Review: Superhot

I wasn’t sure what to expect when starting Superhot, would it be another shooter that I mindlessly paraded through only to put it aside and never touch it again? No, playing Superhot not only got my creative juices flowing, it put a massive grin on my face. See, Superhot is a time bending shooter where nothing moves until you do, creating shootouts and takedowns only John Wick could pull off.

https://youtu.be/OaXv7J-kvjo

Superhot launched last year for PC, followed by Xbox, and finally PlayStation 4. The mechanic behind Superhot is nothing moves until is nothing moves until you do, including enemies and their bullets that are flying at you. It’s up to you to find the solution to take each of the red guys and complete the level. In what is often tense, and creative stages you are left to decide how you wish to proceed, this is genuinely an exciting take on the FPS genre.

The story behind Superhot is it is a game that was recommended to you by a friend, shortly after, things start to take a turn and well, the story jumps the shark, it’s goofy and it’s out there, however, such a game really doesn’t need the added weight. A lot of the choices you’ll be asked to make end up being hyperbole.

Each level is built in a way that if you fail (and you will) the instant restart allows you to experiment on takedowns, many times I would go through a level and through trial and error would take down the enemy. Every encounter feels like a dance, you are the lead and it’s up to you to create a masterpiece. Every move you make will determine the outcome of the encounter.

This adds up to make sure you don’t allow yourself to be hit by an enemy, the second they land a blow, it’s game over and you need to start over from the start. Many times, I wound up starting a level again to discover a better way to take down my enemies, feeling much better about my decision.

Once the tutorials are over, you’re left to create scenes straight out of an action movie, my first takedown included throwing my gun at someone, taking his gun, shooting him and two others, then dodging bullets until I kicked the last two to death. If only John Woo could see me take a page out of his book he would love Superhot!

The entire game can be completed in four hours, but the lack of diverse environments to play in sets Superhot apart, it hurts the overall package when you’re repeatedly looking at similar backgrounds doing the same thing over and over. The lack of variety in level design hurts Superhot in the long run.

From the start, time-bending gameplay works well, Superhot feels fresh and wholly inspiring after droves of basic shooters. Blending puzzles into the shooter genre is a concept I can get behind, even though the original launched last year on PC, coming back to Superhot on PlayStation is worth considering. Small issues aside, the entire experience is polished and nonstop excitement from the beginning.