Tetris Ultimate slots onto PS4 tomorrow

Hi, I’m Adrian Price, a producer at Ubisoft and I’m very happy to be able to give you a glimpse of what to expect in Tetris Ultimate for PS4, ahead of its launch tomorrow on PlayStation Store.

It’s been a privilege to have helped create the latest version of a title that practically everyone knows about. A year ago we started thinking about what we wanted the game to be and I think we’ve added some great features players are really going to enjoy.

The game is filled with challenges which will reward you with trophies and some are quite difficult to get, but practice makes perfect. Then we have the ranking system where you are awarded ‘belts’, like in martial arts. I’ve been privileged enough to see a couple of people obtain a black-belt, and it’s quite an impressive sight to see how they play the game at the level they do.

 
If you’re not able to play online, which is just one way of playing each of the six modes within the game, or want to practice your skills and get your own black-belt, we’ve given you the ability to play against the AI Tetribots. There are four of them and they range from the Apprentice that even I can beat – to the Master Tetribot. If you can beat this guy even once, you know you’re up there among the greatest Tetris players.

And then there’s my favourite mode: Battle Ultimate. Tetris can be played in a variety of different ways depending on who you are. You can play solo, beat your previous score, or as some like to – compete with friends. Battle Ultimate brings a twist to the game with the introduction of power-ups. When used, it can level the playing field by clearing lines or showering your opponents with blocks to help you survive a little bit longer. That’s at least how I see it. ;)

 
The best Battle Ultimate match I’ve seen was here at the Ubisoft office where we were play-testing late one Friday afternoon. One of the creative directors lost because he was going to activate the Buzzsaw power-up. This, as the name alludes to, clears lines from your matrix. He was also setting himself up to hard drop an “I” piece, giving himself a Tetris, which would have sent a lot of lines over to the other players. The problem was he was about two seconds too late and one of the other producers sent him a LOT of lines. His master plan to come back from the brink and have a glorious win was shattered. It literally was one of the finest displays of a grown man rage-quitting while playing Tetris Ultimate. That’s when I knew Battle Ultimate was going to be enjoyed by a lot of people. Of course he was straight back into it for just ‘one more go’.

I think you’ll also enjoy playing Tetris Ultimate with your friends as much as we have, and on behalf of everyone that’s put the effort into developing this – thank you for reading this and we look forward to playing you online sometime.