Ultrakill

Ultrakill
Developer(s)	Arsi "Hakita" Patala PITR
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s)	Arsi "Hakita" Patala PITR Action Dawg
Artist(s)	Andrei Mishchenko (JerichoRUS) BigRock(Imp) PITR Sam Bryan Action Dawg Francis Xie Mako
Composer(s)	Arsi "Hakita" Patala meganeko Claude Debussy Johannes Bach
Engine	Unity[citation needed]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Linux
Release	September 3, 2020 (early access)
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ultrakill (stylized as ULTRAKILL) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Arsi "Hakita" Patala^[1] and published by . It was released through Early Access on Steam for Microsoft Windows and Linux on September 3, 2020.^[2] The game uses retro-style graphics and movement capabilities similar to those of 1990s first-person shooters such as Quake and Doom.^[2]

Plot[]

In Ultrakill, the player controls V1, a machine that uses blood as a fuel source. After the extinction of humanity, the player descends through the layers of Hell in order to harvest the blood of the various creatures in hell. Along the way V1 encounters demons, undead creatures, rival machines also looking for blood, and angels. V1 also fights a multitude of bosses, including V2, which is an improved version of V1; King Minos (and Minos Prime), a defeated king of Hell; and Gabriel (named for the Abrahamic archangel), a supreme angel sent to stop V1.

Gameplay[]

Ultrakill is a first-person shooter taking place in a series of levels based on Dante's layers of Hell. The player has access to 5 classes of weapons: the revolver, the shotgun, the nailgun, the railcannon, and the arm, with each having multiple variants. The player can perform combos in order to build a style meter ranked from D to ULTRAKILL and earn style points, similar to games such as Devil May Cry.^[3]

At the end of each level the player will earn a letter grade rank from D to S in time, enemies killed, and total style points, these are then averaged to give an overall level rank. Completing a level without dying or reloading a checkpoint and with an S rank in all 3 categories will award the player with a P (for perfect) rank.

A key concept of Ultrakill is the ability for the player to gain health by absorbing the blood of damaged enemies, this is done by attacking enemies while next to them. However, certain mechanics can prevent this, such as enemies covered in sand not dropping blood for the player to absorb.

Each level of Ultrakill contains hidden collectibles in the form of soul orbs and includes a challenge. Completing the challenge, finding all soul orbs, and getting the highest rank (P), will reward the player by making the level appear gold. The game is divided into a prelude and three acts, with the prelude containing one area (called a layer) with four levels and a boss, and each act containing three layers containing three levels and one major boss each. The exception to this is the final layer of each act which only contains one level and a boss. Non Climax Layers (Layers 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8) have or will have secret levels in the form of complete genre shifts, including a horror game parody, a puzzle level, a dating sim parody, and a Crash Bandicoot-style platforming level. Completing these secret levels will also unlock cheats for the player to use, at the cost of earning ranks after each level being disabled. Climax Layers (Layers 3, 6, and 9) include or will include a grant access to a special P-rank door by P-ranking every single level within the game (excluding other secret levels) from finding hidden entrances of each act's "Crescendo" level in their climax layers. These types of secret levels, called "Prime Sanctums", culminate in an exceedingly difficult fight with multiple bosses, each equipped with complex attack patterns.

Ultrakill also features an endless mode called the "Cybergrind", where the player fights random waves of enemies over a floating arena which transforms after each wave. This mode awards the player with money upon completion, which can be used to purchase weapon mods at yellow terminals. There is also a sandbox mode where the player can freely build and practice against enemies in an area based on gm_construct, a map included with sandbox game Garry's Mod.

Reception[]

As of 2 August 2021, Ultrakill had received over 10,000 Steam reviews with a score of 99%, making it the 15th highest rated game on Steam.^[4][5] The game was praised for its movement mechanics and authenticity towards earlier arena shooters and first-person shooters.^[3]

Christopher Livingston of PC Gamer described Ultrakill as faster and "even more metal than Doom Eternal" and commended the game for its verticality.^[6]

See also[]

• Dusk, a retro-styled shooter published by New Blood Interactive.
• Amid Evil, another retro-styled shooter also published by New Blood Interactive.

References[]

External links[]

• Ultrakill on Steam