This is really impressive. Adding the DMC Style system to a slide-n-shoot/airdashing FPS has been done before (see: Bulletstorm, Vanquish, etc.), where this one goes crazy is that health management is done entirely through CQC kills, meaning that the only way to survive in this game is to manage the risk of pulling off stylish shit with the insurance of your evasion skills. The weapon balance is also carefully considered, the long standard of the Hitscan Machine Gun and Shotty being the go to killers in FPS is not true here: Shotty is reliable but not as efficient or stylish as other options, and ULTRAKILL's Hitscan Machinegun is not only projectile-based now but also has severe dropoff a few feet past melee range. The power nerfs of the goto duo is made up through other weapons and alt-fires: the pistol is a surprisingly powerful weapon with two really strong, yet high skill alt fires, and the Shotty has two risky yet rewarding Crowd Control alt fires. Machinegun has another interesting alt-fire as well, but I'm digressing. The impressive point of ULTRAKILL is really how well executed it is; it could of have been Bulletstorm + Vanquish and had all the hardcore FPS gamers of the 7th gen goin crazy, but it goes a step beyond in offering more combat depth and a higher skill ceiling than either game. With four different alt-fires planned and some additional levels, as well as the removal of fall deaths, this could really become a pinnacle of the genre.

I honestly feel like ULTRAKILL works as well as it does partially by virtue of giving the player so many tools and such a compelling moveset that even if you're not that great at executing the game's more advanced tech (I can not reliably punch the railgun's drill from enemy to enemy like I know you can, I think I've done it successfully once), having a good understanding of "how to play" ULTRAKILL will make you feel like you're incredible at it.

If you're reliably switching weapons, staying in the air, spending what time you do have to be on the ground sliding, and thinking on your feet about which enemies to prioritize/how to regain lost blood, the style meter will literally start screaming "OH!! LOOK AT YOU!! LOOK AT THAT! LOOK WHAT YOU JUST DID! THAT WAS SICK!!" and rewarding you with insanely crunchy enemy kill sfx and screen freezes. Even in a world with Doom Eternal I feel like this is absolutely the best character action-style shooter I've played due to that alone.