scope depending on your preferences, there’s few bugs too outside of occasional engine crashes since the last patch. My system (R7 5800x3D/32GB/RTX 3090) could even hit 120fps at 4K if some DLSS was used, or that could be traded for 60fps with raytracing instead if extra sheen is preferred. The raytracing doesn’t look as if it adds much to me outside of reflections, so you’re not missing out on much if you don’t use it .

Gameplay so far is relatively simple thinking about it. You set a mission and head out to derelict ships, once there you’ll have a mission or two to get done before heading back with some loot. This loot can be used to craft new equipment, with more being added in updates. The gunplay to be had on those ships is solid enough for now, but movement feels more like plodding along and the games procedural nature doesn’t seem to have much variety at the moment.

Being early access there is obviously more to come, but there’s still some interesting aspects to keep you engaged for now. The pet system is a nice touch, your gun is effectively alive and you can send it off to finish off enemies or grab critters. The critters add a nice bit of on the fly customisation as each offers a different boost from portable healing to additional firepower. Enemies can also use these critters so keep that in mind when entering areas with a few. While the missions & areas themselves can feel lacking in variety, the same can’t be said if enemies – Variety and difficulty increases as you make your way through the chapters.

RipOut has entered Early Access with a great foundation to build on. The gameplay is solid, performance is good (outside of some minor crashes) and there’s plenty of interesting ideas that could flourish with the time afforded. The downsides, the procedural generations lack of variety and somewhat sluggish movement, are things that could iron out in time. Worth a blast for the price of entry (£20) with plenty of promise to build on in the coming months.