0-1: Into the Fire

0-1: INTO THE FIRE
General
Layer & Part		PRELUDE /// FIRST
Challenge		Get 5 kills with a single glass panel.
Music		Into the Fire
Collectables
5 Soul Orbs Piercer Revolver
Enemies
66 Filth  16 Strays  1 Malicious Face
Rank Requirements
Rank	Time	Kills	Style
S	02:30	71	7,000
A	03:05	66	5,000
B	05:00	55	3,000
C	08:00	40	1,000

0-1: INTO THE FIRE is the first level in ULTRAKILL, serving as the tutorial and introduction to the game. The Tutorial introduces the most basic mechanics of the game: punching with the Feedbacker, sliding, dashing, healing with blood, wall jumping and ground slamming. The main level meanwhile introduces more mechanics to the player, most notably the Revolver's fire modes, simple combat arenas, environmental traps, parrying, and the first enemies: the Filth Stray and Malicious Face.

The song used in the level is Into the Fire.

Tutorial

Starting off with a new game, the player is faced with a calibration screen that they must configure. In this section, they are made to calibrate their audio levels, their graphic options and their preferred difficulty option:

BOOT UP SEQUENCE READY

FIRMWARE
 LATEST VERSION (2112.08.06)

CALIBRATION
 EXPIRED
 NEW CALIBRATION REQUIRED

BEGINNING CALIBRATION

AUDIO          OK
VIDEO          OK
MECHANICS      OK

 CALIBRATION COMPLETE
 PRIMARY SETTINGS UPDATED
( ASSIST OPTIONS  AVAILABLE IN PAUSE MENU )

 ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL
LOADING STATUS UPDATE...

Once all of the settings are configured, a short status update will appear, presenting the main player character: V1, their location, and their next objective, along with the main tagline of the game in red, detailing the status of mankind and V1's motive for survival:

STATUS UPDATE:

MACHINE ID:          V1
LOCATION:            APPROACHING HELL
CURRENT OBJECTIVE:   FIND A WEAPON

MANKIND IS DEAD.
BLOOD IS FUEL.
HELL IS FULL.

The "KEEP OUT!" sign, ignored by V1.

After this status update, the player will be dropped into a greyed, factory-esque room to start off the Tutorial. The player will only have the Feedbacker, all their stamina and 10 health. In front of the player lies a boarded up entrance with a sign labeled "KEEP OUT!" The player will be then prompted to punch the planks with the Feedbacker in order to proceed to the next room:

Press 'F' to PUNCH

A series of locked doors will then await in front of the player, with a small gap under each of the doors. The player is then required to slide underneath the doors to progress, with a prompt appearing on how to slide:

Hold 'LeftControl' to SLIDE

Afterwards, the player will encounter a room with a broken bridge in the center. The player will need to jump and dash in the air in order to reach the other end of the room. Should the player fail to do so, it is possible for them to climb back up to the starting ledge with two sets of stairs on the sides of the room.

...It is not actually the only way to heal. Parrying restores health and stamina, and Blood Orbs set your maximum health to 200, fully healing you to the new maximum.

Press 'LeftShift' to DASH (Consumes STAMINA)
Can be performed in air.

Following is a room inhabited by three stationary Filth, and two inactive Cerberi statues on their sides. The player will be prompted to attack the Filth with the Feedbacker in order to regain their missing health. The Filth are immobile and will not be hostile to the player even when attacked. The player can also choose to ignore the Filth and continue forward.

Deal close range damage to douse yourself in FRESH BLOOD.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO REGAIN HEALTH.

Afterwards, the player will encounter a a tall wall that is unable to be walked or jumped over. The player will be prompted to perform a wall-jump over this wall in order to continue to the next part of the room, in which they will encounter a small pit that has its bottom blocked by a wooden surface.

JUMP while near a WALL to WALL JUMP. (Max. 3 times)

They will be prompted to ground slam on the piece of wood and break through it in order to proceed to the final room.

Press 'LeftControl' in the air to GROUND SLAM
Hold for SHOCKWAVE. (Consumes STAMINA)

Inside lies a Soul Orb that the player is prompted to collect, granting extra style points on contact.

Most levels have secret SOUL ORBS.
Touch them to get a POINT BONUS.

The player will then make it to the end of the tutorial, where an elevator awaits to transport the player to the main section of the level.

Level

The "ULTRAKILL" title screen.

Filth chasing after the player on the glass walkway.

Start

Starting off the level, the player will drop into a dim room with a tight hallway ahead of the player, blocked by a set of breakable planks. The player will then wind through the narrow hallway as the opening credits appear, presenting the game's publisher: New Blood, and the lead developer, Arsi Patala (commonly referred to as Hakita).

At the end of the hallway lies a dark room with a pedestal within the center, holding the Piercer Revolver. Upon picking it up, the logo of ULTRAKILL is overlaid onto the screen as the lights flash on and a music sting plays.

If the player had chosen to not replay the tutorial section, the vent section will be much shorter and will lead directly to the Revolver.

The first room of 0-1 is a large square room with a singular door and two inactive Cerberi statues in the corners nearby. Upon the introductory sequence ending, 3 Filth will appear to attack the player, acting as armless fodder enemies that swarm the player and lunge at them with their large bite. 8 more Filth will be summoned after the initial three are killed before the player can move on.

Following after the room lies a tight metal hallway, where 3 more Filth are encountered. Moving forward will then spawn in another group of 6 Filth, before making it into a room with a glass floor and a door below. A prompt appears on how to use the Piercer Revolver's alternate fire to break the glass:

REVOLVER: Hold Right Mouse Button to charge a PIERCING
shot.

