Ripout is an indie-budgeted, Body Horror themed Sci-Fi Horror First-Person Shooter by Pet Project Games (a Serbian studio formed specifically to make the game) and published by 3D Realms. It features Roguelike elements and can be played in either single-player or 3-person Co-Op Multiplayer. The game was released on Steam Early Access on October 24th, 2023.
By the year 2050, humanity had expanded beyond the boundaries of the solar system, with the various competing nations and corporations waging war over desirable resources and territory. This all came to an end in less than a decade, after humanity encountered a hostile alien race known as the Spiral. In the process of losing the war with the Spiral, humanity developed the Cell, a genetically modified micro-organism that allowed soldiers to regenerate damaged tissue and incorporate cybernetic implants into their body. However, the 1.0 version of the Cell proved unstable with the soldiers mutating uncontrollably and spreading the Cell exponentially across human space, forcing humanity to flee Earth in search of a Sanctuary safe from the Cell.
You play as the last unmutated Cell soldier, implanted with a more advanced (and less unstable) version of the Cell, who awakens from cryosleep aboard their vessel and sets out on a quest to discover what has happened to the rest of humanity. Doing so will involve exploring numerous derelict human vessels which have been overrun with Cell mutations. Accompanying you is your pet gun, a Cell organism which has a symbiotic relationship to you and which can be detached and set to attack enemies or grab power-ups as well as operating as a regular firearm.
Ripout provides examples of:
- Attack Its Weakpoint: Enemy weak points can be targeted for heavy damage. Weak points will flash orange when shot, letting you know that they are a weak point.
- Body Horror: One of the main themes of the game. Enemies are humans and animals which are part cyborg and part The Thing. You yourself are a genetically modified biomechanical soldier who can incorporate biomechanical weapons into your body.
- Deflector Shields: Shield critters provide you (or any enemies they attach to) with an energy shield that has to be taken down before damage can be done to health.
- Excuse Plot: A beginning-to-end playthrough of the game is more like a single The Binding of Isaac run rather than a fully fleshed out story. There are a few cutscenes talking about a scientist who's always a few steps ahead of you on the way to the Sanctuary, but this doesn't actually go anywhere. In fact since you don't interact with anyone and deal purely with pre-recorded messages, the plot is structured in such a way that it could be happening to multiple different Control Cell soldiers separately.
- Giant Mook: Comes in 2 types, Modulators and Heavies. Both are 10-foot tall bipedal flesh monsters. The Modulator is slow and can't use modules but will drop several of them when killed, while the Heavy has more health, moves faster, and can use multiple modules at once, making it possibly the most dangerous enemy in the game (other than possibly the Mimic).
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: The game ends with a Final Boss fight against a Cell-mutated shuttle that comes out of nowhere and has absolutely no plot significance.
- Limited Loadout: You're equipped with your gun pet, a sidearm, and a melee weapon. You can also incorporate a biomechanical weapon module into your body, which attaches to your shoulder and can do things like launch energy rockets or lash out with a tentacle whip.
- Living Weapon: Your primary weapon is a symbiotic pet biomechanical rifle that's part gun and part insect by way of H.R. Giger, and you can also incorporate biomechanical weapon module critters found skittering around on the ships you explore.
- Meat Moss: Cell-infected ships have walls and various structures made up of the partially melted mutated bodies of the crew merged with assorted mechanical parts.
- No Blood for Phlebotinum: Intel you find on one of the derelict ships implies that the Corporations started the war with the aliens (and are thus indirectly responsible for the Cell outbreak), all in order to seize an ancient Precursors fortress which they turned into the Sanctuary.
- No Ending: The game ends with you arriving at the Sanctuary, which turns out to be an ancient alien fortress, only to discover the Corporation executives have taken it over and are only allowing their chosen elite on board. Your soldier states their intent to call for reinforcements and start a decisive battle. Cue credits.
- Notice This: Items that can be picked up emit colored vertical light rays, similar to the Borderlands series.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The most basic enemy type is a zombie crewman. They're slow and lack any noticeable mutations other than the typical zombie appearance, but weapon module critters can attach to them and start shooting at you.
- Playing Possum:
- Many dead bodies are actually zombies which will stand up and smack you if you get close.
- The "Ranger" enemy type can teleport behind you, and will often do so after being shot alot. It's quite easy early in the game to mistake this for a death animation and be caught completely unaware when you die from getting splattered with acid a couple seconds later.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: The revolver does significantly more damage than the standard sidearm, at the cost of having a lower ammo capacity. It can kill many enemies with a weak point shot.
- Schmuck Bait: In the first main mission ship, there's a power switch with some loose cables on the floor under it. Flipping the switch will turn on power to the cables, electrifying you to death and teaching you to watch out for loose cables before messing with the electricity.
- TV Head Robot: Some Cell mutants have a CRT-like monitor for an eye.
- The Unfought: The Spiral aliens are only mentioned in the game's backstory and are not fought in the game itself, which is focused around fighting the Cell.
