SUPERHOT

I blitzed through this game's campaign in about 2.5 hours, which appears to be about average. However, that is not where the meat of the game lies. The campaign is just the framing device for the secrets, challenge modes, and endless modes, which are endlessly enjoyable. Running through the campaign missions to all of the secret terminals and learn more about SUPERHOT was at times a surreal experience very different from my first impression of a level. The challenge modes add another layer of depth to the gameplay, as you are challenged to complete levels with only a katana, or with throwables, or slappers only. The endless modes are the purest expression of SUPERHOT's sublime time-stopping mechanics, just you, and endless waves of enemies. This was a game made with a lot of care, seen in everything from the secret placement to the goodies placed around the main menu. If you want a long, arching story mode with a definitive end, looks somewhere else. If you want to play one of the most innovative shooters I've played in years, with gameplay that makes it a blast to boot up every time, the buy SUPERHOT. Wait for a sale if you still feel it's too expensive, but this game deserves a purchase. Oh, and all future content updates will be free, as well.

The gameplay is nice, but the game is way too short and the story is nothing special and rather lacking in its execution. The lack of key rebinding options is unacceptable in this day and age.

Two good ideas are not worth the asking price (or even the $10 sale price that tends to come up often). This game has two neat ideas-- the time dilation mechanic and the body swap mechanic. Unfortunately, it has nothing else-- the storyline actively impedes gameplay (Every few levels you get shut in a little box while the game yells at you for a minute or three), the challenges tend to actively remove the stuff that makes the main game fun (adding real-time timers, for instance), and the main game itself is tiny. I really, REALLY wanted to like this game, but take the other reviewers seriously when they say it's SHORT!

I love SUPERHOT's central mechanic. I love taking my time in a shooting game to plan out all my moves. I love watching my moves in normal speed when I finish a level. I love everything about playing this game... when it lets me play it. SUPERHOT's major failure is that the game's story *prevents you from playing the game*. The narrator hijacks the game in more elaborate ways to keep you from playing. At one point, it even *disables the option to start the game from the main menu*. I have never seen one part of the game so effectively ruin another. The story destroys the pace of the game, so when you finish a level and are eager for another, you have to stop and fiddle with a mediocre, nuisance before moving forward. If I could send the developer one message, it would be: "Please stop inflicting your story on us. Let your game be great."

Superhot looks like a first person shooter with simplistic graphics, but what makes it really unique is time control. Time in Superhot flows only when you move (including looking around). If you stay still, the action of the game stops as well, unless you decide to move again. This applies also to flying bullets! Such game mechanics allows you to stop and carefully think before you act. And you will need to think a lot, because each level is a tactical puzzle with increasing difficulty. But if you plan carefully, you can dodge bullets like Neo in the "Matrix" movie. Even the game menu is interesting; it reassembles the look and feel of DOS era file manager, including the buzzing of old hard disk. The only thing that I didn't like is forced plot that hijacks player from the action to type in some boring chat, or helplessly turning around in a jail cell, receiving some pretentious messages. That was annoying, especially when going through the game for the second time. I take one star off for this. Nevertheless, this is the most innovative first person shooter I played so far. Two thumbs up, highly recommended!