Glass Walkways

The next room that follows consists of a long hallway with a glass floor, suspended over a deadly Meat Grinder. 6 Filth will spawn in front of the player on the glass, which can be broken in order to drop the Filth into the grinders below.

Exiting out the hallway, the player will make it to a large pit with a stairway of glass, with a Shredder Fan at the bottom. 9 Filth will spawn at the top of the stairway, requiring the player to be careful enough not to break too many glass panes in order to progress. The player will then enter into a corner-type hallway with a Shredder Fan before making it into the next arena.

Strays preparing to fire at the player as a part of the parrying tutorial.

Projectile Arenas

Proceeding after a short corner hallway, the player will enter a large arena housing a few ledges, raised platforms, and a walkway over the entrance. Walking far enough will start the introduction to the first projectile enemy, the Stray: tall, skittish humanoids that attack by firing Hell Energy Orbs at the player. 2 Strays will spawn to the sides of the arena, with 5 Filth and 4 more Strays following afterwards.

The player will then make it to a small hallway, where 2 Stray spawn will spawn in front of the player. A prompt will then appear to teach the player on how to parry their projectiles with the Feedbacker:

PUNCH a PROJECTILE with precise timing to DEFLECT it.

Doing so will cause their Hell Orbs to redirect back to the Strays, causing a massive explosion for lots of damage. Turning around the corner will spawn in 2 more Strays, and 5 Filth.

Hard Damage Introduction

Exiting out from the previous arena, the player will enter a hallway with a glass ceiling and a floor above. Inside here a prompt will appear about Hard Damage, how it affects them and how to get rid of it:

Taking damage TEMPORARILY reduces your MAXIMUM HP.
"HARD DAMAGE" recovers faster when playing STYLISHLY.

Moving forward will lead to a pit with a breakable glass wall which the player can go through to wall-jump up to the top floor, or break the ceiling and jump up from there. A walkway will then present itself once the player has made it up from the pit. 4 Filth will spawn in front of the player, while 3 Strays will spawn by the opposing side of the walkway, using nearby support pillars for cover.

Ground Slam Chamber

The next room consists of a large, open arena with a narrow disconnected platform in its center and a ledge on the right wall. The player will then receive a final prompt about Ground Slamming and it's ability to deal damage on direct hits:

GROUND SLAM (LeftControl) deals damage on direct hit.

5 Filth will then spawn in on the platform, while 3 Strays await on the far ledge, with the prompt guiding the player to use the Ground Slam to stomp on the Filth below.

Introduction to the Malicious Face.

Boss Encounter

After the previous arena, the player will be greeted by a special Boss Door. Inside they will face the first Malicious Face: floating heads that send barrages of Hell Orbs towards the player, along with a slow charging but deadly explosive beam. The Malicious Face spawned here has a total of 20 HP, unlike the common Malicious Face's 15 HP.

Defeating the boss will then cause the exit elevator to unlock, and allow the player to end the level.

Challenge

For this level's challenge, the player needs to use the Piercer Revolver's alternate fire to break a glass pane with a swarm of Filth on top of it, either in the hallway with the Meat Grinder or the Glass Stairway room. However it is important to remember to check if there are more than 4 Filth on the glass pane before breaking it, so as to reduce the chance of accidentally missing a single Filth. The player may also use the Knuckleblaster to break the glass if they come back later, but take care not to hit Filth rather than the glass.

Secrets

Secret Orb Locations

#1	Soul Orb - In the first arena. Found above the entrance behind a breakable glass pane.
#2	Soul Orb - In the Glass Stairway arena. Accessed by jumping across a series of pipes surrounding the walls leading to a small nook.
#3	Soul Orb - In the corner hallway preceeding the Stray Introduction. Found by wall jumping up to a hidden ledge above the entrance.
#4	Soul Orb - In the arena where Hard Damage is introduced. Found above the corner where the Filth spawn in by a hidden ledge.
#5	Soul Orb - In the room before the Boss Arena. Found hidden behind a breakable grate underneath the entrance. Collecting the Soul Orb will spawn in 13 Filth to ambush the player.

Trivia

Gameplay

• In the very first room where you obtain the Piercer Revolver, if you have obtained the Knuckleblaster from later in the game, it's possible to use the Shockwave blast on the door behind the revolver and activate the combat encounter, skipping having to pick up the Piercer Revolver and allowing for a weaponless run.
  • This makes it possible to beat the level without a weapon, however any weapons that you have equipped will be automatically regained upon reaching the next level or quitting and selecting a different level. However, you can remove all your weapons in subsequent levels by simply de-equipping them all at the terminal in the starting elevator.
• In a corridor between the piercer room and the first glass room, there's a diagonally placed pipe on the wall. Sliding into it will clip V1 out of bounds and let it walk on the map's roof. Additionally, the message '"PIPE CLIP LIVES" T. HAKITA' will appear on the bottom of the screen. This clip is one of several that have been manually preserved for the speedrunning community when the bugs that enabled them were eventually patched out during Early Access.
• If the intro was completed before playing 0-1, the passageway from the entrance to the revolver room is long and winding. When entering 0-1 directly, it is straight and much shorter. Moreover, when you arrive at the revolver room and look back at the corridor before picking up the revolver, the passage end has glitched graphics if starting the level from the intro.
• Unlike in other levels, the timer starts after the title drop (or if it is bypassed).
• If you have Clash Mode enabled, a box will appear between the glass room and the projectile arena, making this level beatable in Clash Mode, as the jump is not possible to make otherwise. A box will also appear in the pipe room in the vertical part with no glass panels.
• When you load into the level, the two boards that you would normally break can instead be slid under.

Development

• The Ultrakill title drop after picking up a revolver was among the very first things added to the game.