Ultra Age | PS4 Review
Updated: Nov 19, 2021
Ultra Age, developed by Next Stage and Visual Dart and published by DANGEN Entertainment is a hack and slash sci-fi adventure. Ultra Age is currently available on Windows PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. For the purpose of my review I was playing the PlayStation 4 version.
Set in the very distant future, take on the role of a warrior called Age whose sole mission is to save humanity from the fallen Earth that has become uninhabitable and volatile. Rather than humans ruling the Earth they have now been replaced with aggressive creatures, robots and other mutants who do not take too kindly to your presence there. Age has one week to accomplish his mission and his reward for doing so is eternal life. Accompanied by a little flying android named Helvis, the player must guide Age across the lands varying from the deep jungle to abandoned research facilities and deserts to find the very key that will save the remainder of humankind.
The general gameplay was relatively simple however I found it very effective and quite addictive. The combat is a very typical hack and slash style and you very quickly find other weapons to accompany your basic sword. Each of the four weapons have strengths against particular enemies and as you progress you start to find that exploiting these weaknesses becomes essential. Ultra Age is a substantial game length wise and there was a massive amount of upgrades that could be applied to every aspect of the gameplay ranging from upgrading your swords and skills to allow you to do more impressive combos, all the way to upgrading Helvis. The best comparison that I could draw is that Ultra Age felt like an indie version of Devil May Cry’s hack and slash mechanics and I don’t feel like this does Ultra Age any disservice. The gameplay felt very smooth and the mechanics felt like they worked really well allowing me to get a good grip on the combat and actually enjoy every fight. One thing I really enjoyed about the game is that there is a sort of time travel mechanic that Helvis assists with where you can travel forward in time to allow the resources around the world to replenish which helps with levelling up and becoming more powerful.
Save points and checkpoints are quite few and far between throughout the game and at first I found this slightly tedious. However after a few deaths I realised the value in it because any shortcuts that you opened will remain open and the only time you can upgrade anything is at these save points. You also get to keep any resources you've collected upon death so in actuality that tedious feeling disappeared very quickly after I realised this, because the next time I made my way through the area I died, then I’m returning more powerful and with a well upgraded character.
The art style was also fairly nice as well. The graphics weren’t absolutely mindblowing compared to AAA titles however Ultra Age really does offer some stunning views and some nice cinematics in some areas where the camera pans out and it turns almost like a movie as you're crossing through some areas. Alongside these stunning visuals there is also an epic rocking soundtrack which ramps up the intensity of the combat and I found myself enjoying the music too as it was the perfect accompaniment to the fast paced fights.
Overall, I actually had a lot more fun than I expected from Ultra Age and it drew me in and maintained my attention the entire time. It was a sufficient challenge overall and certainly didn't frustrate me in any way and gave me a lovely afternoon of gaming where I felt pretty cool as I flew through waves of enemies with my various swords chopping them up with great style while holding my interest throughout.
Lj’s Rating: 4 angry mutants out of 5.
For more information on Ultra Age please use the following links...
Next Stage - Developer Visual Dart - Developer | Website
DANGEN Entertainment - Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to DANGEN Entertainment for the Review Key.
Ultra Age | Steam Store | PlayStation Store | Nintendo eShop
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