| ULTRAKILL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Quench your thirst for blood as you slay your enemies in style in ULTRAKILL. Read on to learn how it plays, what it's about, and everything else we know so far.
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ULTRAKILL Gameplay
ULTRAKILL's core gameplay loop centers on fast-paced, arena-style combat levels where players, as the machine V1, must obliterate waves of diverse enemies and gain combo potential using an arsenal of highly customizable weapons and robotic arms.
Often dubbed by many as part of the "Boomer Shooter" genre, ULTRAKILL is a first-person shooter that emphasizes movement. The player character can perform various movements such as dashes, slides, wall-jumps, and aerial maneuvers, allowing for acrobatic traversal and evasion.
The main challenges players will encounter are the various layers of Hell, each presenting a gauntlet of increasingly powerful and varied husks, demons, and machines, often requiring the strategic use of specific weapon combinations, environmental hazards, and advanced "tech" like coin-punching or projectile boosts to overcome. Boss fights are particularly demanding, acting as skill checks that necessitate pattern recognition, precise dodging, and optimal damage output.
Style Meter
Throughout ULTRAKILL's gameplay loop, player performance is measured using a "style meter" and completion time. Similar to Devil May Cry’s combo system, they can influence the final rank (S, A, B, etc.), pushing for aggressive, efficient play.
The game actively tracks how creatively a player kills enemies while also constantly being on the move. Players who perform the same thing again using the same combos risk reducing their style meter. Not only do these style points serve as bragging rights, but they also provide extra ammo and unlock various achievements.
Aggressive Healing
ULTRAKILL's key feature is its signature "aggressive healing" mechanic, where players shower in enemy blood to regain health, which pushes them to go for close-quarters, high-risk combat.
Taking down enemies can endlessly churn important resources like ammo and armor from fallen enemies, so being aggressive is the intended way to play ULTRAKILL, and staying stationary risks mission failures.
ULTRAKILL Story
ULTRAKILL Story Plot
ULTRAKILL is set in a grim, post-apocalyptic future where humanity has become extinct after prolonged global warfare and a subsequent climate catastrophe left Earth barren of resources, particularly blood. Blood-fueled machines, originally developed for combat during the "Final War," now face an unprecedented crisis of sustenance for survival.
The game follows V1, a highly advanced and aggressive prototype machine, as it embarks on a desperate descent into the various layers of Hell. Its sole objective is to find and absorb the abundant blood of the damned souls, demons, and angels that reside there, ensuring its continued operation.
As V1 traverses three compelling acts of this infernal landscape, it not only battles the native inhabitants but also competing machines, most notably the rival prototype V2, all driven by the same fundamental need for survival, adding another layer of conflict to its brutal journey. The narrative plays around the elements of Dante Alighieri's Inferno, guiding V1 through a structured descent into increasingly perilous and nightmarish realms.
ULTRAKILL Setting
ULTRAKILL takes place in a hyper-stylized version of Hell with low-poly aesthetics inspired by classic boomer shooters like Quake and Doom.
As the Machine V1, players traverse through the land of the damned, each taking a page from Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy"’s circles of Hell. The game is divided into three Acts with a different layer of hell. The latest layer added into the game, Fraud, takes the protagonist into a surreal realm teeming with divine and hellish foes.
New Blood Interactive has also confirmed that the final layer, Treachery, is currently still under development.
ULTRAKILL Characters
V1
The main playable character of ULTRAKILL. A machine that runs on blood as fuel, driving it to slaughter everything within Hell’s legions. Considered a silent protagonist, V1’s rampant violence is part of his survival, and he has no need to speak.
V2
V2 is V1’s rival machine, built with the same design but coated in a paint job that oozes with crimson color. This machine uses its altered agility and can mirror V1’s abilities, making its encounter the game’s first true skill check for unprepared players.
Minos Prime
Minos Prime is a major boss fight in the game’s first Prime Sanctum. He is considered the Prime Soul of King Minos, a legendary figure from Greek mythology who ruled the island of Crete.
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