SUPERHOT is quality over quantity in every sense of the term.
Developer / Publisher: SUPERHOT Team
Release date: February 25th, 2016
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One
Think about some of the greatest gunfights from the world of cinema. The lobby scene in The Matrix. The finale of Hard Boiled. Tony Montana going out with a bang at the end of Scarface. Essentially, SUPERHOT is all those highlights condensed into one tight package, where you create those tightly choreographed action movie highlights one millisecond at a time. In SUPERHOT, you can dodge a hail of bullets, punch a guy, grab their gun, shoot them with it, grab a sword, slice a bullet in half as it flies towards you, and impale two guys on your sword, all while watching them shatter into tiny pieces around you in slow motion.
SUPERHOT sums up its main hook in one phrase: Time moves when you move. Most of the time SUPERHOT plays more like a puzzle game than an action game, where leading your shots is more important than twitch reflexes, and you have all the time in the world to plan each action. In fact, I would strongly recommend SUPERHOT to players who don’t have the fast reaction times needed for other shooters, as watching the real-time replays of the frenzied chaos you’ve created is always extremely satisfying.
Nothing is superfluous in SUPERHOT. The art style is clean and sterile, and you only get three weapons, plus a handful of throwables and melee options. Even the story doesn’t outstay its welcome, and you can breeze through each level in two hours. Of course, even after that there is a ton of extra challenges to play, but some will definitely be disappointed that the game doesn’t have more on offer. I myself especially enjoyed the game’s narrative, which I won’t spoil here, but I will admit the story left me with more questions than answers.
Though SUPERHOT is lacking in content, its brilliant concept and beautiful execution more than make up for it. I would recommend playing the prototype build first, and if you find yourself as enamored with the concept as I was, then go ahead and buy the full game.
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