There was once a time when a video game was nothing more than an interaction between gamer and device, and the ultimate task of causing massive destruction to some funky 80’s tunes. We weren’t loaded with narratives, character development or “feelings”, just good old mindless violence that wasn’t really that violent. Apart from Doom that is. Ultratron is a retro gaming experience that aims to be so visually spectacular and incredibly addictive that by the time you’ve finished the game, you would’ve missed nine days of work and your eyeballs would’ve melted into colorful marshmallow mash. But it is any good?
Ultratron is a reimagining of the classic retro shooter, much like how Volgarr the Viking reclaimed the experience of playing the classic Golden Axe games. Ultratron takes the concept of a fast paced top down shooter and implements a huge variation of colourful, eye melting visuals. It’s these two factors that overcome the elements which are missing, such as a well written story. But it’s kind of refreshing to engage with a game and not get weighted down with a heavy handed narrative. Instead, we follow the simple tale of a human who looks like a robot, destroying an army of robots that are robots. Players are based solely in one location or “arena” and fend off the never ending waves of enemies that emerge from the darkness.
Ultratron gives players an engaging and fast paced action experience, similar to the classic top down shooter Super Smash TV. In similar fashion, Ultratron features various stages that have massive amounts of enemies, a number of bonus stages that include destroying extremely quick enemies, dodging various explosive NPCs, and of course at the end of each chapter, a big bad boss encounter. Ultratron has a simple structure, yet one that’s extremely easy to get into and hard to break away from. The game is such a joyous experience that you’ll never want to end it unless you really have to.
Checkpoints are far and few between, meaning if you die at the boss stage, you’ll have to do the whole chapter from the beginning. A tough means of punishment but one that also – like Volgarr – makes players want to win even more; And with the game being so easy to start up, you’ll find yourself never putting down the controller.
Players will gain points and currency during the waves, and will be allowed to buy a host of weapons and variation of items to aid in their battles at the end of each stage. These include mobile turrets, EMP devices, and powerful explosives that wipe out every enemy on the screen. A great selection of items to choose from – but I felt that closer to the end, most of the items became too expensive to buy, as the rewards didn’t increase during the progression of the game.
Upgrading your primary weapon’s power will increase the price of the next upgrade, but half way through the game, you’ll realize that you won’t earn enough money to buy the upgrades, as the rewards never matched the high risks later in the game. I often replayed the game again and again, but became stuck on the last chapter, having been forced more or less to purchase enough shields to make it through the next stage.
Ultratron‘s a spectacular game to play with a friend and I love its co-op feature, something that not many games have anymore. It’s extremely stunning to observe the pixelated stylization that represents retro games so well, and it’s beautifully mindblowing to watch. With a host of graphical and particle effects to add those final touches, the game has a wonderful, energetic nature that differs from the slower paced shooters we play today.
Another fault I had during my time with Ultratron, is that the game did not offer much else to do other than the short campaign. There weren’t any bonus stages or challenges to play after the main game was completed, and I felt as though the game could of allowed players to choose various stages to player again, such as the bonus or boss battle stages.
Ultratron does let us down slightly with the lack of content after completing the main game, and that it seems to be unfair to players and never rewards you justly as the game progresses. But for its energetic fun, co-op capability, and visually stunning nature, I would highly recommend this to those who fancied a game that relived the good old days of retro madness.
This review was written with the use of a review code provided by Curve Digital