REVIEWED BY: JAKE HALL

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ULTRAKILL

- Released on September 3rd,
2020 in early-access,
published by New Blood
Interactive (publishers of
Dusk, Amid Evil, Gloomwood,
and other games)
- Is still currently in
development with the second act
having been released in mid-
August
- Development of Ultrakill is
led by Arsi "Hakita" Patala
and PITR
 ART AND MUSIC
- The art style and graphics
of Ultrakill pay homage to
the style of Playstation 1
games
- Models are low-poly and textures
are somewhat compressed to give
it a rougher, grainy look
- The music (composed by
Hakita) goes through a
handful of genres but is
predominantly rock and
electronic with some other
genres showing up in
certain songs
 GAMEPLAY
- Very fast-paced movement
shooter
- Offers players a very wide range
of movement options (sliding, wall
jumping, grappling, rocket-riding,
and more)
- Some mechanics were initially
discovered as bugs but included
regardless (punching your own
shotgun projectiles, for example)
- Encourages experimentation and
an aggressive playstyle
- Most weapons work together in some
way or another, there are many
interactions that can be utilized.
- The only way to heal is through
absorbing blood from enemies (and
parrying attacks), so trying to
play defensively rarely ends well
MISC. GAMEPLAY
- Almost every layer comes
with its own secret level
which changes up the
genre/gameplay in some
manner
- Horror, puzzle game, visual
novel, platformer, etc.
- Some levels are direct
references to other games
(The Witness and Crash
Bandicoot)
STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES
- Very little of the background
information (such as history,
events, or context on
characters/enemies) is given
directly
- Instead, much of this information is
communicated through a variety of other
means:
- Journals/books that describe events
- Environmental details that offer
insight
- Terminals and logs that can give
information about the story or
enemies and bosses
- A few “cutscenes” that show events
going on outside of the player’s
perspective
HUMANITY IS DEAD.
- The narrative of ULTRAKILL takes
place following the extinction of
humanity at the hands of machines
they’d created.

BLOOD IS FUEL.
- You play as V1, a blood-fueled
machine built for a war that was
resolved before V1 had finished its
prototyping stage.

HELL IS FULL.
- With the end of humanity, Hell took
on billions of damned souls. Being
the only source of blood, V1 travels
to Hell.
 MORE ON THE STORY
- Ultrakill’s narrative works on an act-based
system.
- Act 0 - Overture: V1’s journey to access Hell, more-
or-less the intro.
- Act I - Infinite Hyperdeath: V1’s fight through the
upper layers of Hell (Limbo, Lust, and Gluttony).
- Act II - Imperfect Hatred: V1’s fight through the
middle layers of Hell (Greed, Wrath, and Heresy).
- Act III - Godfist Suicide: TBA, still in the works
- V1 acts as the antagonistic force of the
game, purging life from each layer of Hell
for fuel.
- Other characters of note include:
- V2 - an updated version of V1 who fights the
player on multiple occasions.
- Gabriel, the Judge of Hell - a prideful angel
who acts as V1’s true rival.
- Minos - the king of the Lust layer who was cut
down and imprisoned by Gabriel.
OVERTURE
THE MOUTH OF HELL
INTO THE FIRE
- The intro to Ultrakill
features the only location
that is not within Hell -
but rather a man-made
operation on the border of
Hell itself.
- The architecture and
industrial devices have
been converted to serve
more gruesome purposes.
- Bloodied grinders, giant
hydraulic presses, massive
spinning fan blades, etc.
LAYER 1
LIMBO
HEART OF THE SUNRISE
- As the name would suggest,
nothing in Limbo is real.
- The chirping of birds coming from
hidden speakers, the sky being
displayed on a screen, the fake
water and trees, etc.
- The end of Limbo contains both
a journal entry that describes
the despair of a soul stuck in
Limbo
- "Lurid vistas painted in insidious
tones, hollow walls that scream to
the touch. A mocking song plays at
all hours, even the sounds of birds
are fake. All reminders of my
enduring damnation.”
LAYER 2
LUST
BRIDGEBURNER
- Prior to the events of ULTRAKILL,
the Lust layer was in a
renaissance period, prospering
under the reign of Lust’s king,
Minos.
- However, Minos was butchered by the
angel Gabriel for his compassion
towards the sinners of his layer,
leading to Lust’s downfall.
- The sprawling cities and colossal
structures allude to the former
glory of Lust, yet sit empty and
in disrepair as the towering
corpse of King Minos wanders the
layer aimlessly.
LAYER 3
GLUTTONY
BELLY OF THE BEAST
- Within the giant corpse of
Minos reveals the Gluttony
layer, a grotesque and
unnerving “temple”.
- Giant eyeballs silently spectate
the player as the fleshy walls
squirm and pulse unnervingly
before leading into head-
spinning chambers of stairs
leading in dozens of directions.
- Everything culminates into
a fight against the angel
Gabriel, acting as the
climax to Act I.
LAYER 4
GREED
SLAVES TO POWER
- The “sands” of the Greed
layer consist of gold,
superheated by the sun to the
point of catching anything
that touches it on fire.
- Insurrectionists led by their
former king, Sisyphus, are
punished with an eternity of
dragging boulders up a
pyramid for their attempts at
rising up against the
heavens.
LAYER 5
WRATH
IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

- Due to humanity’s demise,

the violent seas of wrath
are dense with hopeless
souls eternally drowning.
- The Ferrymen, who
transported those souls,
had lost their purpose and
became aimless when the
supply of souls to ferry
halted
LAYER 6
HERESY
AESTHETICS OF HATE
- The introduction to
Heresy is brutal both
visually and gameplay-
wise, acting as the
finale of Act II.
- The entire layer works as
a crescendo leading to
the second battle against
Gabriel.
- As of now, this is where the
game ends. Act III is in
development.
THE SLIDE WHERE I SHILL FOR SOME REALLY
UNDERRATED GAMES THAT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND