ULTRAKILL is an Incredibly Polished Action Shooter, Even in Early Access

A SHOTGUN BLAST OF EARLY ACCESS EXCELLENCE

There’s a particular edgy energy around pretty much anything New Blood Interactive puts out that is so appealing to me as a player. Their games are full of silly nods to their community and creators, similar in tone to the early work of id Software, a studio that clearly inspired this group. I also love their design work outside of games like their approach to merchandise and following these folks online almost always brings a laugh to my day. While DUSK is certainly New Blood’s crowning achievement, bringing a Quake-style shooter into the modern era, their title ULTRAKILL is shaping up to be one of the best action shooters on the platform. 

The term Early Access carries with it a lot of negative connotations. A lot of games published on Steam as Early Access can be silent for months or years, leaving a lot of players feeling like they’ve wasted their money. In stark contrast, New Blood has been releasing their games in chapters, making adjustments along the way. Every time a new chapter of DUSK was released, I found it fun to play through the entire game again. That said, I wanted to wait for ULTRAKILL to be fully released before jumping into it. Judging by the trailer and clips shared online, I knew I would love it. A recent urge to play something faster-paced hit me hard and I spent a couple of evenings pouring over what the game already has to offer. 

I walked away incredibly surprised by how polished ULTRAKILL is already. 

While the game’s core concepts were already in place by the time New Blood added it to their publishing portfolio, it’s pretty evident that the mindset that shaped DUSK into a near-perfect retro-shooter is running full force to refine ULTRAKILL. Feeling similar to the modern approach to DOOM, ULTRAKILL features frenetic action with mechanics that entice players to be as furious and forward driven as possible. A scoring system similar to that found in Devil May Cry rewards players for doing well and coming up with stylish ways to succeed. These action concepts are further pushed by the game’s health system as health can only be gained by dousing oneself in blood. Up close and personal combat gives health but some enemies are dangerous at that distance so there’s a clever risk-reward system at play.  

There are some light puzzle elements in later levels with many involving colored skulls as keys.

Further pushing the action is the game’s movements. The player character, V1, is capable of sliding, dashing, jumping off walls, and slamming downward for a shockwave. This all seems like pretty standard fare for action games but these animations chain together extremely well, giving the player a lot of options in mobility. Level geometry is full of opportunities and the encounters are meticulously crafted to keep the player moving. 

Another unique mechanic in ULTRAKILL is the game’s parry system. V1 is able to punch with their left hand and reverse the trajectory of incoming projectiles as well as counter physical attacks. However, this parry can also push one’s own projectiles, namely the blast of the shotgun. Initially, this was a bug but it was quickly recognized as enjoyable and worked into one of the most satisfying moves in the game. This is assisted further by putting the melee attack on the right mouse button, making it easy to quickly shoot and parry for a devastating blast of lead. The parry does have a cooldown though to keep players from spamming it to keep them safe. 

Like the best action games, there is a rhythm to master. 

Much like DUSK, there are awesome areas featuring layered geometry.

Thankfully, there are a few assistances that can be toggled in the game’s menus for those that struggle with the default difficulty. I ended up having to use this for the game’s final boss but I intend to revisit the game later on after refining my skills. This is a game that begs to be replayed for a higher score, finding secrets, and generally getting better. 

Impressively, the game’s performance is lightning fast and smooth as butter. I play with a moderately powerful PC, using a GeForce GTX 1080, and even my rig didn’t struggle at all. The game just feels optimized and even with all of the fountains of blood and explosions it never faltered. This is likely due to the game’s art style, using simple polygons and pixelated textures. Even though I also like game’s with higher production values, I am astounded by how appealing the developers are able to make this world with clever implementation and brilliant design choices. 

There’s more than the blood-drenched levels including this awesome cityscape.

There are so many aspects of ULTRAKILL that I adore. The enemies and bosses are wild, like something out of Silent Hill, Tron, or Diablo. Each enemy has their own behaviors and certain weapons and strategies work better than others. Weapons each feel unique with various alternate fire options to fine-tune one’s approach to encounters. The menus are almost all done within-world where a robotic finger charmingly pokes at buttons. ULTRAKILL features all of this in a narrative that has a lot of edge and grandiose akin to iconic 80s fantasy and science-fiction but there’s also this lightheartedness that adds a level of endearment. The general tone is a mixture of retro action game style with a cyberpunk morbidity and narrative delivery, forging an intoxicating world full of danger. Tying this up is a soundtrack full of amazing songs; I especially love the tracks in the Endless Mode.  

ULTRAKILL is a well-oiled machine that’s exaggerated, silly, and metal as hell. 

I cannot wait to play ACT II: Imperfect Hatred and it looks like the development is going well according to their Steam updates. Apparently, there will be dual-wielding in that update which could add even more layers to the already brutal action. 

Learn more about ULTRAKILL on the Steam listing or the game’s official website. A copy was purchased by the writer of this preview. Screenshots captured through Steam or used from official sources. 

For more on New Blood, check out their announcement of Fallen Aces, a Noir FPS with lots of style. We’ve also had Dave Oshry on the podcast around the time when Amid Evil was wrapping up production. Additionally, we recommended DUSK both in an essay and a video. Needless to say, we’re big fans of these games and this studio.