Remember when I reviewed a prototype version of SuperHOT, an FPS where TIME ONLY MOVES WHEN YOU DO? I said it had the potential to be the next best thing, and presented a unique mechanic that just needed some firm context and a bit more content then we could've had a really great game on our hands.
And...that's more or less the case. For some reason I was preparing for disappointment, because a lot of people have complained that this game is too short; which is sort of the case, and a complaint I've had several times for other games I've reviewed. Perhaps £17 is a lot to ask for a four hour game, but I guarantee that you'll actually want to play this again. Several times. It hits the sweet spot between not outstaying it's welcome whilst being great enough to warrant repeated playthroughs.
You play as some person playing 'superhot.exe' via a virtual reality device. The game opens with an alternate future interface where you log in. From there you launch into a cracked version of a pirated game. It turns out however that in the future, corporations hate pirating more than the East-India Trading Company - and start doing some counter-cracking of their own. Yep, this game is meta. It actually gets really creepy, as the affair gradually starts to get too meta for comfort. I go mad for games that fiddle with the application, forcing you to restart or even exit. I still love how the early versions of Slender automatically shut the game down if you die. It's just so disturbing yet fascinating when games mess with the very computer it's being played on.
I was pleasantly surprised with how good the plot was. It's still flawed, but I was worried going into the game that it wouldn't be relevant to the gameplay. As it turned out, the plot is much more like Hotline Miami than Five Nights At Freddy's in that it feeds into the gameplay whilst also keeping a distance. The levels are a series of fast-paced, situational encounters. In-between all this is some exposition, but it's in a Portal sense. The game starts off as being just a game, but soon the narrative begins to take over and eventually swallows the gameplay.
But it doesn't go as far as I would've liked it to. There's a great third-act twist where you're given the ability to switch bodies, which fits in really well given the context presented. Yet the motivations of the corporation completely lost me, and seemed irrelevant to the gameplay. The game tries to make a statement about the constant barrage of killing random red dudes, but it doesn't seem to follow through with this and suddenly takes a dive into a completely different statement. Also, whilst I liked how the ending concluded everything, there's a post-credit sequence that's trying way too hard. I feel like the game should have either held back on it's meta elements, or gone all-out. The ending has credits, which pulled me right out of the experience as I'm suddenly reminded that this is the end of a game.
So it's not perfection, but it's certainly stuck with me. The narrative framing is just as mind-bending as the gameplay itself, and it's full of creepy moments that I wish more games would be inspired by. Why can't I play a PS4 game that messes with the Playstation Network menu? Or an XBOX One game that takes control of the Kinect? Why is the PC where all the cool stuff has to happen? I'm sick of sitting hunched over my desk when the best thing to do after a long day at work is lie down with a controller. (Sorry, I'm just a bit annoyed that there's no controller support.)
If it seems like I'm delaying discussing the gameplay, that's because it's amazing. This is slow-motion porn and it's glorious. You're placed into a wide variety of situations that open the way up for some impressive set-pieces. But you don't have to follow the games hints. There's one level where you're sitting at a bar and suddenly the barman draws a gun. The game has a bottle that you can throw, but there's nothing stopping you from either doubling back or leaping over the bar and punching him in the face.
Slow-motion should feel balletic, like you're underwater as everything spins and falls into a waltz-like sequence. That's precisely the case here, and that's why SuperHOT is so great. I've played frantic shooters, satisfying shooters, but never something that makes combat a dance. You effortlessly dodge bullets, yet the enemy is also mobile. By far the best weapon is the shotgun, since it's spread is lethal. The problem with this though is that the enemy also uses shotguns, so expect a couple of deaths where you can only watch a shotgun shell slowly loom towards your face.
Since the game engine is no longer browser-based, the graphics have been given a huge update.
I wish there was a full options menu, since even though I set the visuals to 'high,' I still got more aliasing than an early-2000's 3D game running at 1080p. But the textures have received a boost, the volumetric lighting is pleasant, and the 3D models are given a deceptively simple polygonal aesthetic. My favourite part of the prototype was how glass smashed in slow motion, and I think the developers read my previous review because everything is now made of glass. Guns, objects, people, they all shatter in a storm of polygons. Whilst the game no longer looks like it's set in the opening credits of Mad Men, it now looks like the opening titles to a James Bond film.
