SUPERHOT
"TIME MOVES ONLY WHEN YOU MOVE" - First Level Intro
SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years.
I remember all the way back in '13 when the original browser version came out. God, was it awesome. I played it time after time after time just to tinker with the mechanics of it and see what I could do. Stand still, dodge that bullet, shoot this red guy, jump through that window, but best of all, control time with your WASD keys.
Whilst it didn't have the brilliant graphical capability at the time, it did get a lot (and I mean a lot) of positive feedback for its brilliant concept. The development team thought "why don't we make this a full game?", got onto Kickstarter, and went well beyond their original goals.
It took them years to make it, but that wait has definitely been a good one. I didn't buy it back in early 2016 because of it's price tag and how short it was rumoured to actually be, but I was very much fooled here. You can get a really good kick out of the game, especially if you're good at it.
It might seem like a bit of a gimmick to you, and that's fine. If you want to play the original before buying the new one, you can play it here:
http://superhotgame.com/play-prototype/
Now, let's start moving, shall we?
9/10 Importance: High
What's interesting about SUPERHOT is that whilst it always works off of time only moving when you move, it still somehow manages to throw in all sorts of new things to keep you interested. These range from new weapons to throwables, weird level design, a little bit of 4th wall, hot switching, and more.
What I really want to talk about in the gameplay is how damn satisfying it is. Smack a guy round the face, grab his shotgun, and blow him away to the over side of the room. In slow motion. Whilst you easily fight down 3 other enemies with katanas. Seriously, it throws you into some badass situations and you can just obliterate everyone that's coming towards you at once.
Remember, whilst I say it does feel badass, it still is difficult. You do have the perks of slow motion, but not invincibility. One hit and you're out. This also adds to the satisfaction of beating a level, knowing that they didn't even get close to touching you.
The weapons are basic from start to finish, but they are unlike any other weapons you'll see in a video game. They're as simple as Pistol, Shotgun, and Machine gun, along with melees like the Katana, Bat and a Golf Club. What's brilliant is that it doesn't give you an ammo counter. Actually, it gives so little feedback that it adds an almost unseen thing in gaming. Not only that but when you're done, you can chuck that weapon at them and it'll explode in their face and stun them. Does it feel good? Hell yeah, it feels good.
Some levels are sort of like puzzles, such as the early corridor level. You've got to work out how to get past certain obstacles that always vary and it can take quite a bit of trial and error, not making the game too short. This can occasionally make it drag on a little, though, making you repeat similar patterns again and again until you get it just right.
Hot switching is a nice feature, but there isn't much to say about it. Play the game for yourself, I'd rather not ruin it.
8/10 Importance: Medium-Low
The graphics weren't particularly important. They weren't great in 2013 yet the internet still loved the game. However, they went beyond my expectations with the design choices they made for the models, items, levels, and even weapons.
The "Red Guys" have a minimalist feel and no stupid sunglasses, and they shatter when you get them and...it just looks and feels so cool. They look great. I can't put it into words, they look astounding.
Everything else does follow in the model's footstep. It's all very minimalist and casual and with such a small development team it's not surprising they took the simple but nice looking route of minimalism. Items look weirdly visually stunning and, with almost all of them being black, contrast well on the theme of the all white background
Now we talk about the problem with this, however. It can feel a little dull sometimes. A little cheap in some levels that have next to no real design effort put into them. Good examples are the corridor and elevator levels, which work very well from a gameplay stance but not a graphical stance, being fairly boring a lot of the time
This being said endless levels like The Office really impressed me and I liked how they looked and played a lot of the time.
4/10 Importance: Low
I didn't really care much for the storyline. Who really cares about the storyline in an FPS game? Nonetheless, whatever they were trying to with the story sort of flew over me and was at times a tiny bit of an inconvenience.
I won't give much away, but it consists of you talking to someone who is also into the game over a chat messenger, as well as the game itself. The game will engage you in these conversations frequently, and they can be a little cliche.
They're not entirely terrible chats, but they don't seem at all necessary. Give me the things to shoot at and some occasional directions and I'll do that.
I did like some of the later story developments, however, as they were still sort of confusing but in a cool way so whatever.
At least the storyline did not feel entirely forced like in other shooter games where it just doesn't at all work or is not easy to follow.
9.5/10 Importance: High
(sorry about the image here, photoshop went bad and i had to use gimp as a last resort)
Jeez, I love the idea that they had. Somehow it doesn't grow old with me, evidenced by how many times I played the older original prototype. To be able to have control over something few other games have tried to control is, quite literally, mind-blowing.
Like I said, this idea of time slowing down has barely been used in games and almost never in FPS games. There is so much to do with the concept other than simply dodging bullets as well. Stop the enemy from chasing you so quickly, figure out a strategy whilst in the middle of a firefight, start throwing shot glasses in slow motion, and, best of all, hit someone point blank with a shotgun and destroy them entirely.
It's almost a flawless concept other than it inevitably getting old after too much usage. But this happens in every single game, so it's more than passable and justifiable.
On top of all this, it's not a difficult concept to get your head around. Some games will add so much crap to keep count of, but this game is straightforward with it: don't get hit and kill them all. It doesn't need a super long rulebook or hundred of hours of play to master (unless you want to be a total badass, in which case, get those hours ground). All it takes is a few words and scenarios to get used to it.
MENUS: The menus used are pretty interesting. That terminal vibe that I didn't expect to see in a game that looks very new age today. I don't know why they used a menu like this at all, but it's very functional and pretty fun to mess around with
CHALLENGES: Some of the challenges are insanely difficult. You'll keep playing them for quite a while, to say the least. Some include only using a katana. Some include total stopping of time. One includes fists only, which is so unfathomably difficult...but possible.
WEIRD CRAP: They've littered a few games in the menu, one of them being this tree game which is like a phone game but on a terminal. You just chop down a tree and don't get hit by branches. It's a little goofy and a little odd to hide in the menu, but whatever.
After I post this, I'm going to go back and play it. I'm going to go back and play the most innovative shooter I've played in years.
I love the idea behind the game, I love how it flows together beautifully, I like most of the design choices, and whilst I don't particularly like the story, for the most part, I can let it pass me right by.
It might seem a little much as an indie game, but AAA games cost much more for overused concepts that we've seen so much of. Why not tip those who used some real effort this year?
OVERALL RATING: A
