Ultrakill Review

Story
The story is in development, this is what so far is know about the story.
Mankind has gone extinct and the only beings left on earth are machines fuelled by blood. Now that blood is starting to run out on the surface of the earth. The machines are racing to the depths of Hell in search of more blood.

Game Play
The demo is smaller than I expected it would be but that does not matter. The demo can be played multiple times without getting repetitive in multiple difficulties.
Ultrakill is a fast paced first person shooter; you need to watch everything that is happening around you. The moment you see an enemy, the chance is big that he is already standing inside you. The enemies usually don’t come alone.
I would advise you to keep moving and pay attention to the enemies running towards you. This can be difficult with many enemies in one room.
The rooms can be dark but you can see what is happening. I have not found a gamma setting yet, to adjust the brightness.  You start with a tutorial that explains the game and the different things you can do in Ultrakill.
You can punch enemies; I think you will really like punching the enemies. The effect of punching feels good. You can punch all off the enemies including the bosses. When you punch an enemy you will also restore your health points. Maybe you can make it a personal mission to punch everyone in the face!
You can slide under objects and dash in the air. Jumping is necessary in Ultrakill. The developers even made wall kicking a possibility. You will need to use the wall kick to get too many of the secrets. Some of the secrets will be hidden near the ceiling.
There are traps scattered over the game, places to fall off and grinders to fall in. Don’t forget the pillars trying to squash you.

There are checkpoints in the level before it gets tough. This is usually is before a huge wave of enemies will attack you or the boss in that level. When you reach the end of a level you need to drop down in a hole. You get a ranking based on the skills you have shown in the level. Killing, the amount of kills and how you killed the enemies will calculate your rank. Time played is also an important factor for your rank.

You start the tutorial without a pistol but you can punch like there is no tomorrow! After finding the first drop to reach the next level you will find a pistol. I did not use the pistol a lot. I actually punched 99% of the enemies to death.
You can parry projectiles when you timing is right. Before the projectile hits you, you punch it away. When done correctly a powerful animation plays and the projectile will be send back to the caster. This will cause massive damage to the enemies.
You gain extra points for parrying a projectile.

Using the pistol is simple; the hard part is shooting the enemies at their critical hit spot. A good idea is to charge a shot and shoot glass panels when he enemies are walking on it. Tip: don’t stand on the glass when you shoot it.
The points you gather by completing levels can be used to buy skills in the next level. The skills are still under development but you can see how much impact it will have on the full game.
You can also gain points by finding secrets in the levels. The secrets are called soul orbs. Some of the secrets are easy to find and other can be very hard to notice. Once you unlock the shotgun, you can use the shotgun to open cracks in the wall. You will need to use the explosive power of the shotgun to open the cracks in the wall. The shotgun works like in other games; you deal high damage on point blank range. You can also use explosive shots to blow the enemies up.

The graphics in Ultrakill are old school. I like the retro feeling of the graphics. This fits the atmosphere of Ultrakill very well.  You may find some black holes in the demo but they are barely noticeable.

Bosses
There are three bosses in the Ultrakill demo.
The first boss is a flying face. Keep moving and jump up to the boss and punch him in the face. After a little while, the face starts crying blood. The crying is a sign that he is almost defeated. Soon the face will fall down like a bowling ball and the boss dies. It was not difficult to defeat him. He will return later in one of the levels as a normal enemy.

The second boss is the Swordsmachine. The Swordsmachine has two forms. After the defeat of his first form, he will lose one of his arms, the arm with the shotgun you can pick the shotgun and use it yourself. The Swordsmachine does not give up but he retreats to mend his wounds. When you encounter the Swordsmachine later in the level, he attacks you. The Swordsmachine will use his one arm to throw swords towards you and try to slash you into pieces. You are able to parry the flying swords with the correct timing and deal immense damage to the Swordsmachine. His second form will be more difficult to defeat compared with the first form. I had trouble with shooting him with the pistol and shotgun. Instead, I choose to punch him. When he is defeated you will reach the end of the level and find the hole to drop in.

The third boss did not come alone. The Cerberus of hell is a living statue with a friend. They tried to punch you. With the knockback of their punch, you may fly to the ceiling. I managed to punch them both to dead my first try. In my opinion this boss might need a buff.

Pros
* The fast-paced combat in Ultrakill is thrilling. Your death can come in seconds if you don’t pay attention.
* The pistol and the shotgun work well.
* The skill system looks very promising; I can’t wait to see the full release to find out the potential it has!
* The game shows much promise, the fully released game can be very good if the developers keep this up.
* There are many secrets hidden for extra skills, I like that they are not too easy to find.
* Falling off the map, I really need to pay more attention to the floor. You can use this to your advantage by punching enemies of the map.
* Healing when punching.
* The point system makes you try harder.

Cons
* There is no controller support in Ultrakill.
* Sometimes the room is too dark. I was unable to find a gamma option.
* Instant death when you fall off the map.

When the game has been fully released I can see a lot of potential. I look forward to playing the full game and writing a review about it!

I give the game a…drum roll…

7!

The Ultrakill demo was shorter than I expected. I see great potential for the game. I think many people that like fast-paced first-person shooters will enjoy the full game. If you want to get a feel for Ultrakill I recommend that you play the demo. I hope it will get you excited for the full release! I would like your feedback if you decide to play the demo!