SUPERHOT Review

SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT. SUPERHOT is a strategic shooter with time control elements. Developed by the indie studio SUPERHOT Team, this game has been floating around the internet in various alpha and preview builds for a couple years now. With the commercial release finally available, it's time to see what SUPERHOT is all about.

Unfortunately, telling you what SUPERHOT is all about amounts to one gigantic spoiler, so we're gonna skip that part. Let's just say that it's a bit of a cross between The Matrix, Hotline Miami, and Serial Experiments Lain. Quite the combo. Gameplay-wise, SUPERHOT places you in the role of some nameless entity who fights against what the game called Red Dudes. It's extremely minimalistic, aesthetically reminding me of games like Mirror's Edge. On the surface, SUPERHOT looks like your average first-person shooter. The key difference is that time only moves when you move. Bullets flying your way? Stand still, plan the perfect dodge, and retaliate with some bullets of your own. In true Arena Shooter form, everything in this game is a one-shot kill, on you or your opponents. This leads to some seriously convoluted tactics, forcing you to dodge bullets with only moments to spare.

As you head through the levels, you discover more weapons and one more pretty inventive gameplay mechanic; the ability to "Hotswitch" into your enemies, instantly switching bodies with them. About to get hit by a shotgun blast? Just take the body of the Red Dude who shot it, and watch him get destroyed by his own hand. And speaking of getting destroyed, the death animations in this game are BEAUTIFUL (as are the window-breaking animations, actually). This is because all the Red Dudes are made of glass, apparently, and shatter to pieces at the touch of a bullet (or a sword, if you prefer).

As you move through the levels inch by precious inch, you tend to forget just how short these stages really are. Upon completing each level, you get to watch a real-time playback of everything you just did. Spent twenty minutes on that room? Turns out it was only about five seconds of combat. You can watch all your impressive moves play out in real-time, and feel just like Keanu Reeves every time you get the slip on that one evasive Red Dude.

My one (very minor) complaint is that the story is actually pretty short. It can be finished in about two hours, even if you're as bad as I am. For a game priced over $20, this might seem like a bad deal. However, there's a lot to do once the story is over. Again, no story spoilers, but the meat of the game actually comes in AFTER the credits roll. You unlock access to Endless Mode (essentially wave clearing/survival), as well as a ton of challenge modes and little extras. There are even a couple minigames thrown into the DOS-like menus. It's a pretty solid package, even if the story is short.

All in all, SUPERHOT is a fantastic game. It lives up to all the hype, and it brings some much-needed change to an otherwise pretty stale genre. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!

SUPERHOT can be found on Steam for $25, which may be a bit steep for what it is, but I personally found it to be worth the price. Some people might not, and that's okay too. Wait for the inevitable sale.

-Justin

Graphics: AMAZING
Sound: GOOD
Gameplay: AMAZING
Value: GOOD

Overall: AMAZING