At times the game does the Hotline Miami thing where you're on a spree before suddenly you're shot in the back by someone you didn't see. Towards the end. the game demands a meticulous approach, forcing you to constantly be flicking back to check no-one's spawned behind you. Thankfully a sound effect plays warning you of this, but sometimes it can get drowned out by all the gunfire.
There's a new 'replay' mechanic where once you've cleared the level then you're treated to an instant replay that speeds it all up to real-time, so you can watch your ninja-skills in action. The best part of this is that it makes me look like a much better player than I actually am. That kerfuffle of missing the shot, running out of bullets, throwing the gun, and fumbling for another weapon looks like a deliberate, graceful act when played at normal speed. I must admit it's very addicting, in an ego-boosting way, seeing my gaming prowess greatly exaggerated. This may be the only time I might post a replay on social media, if only to brag.
I'm not sure if I'm just really skilled, or if the game is very good at gradually introducing it's mechanics. I actually was able to complete some of the later levels without dying once. I consider myself to be of average ('medium') ability when it comes to games, and I found the game to strike a perfect balance between being challenging whilst being accessible. There's no difficulty setting, but I don't see anyone struggling unless they have no idea how mouse-control in shooters work. Towards the end the game gets quite hard as fights become more frantic, yet by that point you should be used to the gameplay and able to cope with the ramping difficulty.
This all being said, I was disappointed that many of my minor annoyances with the prototype were still present in the final version. You still can't move any slower than a run, meaning that if you want to actually move in slow motion then you still have to awkwardly shuffle about, pecking at the WASD keys like you're skipping dialogue in an RPG. I occasionally pressed 'shift' in the hope that a 'walk' button could be willed into existence. You also cannot crouch, so no ducking bullets. Then again, since you already feel overpowered I think it would've been unfair to give you yet another tool to dodge enemies with.
The biggest problem is one that was present in the original test, and initially I was able to forgive it; but here it can become a real annoyance. Quite simply: your hit-box is larger than you think it is. I would say that 90% of the time I died was because I watched a bullet sail past my head...only for it to turn out that actually I was watching a fatal shot in slow motion. It takes you out of the game somewhat. You're not playing a game within a game. You're a floating rectangle that's much wider than you thing you are. Stop trying to make me lose weight, SuperHOT! I'm beautiful as I am, thank you very much!
Meanwhile, enemy hit-boxes are very small. I like how if an opponent is moving then you need to track ahead of your target the same way bows, rockets, and other kinds of projectile weapons work in most games. But this is made much more difficult then it should be by how several times I've been certain that I've scored a perfect shot, but nope. Perhaps it's due to my viewing angle, but sometimes it's seemed that bullets have gone right through an enemy without killing him.
Free advice: don't bother with head-shots. It's surprisingly difficult to get out of the modern mindset, where in every FPS now we assume shooting the head does extra damage. Everything in this game has one hit-point, including you. Just aim for the chest, because you're far more likely to hit that, particularly if the enemy is moving.
The melee combat is also bugged. Several times I was able to punch enemies through corners, and the weapons have a much longer reach then I feel they should. At least it seems easier to shoot bullets out of the air with my own bullets; which never stops being amazing. I couldn't smack bullets with the melee weapons, but that's probably me not being very skilled rather than the game being coded wrong.
The fact it's difficult to tell how large your body is and the way the game messes with your perception makes me think this was designed with Virtual Reality in mind. It would definitely work. It plays to VR's strengths - the strengths being that it places the game directly in your face and lets you organically observe the 3D environment. Perhaps a VR headset would remove the problem of not being able to tell precisely where your body is. This is possibly the first game I've played that makes me seriously want to pick up an Occulus Rift...even though it's not out yet, is expensive, and won't work unless I upgrade my PC.
Overall this isn't a flawless experience, but by god is it good. I haven't seen anything like this before, and I'm probably not going to see it again. This is an endlessly fun, innovative shooter that demands to be played...though I'll admit £17 is a bit much. Maybe wait for the next sale. But definitely add it to your wishlist.
