Army of Ruin | PS5 Review

Army of Ruin is Milkstone's resounding answer to the growing craze that is auto-shooters. While "Vampire Survivor", the OG auto-battler/shooter, held the crowd's attention for a while I think this creative take on the new genre is the definitive Usurper of the throne. It is a modernized budget priced new-gen game built for the PS5. Taking the genre to new heights with innovative features. The visuals are 3D in nature with a whimsical fantasy appearance accented by enhanced lighting and special effects. Not only is it a step above the competition visually, but content-wise it is also something more robust.

Centered around five fantasy realms with unique biomes, and mythical creatures 'Army of Ruin' has you taking on insurmountable odds against swarming mobs with experience gained abilities. Within these realms lie challenges that must be met in order to unlock more heroes, weapons, trinkets, and features which are the core offerings of "Army of Ruin". Against ranked play that rewards accordingly the higher the rank, and 10 waves per playthrough you will either come out of the fray victorious, or fail miserably attempting to survive. Thankfully all is not lost upon death, and coin earned during a gameplay session can be put towards permanent upgrades meant to make each following undertaking easier.

Army of Ruin starts you off with two selectable heroes with which you'll begin your journey of taking on mobs of mythical monstrosities. There's Saul the wizard, and a Spartan female heroine whose name eludes me. Each hero or heroine comes with their own base attack, and skill that becomes available over time. 

As you clear mobs of enemies with the chosen characters they'll drop blue crystals which act as the farmable experience with which weapons, and trinkets can be both purchased, and upgraded up to five times each in RNG rolls. In each given run, and taking in account these randomized perks, you are allowed to use a total of 8 mixed and matched weapons or trinkets. Choices will either make you or break you as a result. The weapons themselves are the damage dealers while the trinkets add bonus attributes that enhance the weapons as well as innate abilities like speed, luck, damage, or health. 

The end goal in any round is to ultimately survive the full 10 waves which grow increasingly dense, aggressive, and powerful as you also grow in power. This requires gaining enough experience to level up your allotted weapons and trinkets as well as looting mid-boss chests for coin that can be put towards more permanent perk bonuses afterwards. That and freely given random weapon or trinket drops.

In total there are 24 heroes, 116 weapons, 63 trinkets, and 15 extra features or modes that you'll be unlocking as you 100% your series of star focused challenges and rank focused runs through the five given realms. By advancing forward through the realms successfully you will retroactively unlock extra challenges and ranks for previous realms. Making a return possible, and allowing the earned benefits of your progress to carry over to all realms, and all playthroughs. The key takeaway here is that completing challenges or feats based around milestones with heroes or upgrades will in turn unlock new weapons, and trinkets that will carry over into future attempts at clearing a run. Opening up new ways to approach your weapon and trinket builds.

While there are basic endgame goals some features in "Army of Ruin" unlock new ways or new modes to play. Adding to what would otherwise have been a game with a limited replay value. Personally I feel there's a lot to do in the way of challenges and unlocking stuff to warrant the near ten dollar price tag, and as I mentioned earlier on I do honestly believe this is the latest and greatest among the genre. Making games like "Vampire Survivor" look dated by comparison. Certain additions like power-ups add a more arcade-like feel to the overall experience. Milkstone has a winner on their hands, and one that you should NOT miss out on, especially if you like auto-shooters.