Superhot

Making a video game truly dynamic is a complex and challenging task now days. It’s about finding the right balance of highly engaging gameplay elements, innovated mechanics and all of it being immersed in an attractive design. In today’s market, it seems that Indie developers are king at new and original formats but one genre seems to elude many designers and developers to this day. But now we might just have one of the most ground breaking FPSs to date.

SUPER HOT is a FPS inspired puzzle game, where time moves only when the player does. It takes the traditional concept of shooting NPCs within a controlled area and makes the notion that FPS games can be both highly intelligent and entertaining at the same time. So in order for players to shoot within the game world, they must move in order for the world to move and everything in it to take motion. Gun fire and even melee attacks can only happen when the player is moving and this rule applies to NPC movements and their firearms as well. You must plan out every move with care and precision knowing that one wrong move can cause your death. The mechanics present a challenging and thought provoking experience unlike anything else seen in recent years.

SUPER HOT has fantastic gameplay with tactical and lateral elements infused into its core. Every level feels like a grand and action packed set piece with minimal story overall, but a theme in each segment from hold ups, bar fights and hijacking trains. This is an attractive art house game with a strong message and vast substance. Presented with a style that represents something that people in the 80’s thought games would look like in the 2000’s. It’s visually stunning with vibrant and beautifully detailed particle effects, all centred in a fairly cold looking game world that just makes the events taking place more wondrous to observe.

Though the plot is minimal, SUPER HOT offers a thought provoking observation at the hacking culture and the impact of gaming as a method of brainwashing. Taking on the role of a hacker, you come across a game file and as you progress, you slowly become part of the “system”. The player will lose their freedom of choice and be asked to carry out bizarre and unsettling tasks. Overall the game feels like a brilliantly interactive piece of satire, which works well as various set pieces make it so the game is hacking your console and in fact is manipulation you. Even though the game has some interesting elements, working outside the box, it introduces very little other mechanics apart from a body switch manoeuvre which is under played and only has some real importance at the very end.

SUPER HOT is crafted as a trial and error formula of gameplay where you’ll most likely play various levels over and over to figure out the right manoeuvres or tactics to complete the task at hand. If you’re not a fan of games like Limbo or Unravelled, then you won’t like this. This is a different type of puzzle game compared to Portal and only a select group will really take it on board. But there is something highly engrossing for the challenges at hand and the reward factor is extremely satisfying once you cracked the level in such style.

SUPER HOT has a great deal of content, including a lengthy campaign, end game extras and some hidden secrets. There are extra challenges, unlocks, an endless mode and off course secrets to find in the menus, including some quirky mini games. There is a good replay factor as the game is just so damn cool.

If you fancy a break from traditional shooters and want to dive into something more lateral and challenging in the sense of tactical action, then look no further. SUPER HOT is one the year’s finest examples of dynamic gaming and one of the most compelling FPS’s I've played since Portal 2. This is definitely worth acquiring for any lover of high octane action and brain melting puzzlers.

+ Highly innovated FPS gameplay
+ Looks slick and plays out beautifully
+ Huge replay-ability

- Doesn't introduce many elements as the game progresses

An Xbox One code of Superhot was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review