R.I.P.D. The Game Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: August 2, 2013

In theaters, Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds team up in an action comedy that feels like a Men in Black spin-off – if the Men in Black were tasked with sending "Deados" to the afterlife. R.I.P.D. The Game attempts to bring the action-packed narrative in the vein of a multiplayer cooperative horde mode, with in-game challenges to keep things interesting. I won't dance around the obvious comparison to God Mode, Old School Games' previous title, as both feature the same cooperative wave-based multiplayer, except God Mode had more style, featured four players instead of only two, and was actually enjoyable.

Unlike God Mode, the handful of different levels in R.I.P.D. feel boring, stagnant, and restricting, featuring no progression through the five different wave encounters in each. With no reason to explore the levels, you are free to park yourself directly in front of an ammo box that will replenish your ammo indefinitely. As a licensed title, the resemblance to both Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges is barely recognizable and lacks voice work by either actor.

Each match is broken up into five different wave encounters with increasing difficulty, with the last one featuring a boss-type character that can either be arrested or executed. Enemies will charge at you with varying objects, such as lead pipes or firearms, most looking like 1920's gangsters that could be named "Mugsy". You'll also face the occasional larger enemy type that for some reason enjoys fighting in his underwear. Maybe it is explained in the movie, but I would rather not subject myself to wasting any more time in the R.I.P.D. universe. Weapons feel weak, and due to the lack of feedback when making contact with enemies, it constantly feels like you are missing every time. Even with melee attacks, it is impossible to tell when you are connecting. The starting submachine gun, for example, can take an entire clip to turn a basic enemy into shiny blue particles (don't ask me why this happens). The shotgun, on the other hand, features barely any bullet spread and works as an excellent sniper weapon at any range.

With the exclusion of bots, you may be searching for an online game for a long time. With only two characters to choose from (Jeff Bridges > Ryan Reynolds any day of the week), if you happen to select the same one as everyone else, you may be searching for a match for quite some time. Thankfully, I was able to play cooperatively with other SelectButton members using Skype to communicate as the game doesn't feature any voice communication method.

There are a few interesting ideas introduced, such as betting against your partner prior to the match to earn extra currency, as well as in-game challenges that activate randomly. These will have you capturing zones or killing a set number of enemies with melee attacks within a set amount of time. Upgrading weapons costs just as much as purchasing new ones, and I never felt compelled to purchase anything with the money earned in each match. Kill streaks in the game exist in the form of five different abilities that can be activated, such as dropping a healing beacon or punching the ground, which of course everyone knows produces spikes to impale nearby enemies.

Simply Put

As a cooperative title, R.I.P.D. The Game tries everything it can to dissuade players from playing together. Players are separated at the end of a match, and the quick match option will have you searching for a match for quite some time (it took over 30 minutes on a weekend). The main issue with the game is it just isn't much fun, as the encounters seem to drag on and on with enemies that will spawn directly in front of you.