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'Chess Ultra' (ALL) Cross-Platform, Multiplayer Features

by Rainier on Sept. 27, 2017 @ 12:18 p.m. PDT

Chess Ultra is a sequel to Ripstone's original million-selling 2012 title Pure Chess, and is a massive improvement on the original title in every way, with crisp, beautiful 4K visuals across a whole variety of environments and chess sets.

Ripstone's first in-house developed game, built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 4, features a range of single-player and online game modes, including 10 different AI levels to conquer all the way up to Grandmaster-approved levels.

When players take the game online, they'll quickly find their friends and other Chess Ultra players in ranked, regular, Fischer and Marathon matches.

Twitch integration is just one of the brand new additions in Chess Ultra, allowing Steam players to stream the game live on Twitch and play against their streaming community, who will be able to enter chess moves into the chat.

Ripstone confirmed that the Nintendo Switch version of Chess Ultra will include cross-platform compatibility, enabling players across PC, Xbox One and Switch to be able to play chess against each other.

Uk truck simulator 2. It has also been confirmed that Chess Ultra fully utilises the array of intuitive playing options on Nintendo Switch.

You can play on the big screen with the console docked, in tabletop mode with the Pro Controller, and on the go in handheld mode using either the Joy-Con controllers or by taking advantage of full touch screen functionality.

Additional to this, it will also include a unique way for two people to play the game in local multiplayer cross-table playing mode, whereby the console acts as the chess board. Place the console down between you and your opponent to play cross-table chess. Each player uses an individual Joy-Con controller to take their turn, and the game features an adaptive UI for cross-table play meaning you can focus on your strategy and enjoy the ultimate table top challenge.

Key features

• Stunning environments and beautiful chess sets, including a ‘Fire and Brimstone’ chess set that literally burns
• 10 Grandmaster approved AI levels
• Comprehensive time controls, including Classical, Blitz and Marathon, all available online
• Intuitive local and online multiplayer with ELO ranking system
• Over 80 chess puzzles
• Re-write the past by winning the biggest historic matches
• In-depth tutorials

Chess Ultra launched earlier this summer on PS4, Xbox One, PC and VR, with the first of many new DLC launching last week for these platforms; the Pantheon Game Pack. This pack includes an environment inspired by the Pantheon Temple in Rome, and a chess set of Imperial Roman soldiers.

Chess Ultra will be launching on Nintendo Switch later this year.

Chess is chess, right? You can’t improve upon the game or change it, so what can you do with a new chess title? Well, it turns out that Ripstone has the answer, with Chess Ultra. No, it doesn’t do anything particularly drastic, but it offers more content than you might expect.There are four beautifully rendered locations, all stunningly detailed and, if you own a PSVR or HTC Vive/Oculus Rift headset, you can have a good look around at these places as you sit beside the chess board.

There’s a limited ability to do this while playing on your TV too, but that’s more about seeing the intricately designed pieces on the board. You can see the incredible level of detail lavished upon every square, and even on the surrounding room(s) of each locale. You can even play along to the sound of a hearthfire crackling peacefully.

It really is beautiful game, from the surroundings to the pieces themselves. Chess Ultra0914Those pieces come in a variety of different styles too, from traditional wooden figurines to checkers (complete with icons representing each piece) and even ornate pieces seen on the sort of boards I’d imagine might be in the drawing room of an old mansion in a Sherlock Holmes film. The old Basil Rathbone ones, not the newer takes on the character. Each style choice comes with its own selection of custom options, like playing using metallic pieces or even jade figurines. There really is an awful lot of choice for a simple game of chess, but this alone helps to differentiate Chess Ultra from the rest.Now, you can be forgiven for thinking you might just jump into a game from there, and you can if you fancy doing so, but there are far more options than that. For instance if, like me, you haven’t played chess in about 18-20 years and need a refresher course, there’s a raft of in-depth tutorials that are perfect for that.

They range from the most basic movement explanations and what the general rules are, to specific moves that are designed to teach both newbies and veterans alike. Some are worded a little poorly though, which can lead to a bit of confusion when you’re trying to work out how to simply play chess. Nothing too frustrating, but it’s irritating nonetheless. More advanced players will likely pick them up far more easily, however.Again, you can be forgiven for thinking that you might get right into the chess games, now you’ve learned how to play or your memory of the game has been jogged, but there are still more options than that. There are several challenges designed to test your knowledge of the game or even help you to begin thinking three moves ahead.

There are historic challenges that feature classic matches from the 1800s all the way through to the 20th century, which begin at a set point in the game, tasking you with winning in a certain number of moves. On top of those challenges, there are “Mate in 1” up to “Mate in 7”, which are probably self-explanatory, but I’ll explain anyway. These are essentially puzzles, laying out certain pieces in a specific way and you have to work out how to get to Checkmate within the allotted move limit. This isn’t as easy as you might think (unless you’re a master of chess, in which case you’ll probably think I’m an idiot and, well, you’d be right) because sometimes you simply won’t see the solution until after you’ve tried a few different approaches.

The more moves needed for Checkmate, the more difficult the puzzles become and it’s a great way to bring something different to the table, instead of just bog-standard chess.Beyond the challenges, we finally arrive at the standard game of chess. If you’re a solo gamer, the AI has ten different difficulty levels to choose from and all of them work very well. The easiest levels will challenge newbies a little, allowing them (and me) to ease themselves into the game before moving up to tougher levels, and these ones will probably beat you several times. You’ll get a feel for how to think ahead and watch for weaknesses in both your opponents’ and your own games.

You won’t always have much time to think though, especially when playing in the (sadly online-only) tournaments, that use timers to keep things flowing. There are even 24-hour timers that can be used during general online play, giving you a full day to make your move, like an updated version of postal chess from ye olden days.

This makes for a more relaxed game, which is kind of a big part of chess as far as I’m concerned.Whether you are just starting out or have been playing for decades, Chess Ultra offers a comprehensive and content-rich experience that can challenge players of all levels. And damn, is it pretty.