ULTROS, a psychedelic sci-fi metroidvania from indie developer and publisher Hadoque, has just revealed a lengthy new trailer revealing key gameplay, stages, music, and more.
ULTROS still hasn’t confirmed an exact release date, but it is expected to launch sometime in 2024, according to the new trailer. It will be available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. You can watch today’s first look trailer on the game’s official YouTube channel:
Today’s footage is twice as long as the reveal trailer, which allows for an even more accurate portrayal of the pacing and tone. For any title, a psychedelic approach could easily feel like a gimmick, thanks to an obligatory kaleidoscope of colors and other surreal concepts. But ULTROS seems to use it as a tool for its ultimate vision, rather than relying solely on tropes.
According to the Steam page, ULTROS is set on The Sarcophagus, a “cosmic uterus”, and intends to explore themes of “mental health, life, death, and karmic cycles”. The imagery in today’s trailer feels directly tied into that and meaningful, rather than coming off strange just for the sake of it.
Unfortunately, the new look at some dialogue mainly focuses on lore, fauna and flora instead of showcasing more character-driven exchanges. It’s possible that kind of content was too sensitive for the trailer.
It also would have been nice if the trailer mentioned the influence of El Huervo, known for their work on Hotline Miami, as their name is proudly flaunted across the product pages. Their artistry feels very distinct from previous work, but really delivers something stylish enough to define the world of ULTROS.
Between all of the creatives involved, and the cosmic scope of the narrative, ULTROS feels highly ambitious in every way that fans could hope for.
You can read more about ULTROS, Hadoque, and other upcoming indie games by checking out the rest of our news section.
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