Ruzar: The Life Stone

About

Ruzar - The Life Stone is a sci-fi first-person shooter game set in a futuristic world. Players must navigate through various levels, using an array of weapons and abilities to fight off alien creatures and protect the Life Stone. The game offers a single-player campaign, as well as multiplayer modes for up to 8 players, with a variety of game modes to choose from.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 77 reviews

story5 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

Ruzar - The Life Stone features charming environments and satisfying sound design, creating a peaceful and immersive dungeon-crawling experience.
The game offers a solid character progression system with multiple skill trees, allowing players to customize their playstyle, whether as a warrior, ranger, or mage.
Despite its flaws, Ruzar provides a nostalgic experience for fans of classic dungeon crawlers, with engaging exploration and a variety of puzzles.

Many puzzles lack clear instructions, leading to confusion and frustration as players may encounter mechanics without prior knowledge or tools to solve them.
Combat balance is an issue, as the game heavily favors melee builds, making other playstyles feel underpowered and limiting overall gameplay variety.
The quests are often vague and lack depth, resulting in tedious backtracking and a lack of compelling rewards, which detracts from the overall experience.

story
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
73%
10%
The story in the game is generally considered weak and underdeveloped, with many players finding the quests few and unengaging, often involving tedious backtracking. While some appreciate the initial backstory and the potential for character development, the overall narrative feels simplistic and disconnected from gameplay, leading to a lack of immersion. Despite these criticisms, a few players noted moments of intrigue and decent dialogue, suggesting that there are glimpses of a more compelling story that could be explored further.
- “Very good in so many aspects, story, levels, art.”
- “The game opens with a written backstory over some high quality hand-painted scenes telling the story of the life stone, a powerful gem that is said to grant eternal power.”
- “But then I discovered a solid dungeon crawler with a nice enough story.”
- “Quests are few and lackluster.”
- “The story feels tagged on and not really relevant; it doesn't seem to affect anything.”
- “Story is almost non-existent - you're a champion of your people selected to retrieve an artifact from the maze - but for some reason your people sent you there literally naked and unarmed.”
gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
62%
14%
The gameplay is characterized by classic first-person dungeon crawling mechanics, featuring slow level progression and limited skill tree influence, making certain builds, like the 2h warrior, easier to progress with. While the game introduces new puzzle mechanics and offers a nostalgic experience, it suffers from repetitive playthroughs and a lack of engaging content in the latter half. Overall, players appreciate the familiar mechanics and environments, though some find the gameplay clunky and in need of balancing and improvements.
- “The gameplay is classic first-person dungeon crawling.”
- “I liked the gameplay and different environments.”
- “So far I am greatly impressed with the game and its familiar but welcome mechanics. Please try this one out and have fun!”
- “You'll sometimes be faced with a new puzzle mechanic that you've never seen before, never been told about, and sometimes do not have the tools necessary to solve.”
- “Despite no formal classes, the dungeon crawler gameplay, very slow level progression, and very little skill tree influence on gameplay makes a two-handed warrior by far the easiest build to progress with.”
- “And to top it all off, the information on many game mechanics is often missing.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
31%
19%
The graphics in the game are generally described as average, with some users noting that they are a step above what might be expected from a small studio, particularly praising the character portraits and ambient sound. However, many reviewers feel that the visuals lack polish compared to better alternatives in the genre, and some have experienced glitches and interface issues that detract from the overall experience. While the art style has its merits, particularly for fans of fantasy themes, the game still falls short in delivering a fully immersive graphical experience.
- “Improved graphics without changing the principle of the genre.”
- “The graphics and ambient sound are awesome.”
- “Overall good graphics but particularly nice ambience.”
- “There are much better alternatives, like Legend of Grimrock, etc. The interface is clumsy, drag & drop is something foreign to the devs. Graphics are average; again, the many other alternatives are better.”
- “Having played quite a lot of Grimrock (I or II), I had a tough time liking it for the first hour, merely because Ruzar is not quite as polished (yet?), both in terms of the visuals and in terms of the interaction design.”
- “Played the game; normally I play these types of games for hours, but the snowy atmosphere left me with such blinding headaches that I asked for my money back. That was only after 2 hours of play. I think the game has potential; increase the graphics, make loot easier to find, as I had to buy gear not find it. I think I found a shield in the whole 2 hours.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The game's atmosphere is noted for being polished and immersive, effectively complementing its dungeon-crawling style and enhancing the sense of danger. While some players find it captivating and reminiscent of classic titles, others feel that it lacks depth beyond its aesthetic appeal, leading to a mixed reception regarding its overall engagement.
- “The atmosphere is perfect for the style of game and the dangers that haunt the dungeons. Some might say it is similar to Legend of Grimrock, which is similar to Eye of the Beholder, which is similar to Dungeon Master; you get the idea.”
- “This game has a ton of atmosphere. I have only played for a couple of hours and can't wait to jump into the finished game.”
- “Well-made ambient sounds and environments create a great atmosphere.”
- “Honestly, it's all of these things - easy combat, weird role-playing system, constant overload, boring puzzles, and an aspiring atmosphere make this game just plain boring.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits several stability issues, including bugs, visual glitches, and unresponsive controls, which can hinder gameplay. However, the developer is noted for being helpful and responsive in addressing these problems. Players may experience frustrations with auto-save mechanics and camera freezes, but support is available for resolving specific issues.
- “It's a bit buggy, but the developer is really helpful and responsive, so you can ask for help if you encounter any bugs. In my case, some skeletons didn't spawn, and I wasn't able to finish a quest, at which point I asked for assistance, and they solved the issue.”
- “Visual glitches here and there, and the auto-saves override the last save game loaded.”
- “Camera freezes up, and you can't maneuver.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that grinding in the game can be tedious, particularly due to large areas lacking engaging content, which leads to frustrating backtracking. It may appeal to those with a moderate tolerance for frustration who are not completionists, but overall, it detracts from the experience.
- “If you have a medium tolerance for frustration and you're not a completionist, the quests can feel tedious with a lot of backtracking. If you're looking for a blander experience, this might not be a bad pick.”
- “Some areas are too large and lack interesting content, which often makes backtracking and exploration feel tedious.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is highly praised for its quality, with users noting that both the musical composition and accompanying artwork are excellent.
- “The music theme and artwork are excellent.”
- “The game features good music.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with users noting a limited feature set and a lack of engaging content.
- “With a limited feature set and basically a non-existent story, it's undoubtedly a cash grab scheme.”
- “The monetization tactics are aggressive and make it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
- “It feels like the game was designed to push players towards microtransactions rather than providing a balanced experience.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game is praised for its excellent performance, indicating that it runs smoothly and efficiently across various systems.
- “The game's optimization is excellent, providing a smooth and seamless experience.”
- “I was impressed by how well the game runs on lower-end hardware without sacrificing quality.”
- “The developers have done a fantastic job optimizing the game, ensuring minimal lag and quick load times.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players appreciate the strong replayability of the game, highlighted by the New Game+ feature, scalable loot and monsters, and a variety of achievements to pursue.
- “The New Game+ mode, featuring loot and monsters that scale to your level, along with a great assortment of achievements, provides excellent replay value.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the variety of choices and outcomes, encouraging multiple runs.”
- “The dynamic world changes with each decision, making every replay a unique experience.”