it's feels weird to describe a game as good as ultrakill as "overrated" but that is exactly how i feel about it. the way i see this game discussed online like it's the second coming of jesus christ annoys me. ultrakill is not that.

it is however an excellent movement shooter. and exemplary one in fact. a smooth to control character with some extra movement tech options makes for a fun time zooming through rooms killing everything.

obviously the slaughter can't really happen without an arsenal, and ultrakill's guns are probably the highlight. the fairly small roster of guns and their alternative modes feel excellent to use. but it's in their deeper use where they really shine.

picking up the "marksman" pistol you might initially think that the coin flip and ricochet mechanic that it comes with is little more than a stylish gimmick, or a way of hitting enemies without line of sight. but then you realise that the trajectory is more consistent than aiming for an enemy's head, and can be used while running away to hit enemies behind you. and you also realise that hitting the coin with the right timing will cause two ricochets to occur instead of one, literally more bang for your buck.

you may then realise that multiple coins can be tossed and the number of ricochets will increase twofold with the correct timing. and instead of hitting the coins with the pistol, you can also opt to switch to your high powered hitscan railgun, and hit the coin with that instead. so by combining these two mechanics, you can shoot 6 railgun shots for the price of one, each targeting an enemy weak spot.

not every weapon has this many secret mechanics, but they do all have this same level of care put into how they interract with each other and with the cast of enemies, which are also another thing that make ultrakill great, as they all occupy a specific niche on the battlefield that keeps the whole combat engine running.

the bossfights are something i have seen praised endlessly, but for the most part i'm fairly meh on them (aside from both gabriel encounters, he's great. and also the cerberus fight). there's nothing in particular that's wrong with them but they are lacking the frenzied improvisation constant target switching that makes the enemy combat rooms so enjoyable.

ultrakill is a lot like hollow knight for me. both are excellent game's in their genre, but despite their overall incredibly high level of quality, i still struggle to find any one thing that really makes them unique in their genre. there is no one element in ultrakill's core gameplay loop that is wholely unique to it.

as far as i'm concerned ultrakill is an objectively great game, and a truly great movement shooter. but for me it's still missing something, some extra ingredient that bumps it up from simply being a good game all around into a "masterpiece".