Ultra Age Review

Ultra Age is a fast paced, high octane, 3rd person hack n slash with rogue-like elements, set in a futuristic sci-fi post apocalyptic setting. Save humanity from its inevitable end and uncover deep conspiracies while exploring the many biomes and unique locales. Get ready to push the limit of badass with: robots, mutants, action, giant swords and of course, boobs. Ultra Age or more accurately: Alpha Age is a great budget title and here's why.

Developers: Visual Dart, Next Stage, Visual Dart Co., Ltd.

Publishers: Intragames, DANGEN Entertainment, Next Stage

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows

Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Review Code Provided

Written by Gabriel Sewell

You assume the role of Age, accompanied by his quirky robot companion Helvis. Together you set out on an adventure to save the world. As you fight your way through randomly generated enemies be prepared to die, and probably die again. You’ll have a choice of various different blades with only 4 equippable at a time, different enemies types are weak to different blades. For instance, organic beings are weak to the Katana and Robotic/Mechanical enemies are weak to the Claymore. So it's really important to consider which blade to use and when. However, the enemy name and damage number will change to an orange colour to signify if they are weak to your equipped blade, serving as a really nice visual cue. Fight to become stronger as you learn the nuanced move set and upgrade the many blades and Age’s equipment to release his true combat potential. You’ll be glad to know the combat is very enjoyable and definitely the highlight of the game. The controls are very tight and responsive helping to complement the challenging combat. Boss fights are when the game really shines because there’s a large focus on observing and learning the enemies attack patterns to dodge accordingly rather than just mashing buttons and hoping for the best, at times it really feels like a test of your skills as a gamer.

You traverse the environment in a very similar fashion to dungeon crawlers, moving from one area to the next clearing out the enemies. Every time you die you’ll return to your last checkpoint and 12 hours will pass on the game's day/night cycle and you’ll find the enemies and crystals have returned. This is where the rogue-like elements are implemented, you start to feel like you're doing runs through the areas, although admittedly, it’s far more forgiving than most rogue likes. As you explore each environment you’ll come across the various upgrade crystals some of which are used as a form of ammo/replenishable material for your blades and others known as modules that give you upgrades to your stats like health and damage etc. Although exploration can feel somewhat linear, there are still plenty of optional paths to explore and materials like “Power Gear” to find. Using the zip shot is an incredibly enjoyable mechanic and a very welcome addition to the gameplay overall, not only is it used to traverse the maps but it can also be used in combat to close the gap between you and the enemy.

Overall the game looks stunning on the Nintendo Switch, the environments feel sufficiently detailed and enjoyable to explore and although the graphics are a bit blurry it’s nothing overly noticeable. I can only assume it’s in favour of a more stable framerate which for the most part keeps at a sturdy 30fps. I’m all for performance over presentation so I’m very happy with that decision, It'd be great to see more developers take this approach when porting games to the Switch. Now for the bad news, the protagonist's character model is horrendously bad to look at, he looks like a lifeless Luke Skywalker. He’s genuinely unsettling to look at and has a very eerie presence to his design, it’s bizarre. Pair that with the poor motion capture/lip syncing and it feels pretty disappointing not to mention the bland voice acting. However, the big boob antagonist looks great and her scythe looks so badass it’s a shame the same care didn’t go into the main character, maybe this is something that they'll correct with future patches, who knows. That being said it's really not a big issue and doesn't detract too much from the experience overall and I feel like more leniency can be given in that department considering it's a low budget action game.

The soundtrack is actually pretty impressive and a much higher quality than I was expecting, from the badass rock music that perfectly compliments the battles, to the experimental and abstract synth music you'll hear softly playing as you explore, nothing feels out of place and is all very enjoyable to listen to.

Conclusion

Ultra Age is a challenging, fast paced action game with enjoyable rogue-like mechanics. And although it might have its flaws, for such a small title it’s a very impressive game especially on the Switch. It’s not often I praise the performance of Switch ports but this game really sets the bar high for future releases. It’s well worth it’s retail price of 26.99 and I urge any action game fans to buy this on release.

2/3

Good Game, worth your time and money.

Pros

Nice Graphics

Amazing Performance

Enjoyable Combat

Badass Music

Cons

Bland Voice Acting

Thin Story

Author: Gabriel Sewell