In ULTRAKILL, you fight your way down into Hell. It's a fast, old-school first-person shooter that draws on classic shooters like Quake and borrows flashy combos from Devil May Cry. Humans are gone, and the only things left on Earth are machines that run on blood. When the blood on the surface runs out, those machines head down into a version of Hell inspired by Dante's Inferno to find more. You play as V1, a blood-powered machine that follows them down and fights its way through.
Each level is a mostly linear path through rooms full of demons, angels, and machines. You fight with weapons that each have two fire modes, plus robotic arms for punches and other special moves. Your style meter climbs as you dash, slide, and mix up your attacks, so the game rewards flashy play. Health comes back when you fight up close or parry an attack, so the game pushes you forward instead of letting you hang back.
Each level ends with a grade for time, kills, and style, from D up to S. Earning S in all three with no restarts gives you a P, which stands for perfect, and points from your ranks, secrets, and stylish play buy new weapon variations at shop terminals. Earn P in every level of an act, and a hidden exit opens in that act's last layer, leading to a Prime Sanctum, a very hard boss fight. Beyond the campaign, Cyber Grind is an endless wave mode for high scores, and the Sandbox lets you spawn enemies and objects to experiment with.
- Developer
- Arsi "Hakita" Patala
- Publisher
- New Blood Interactive
- Release
- Steam Early Access: 2020-09-03
- Platforms
- Windows
Game data
Weapons
ULTRAKILL's main weapons are revolvers, shotguns, nailguns, railcannons, rocket launchers and arms. Most guns come in blue, green and red versions, with the blue ones found in the levels and the others bought with Points at the Terminal shop. Every gun has a standard fire and an alternate fire, and arms can be used alongside any of them.
Enemies
ULTRAKILL's enemies fall into five main families: Husks, Machines, Demons, Angels and Prime Souls, plus a small group of one-off foes. Husks are the physical forms of damned souls, Machines are blood-powered war machines, Demons live in Hell, and Angels come from Heaven. Prime Souls are the rarest of all, human spirits strong enough to take shape without a Husk body. Each enemy has its own attacks and weak spots, and parrying is the key to beating most of them.
Levels
ULTRAKILL's levels are built around a short prelude and three acts, with each act split into three layers named after circles of Hell. The last level of every layer is a climax that ends in a boss fight. Beyond the campaign, the game includes hidden secret levels, Encore remixes of the prelude and layers, and Prime Sanctum boss challenges that open once you earn P ranks.
ULTRAKILL gameplay tips
- Dash out of trouble. Dashing makes you invincible while it lasts, so it's one of the safest ways out of a bad spot.
- Stay airborne and keep sliding. Time in the air and sliding raises your style multiplier, so a fight that keeps you on the move scores higher than one where you stand still.
- Parry projectiles with the Feedbacker's punch. Only the Feedbacker can parry projectiles, so time the punch to the moment the shot reaches you. A parried shot flies back faster, explodes, and does more damage.
- Rotate between weapon variations. Each attack lowers the style value of the variation you used, while your other variations recover. Switching often keeps every hit worth more, so don't stick with one favorite.
- Start on Standard difficulty. It's the recommended starting point for most new players, and the other difficulties are measured against it.
- Skip Major Assists and checkpoint restarts when chasing P. Major Assists rule out a P rank, and so does restarting from a checkpoint, so practice a level first and then go for a clean run.