Note: Replay

When I first played Ultrakill last year, I was very unfamiliar with the FPS genre. At most I had played the recent DOOM revivals, the original DOOM, and a few thousand hours on Overwatch (we don't talk about that). So when I played Ultrakill, and got a taste of something truly exciting and fastpaced, I could not put it down. The game was tough, but I was able to push through and beat it. Fast forward to this year, I wanted to give the game another go. I missed a lot of the side content and only pushed through the main story, and the new Act was just a week away. Seemed like the perfect oppertunity.

However, after beating the game, I enjoyed it, however a lot of the magic was gone. The spark that once ignited me before cannot work on a used fuse. I was no longer blown away by a revolutionary experience, and I was left with a good game that desperately needs to be tweeked.

A big part of the problem comes with the enemy and room layout. Ultrakill is all about movement, and it feels incredibly fun to control, however the game never lets this shine. The only time I felt like I had to try was bosses. Despite seeming like an impassible challenge a year ago, P ranking every level was much easier than imagined. Not one level or boss really gave me trouble in this aspect.

Getting the P ranks was worth it though for King Minos, who is easily the best boss in this game. There is one MAJOR flaw though; the snakes. In my opinion these guys completely ruin the fight. Getting a full heal from parrying these easily readable projectiles is broken, and when I figured it out the boss went from a painfully difficult challenge to a skillful walk in the park.

Overall though, despite these flaws, I still really like the game. It's no where near perfect, but I enjoyed my time and would like to return. And speaking of that, the next Act after this must get harder and more varied, right?

No.

Act 2 is a disappointment. Disregarding the fact that 40% of the Act was already released a YEAR before the rest of it, the Act isn't even finished. There's no prime sanctum or bonus level, two of the most fun features in the game. Do the levels make up for this though?

No.

They're all as easy as the previous levels. They introduce really cool mechanics like the statues and the double guns but they're never used in clever or interesting ways, just "oooo one enemy can't be killed now, bet you didn't think of that!".

There's also changes like the hook. Before, the hook was incredible. So good that I was really hoping they would nerf it by reducing the amount of healing or just zeroing it in general. And guess what? They did! Man, I sure hope this change is well balanced and doesn't make the hook usele-

No.

The hook is now terrible, and literally puts you at a disadvantage for using it. If you use it at ANY HP level below 100, then your HP gets lowered. And yes, even mid grapple. This "hard HP" stays for a good few seconds. It doesn't sound bad, but in the rush of battle, it can completely ruin you. I can understand not wanting people to hook often, but to make the item essentially useless? It's just annoying.

Oh and how could I forget, the story. After Act 1, you'd assume that, this being the mid point of the game, the story would start heading in a more unique and interesting direction, setting up things for the finale, right?

No.

Instead, you fight V2 and Gabriel AGAIN, with little changes to their fight. After which, Gabriel then kills the angels with little build up. Ok? Maybe I'm being harsh but while the story is interesting, it feels way too late to actually be building up to anything cool. Unless every boss in Act 3 has cool story, I can't be that excited. This feels like the second Act in a 4 act game, not the 2/3 point of the game. It sucks too because I am incredibly biased for biblical/religious shit in games. This game felt like it nailed that perfectly in Act 1 but then it just didn't do anything with it in Act 2.

At this point, I'm unsure what to think of Ultrakill. I'll always appericiate the first time experience it gave me. The 4 hour thrill ride this game gave me is unforgettable. However, I feel nothing towards the game now but disappointment. Is it even worth checking out Act 3 at this point? I'm unsure at this point. I don't want to deliver my final say on this game until it's actually completed, but for now I am left with a hollow feeling.

When I first started this game, I was worried that it was just going to be DOOM but faster paced and with parkour (especially with it seeming initially to be an FPS in hell where you fight demons), however this game blew my expectations out of the water, and it not only does it's own thing in every way, but also surpassed DOOM itself.

Let's start with the story first. All humans are dead, and you're a robot who is fueled by blood. Hell is full, so you head down to Hell to find a gun and get some fuel. Pretty simple. However, deep under the game lies a surprisingly deep lore, with more involvement from God than the devil. The lore isn't important, however it does give context as to why you're fighting a red version of yourself, or a literal angel.

The gameplay itself is genuinely the most fun I've ever had with an FPS, even more than DOOM Eternal. All the controls, the jumping, dashing, sliding, and wall jumping just feel so nice and never inconvenienced me. The enemies you fight are also extremely varied, and every boss has unique properties that make you switch up your weapons.

And speaking of that, the weapon system in this game is really good too. You have access to a decent number of weapons, and each one has at least 2 variants, but it's likely they'll all have 4. These variants completely shake up the weapons, with them feeling like completely different weapons. Each gun also has its use, there isn't a single dud weapon in this game (so far).

The level design is great too. Each fight feels different because of the arenas you're placed into and the enemies that are placed into them. You're going to be switching weapons on the fly to take down each enemy in the best way possible.

The art in this game is great too. It has graphics that are meant to replicate PSX graphics, which you can tune to your liking. Each circle is also very distinct, with each having its own style. For example, the second layer, Lust, which uses a city at night time as it's setting, with tall buildings to climb over and many places to fall. No layer feels the same, and it feels like you're transported to a different realm with each one.

The music also bangs. It goes for a Drum and Bass style (I think, I'm no music expert), which fits perfectly with the incredibly high speeds and intensity this game has. There's also different songs for each level, and each layer has a different style of songs. For example, Limbo has more heavenly harmonic tracks, while Lust has jazzy chill tracks. Obviously these tracks, despite being in usually nice locations, are very fast paced. There's also the nice little detail where the most intense instruments only start up when a fight is starting, letting it not be constant tension 24/7.

Finally there's the options. This game has a LOT of options, which are incredibly useful and could help a lot of players. You're given the option to tune the difficulty to your liking, even beyond the normal 6 difficulty options, allowing you to play as you want. You can also give the enemies outlines and customize the colors of the outlines to help identify enemies quicker. That'[s just the surface though, there's so many options that I can't name them all.

Overall, this game is really fucking good. I could give this game an even higher rating, however I want to wait until the game is complete for me to do that, as it could get even better... or even worse. However, the developer seems very competent, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're the type of dev that takes very well to criticism and listens to their fans.

Please get this game, whether it's now or when it fully releases. It's incredible.