This review contains spoilers
This game...man, its really something else in my opinion. I was unsure if I should get it since its Early Access, but, if it wasn't for the big "Act III is still in development" notification (as well as some of the gear not being programmed in yet), I wouldn't be able to tell. I'm not some speedrunner moving at 5,000 miles per second like some of the people this game seems built for but it still felt really rewarding to take down those tough bosses and kill any enemy standing in my way. I did have to take a few days worth of breaks a few times, like after I had such a hard time beating the final boss of Act I, but nonetheless I did really enjoy this game. For reference, I only ever play on Normal difficulty in games, so that's what I played here. By the end of it I felt my skill improving as my times on bosses slowly got better (still took at least 30 minutes and a lot of deaths for each one but I always felt like I was getting better).
ULTRAKILL is a cool spin on the FPS genre. I don't play a ton of FPS games but I will say that the core gameplay mechanics here remind me a bit of DOOM Eternal if I had to compare it to any other game. It sorta combines light platforming elements with the shooting, which I think works well aside from air movement being so slow and floaty. Biggest new things ULTRAKILL introduces are healing from the blood of your enemies and a combo system you're graded on after the level sorta like a DMC or Bayonetta game (just without the actual combo attacks those games have), which encourages a really aggressive play style. I'm pretty sure the highest "Style" rank I ever got was a C since I'm just not adept enough at these kinda games to get much higher, but man the pace of the game is so exhilaratingly speedy because of these two design decisions. The guns are also a ton of fun to use, with my favorites being the nailgun (kinda like DOOM's chaingun but you can also shoot magnets or use a heat system to blitz your foes) and the shotgun in its pump charge modification. I think this game has the most enjoyable shotgun to use out of any other FPS I've played, it just works perfectly with how much this game encourages close-quarters action. I also really loved the basic pistol, surprisingly enough; it gets a modification that lets you toss coins, which are free shots that are actually really strong if you can consistently shoot the coins in midair. I cheesed the first boss of the game with it. I already briefly mentioned the bosses, but, despite being a real challenge for me, they were still a blast to fight against. My favorites were probably King Minos's Corpse and the first Gabriel fight, despite being the two hardest bosses in the whole game for me. I really felt myself getting better at the game, to the point where I was really surprised that the second Gabriel fight took an hour and ten minutes less to beat than his first fight.
From what I can tell, the game doesn't have much of a plot, but you do get a cool narrative from each Act's ending, mainly involving Gabriel. What other game lets you beat the archangel Gabriel himself twice, making him question his faith in God to the point where he decides to kill the angels he once served? The game's story has some pretty interesting Abrahamic motifs like this, which tbh I wasn't expecting at all. There ain't much here, but what is here is awesome.
Overall, ULTRAKILL is a very solid FPS imo. Lots of fun to play and gives you so many tools to mess around with. I do hear there's some secret bosses from finding secrets in the game, but I also hear those have ridiculously high rank requirements, and...yea no thanks, most scores I got in this game were D ranks lmao. Still, I thought this game was great and I am looking forward to whenever Act III releases. Earns a 4.5 stars, not quite a 5 star for me but still high up since I genuinely can't think of any problems I had with the game.
ULTRAKILL is a cool spin on the FPS genre. I don't play a ton of FPS games but I will say that the core gameplay mechanics here remind me a bit of DOOM Eternal if I had to compare it to any other game. It sorta combines light platforming elements with the shooting, which I think works well aside from air movement being so slow and floaty. Biggest new things ULTRAKILL introduces are healing from the blood of your enemies and a combo system you're graded on after the level sorta like a DMC or Bayonetta game (just without the actual combo attacks those games have), which encourages a really aggressive play style. I'm pretty sure the highest "Style" rank I ever got was a C since I'm just not adept enough at these kinda games to get much higher, but man the pace of the game is so exhilaratingly speedy because of these two design decisions. The guns are also a ton of fun to use, with my favorites being the nailgun (kinda like DOOM's chaingun but you can also shoot magnets or use a heat system to blitz your foes) and the shotgun in its pump charge modification. I think this game has the most enjoyable shotgun to use out of any other FPS I've played, it just works perfectly with how much this game encourages close-quarters action. I also really loved the basic pistol, surprisingly enough; it gets a modification that lets you toss coins, which are free shots that are actually really strong if you can consistently shoot the coins in midair. I cheesed the first boss of the game with it. I already briefly mentioned the bosses, but, despite being a real challenge for me, they were still a blast to fight against. My favorites were probably King Minos's Corpse and the first Gabriel fight, despite being the two hardest bosses in the whole game for me. I really felt myself getting better at the game, to the point where I was really surprised that the second Gabriel fight took an hour and ten minutes less to beat than his first fight.
From what I can tell, the game doesn't have much of a plot, but you do get a cool narrative from each Act's ending, mainly involving Gabriel. What other game lets you beat the archangel Gabriel himself twice, making him question his faith in God to the point where he decides to kill the angels he once served? The game's story has some pretty interesting Abrahamic motifs like this, which tbh I wasn't expecting at all. There ain't much here, but what is here is awesome.
Overall, ULTRAKILL is a very solid FPS imo. Lots of fun to play and gives you so many tools to mess around with. I do hear there's some secret bosses from finding secrets in the game, but I also hear those have ridiculously high rank requirements, and...yea no thanks, most scores I got in this game were D ranks lmao. Still, I thought this game was great and I am looking forward to whenever Act III releases. Earns a 4.5 stars, not quite a 5 star for me but still high up since I genuinely can't think of any problems I had with the game.