Superhot

Growing up, The Matrix trilogy was one of my favorite movie series from a spectacle standpoint. A lot of games have tried to nail the feeling of acting like Neo from the movie and dodging bullets in slow motion and act like a badass the whole time. Superhot is the game that I feel like has gotten the closest to that feeling ever.

Time only moves when you do. Well, not really, time moves at a very slow pace, that you see enemies heading to your way, and you can see bullets moving at a snails pace at you. You take this time to find weapons around you to combat the enemies in the area. All guns have only a limited amount of ammo that you must manage before running out. Then again, you could just throw the gun at the guy to get the gun out of his hand and shoot him with it. The combat is a wonderful mix of a puzzle game and shooter as you find the best way to move about the area and make your way out. If your are hit with anything, its game over, but the same rules apply to your enemies. The real joy of the game is when you complete a level, and during the end credits of the level, you see what you were doing during real time, making you look like a action hero right out of a movie.

The visuals is stark but appealing somehow. Everything is high texture polygons, you, the level, the guns, and the enemies. There is only three colors in the entire game. White, which details the background. Black which details the guns and your arms. Finally there is red, which is the color of the enemies and the streaks coming from your bullets and the enemies. This interesting take on graphics help when trying to navigate an area, as each color has a corresponding purpose.

The story is honestly forgettable, which is fine as the gameplay is absolutely phenomenal. The developers have implemented a VR, or virtual reality, version of the game as well. If you manage to have the accompanying hardware, I highly recommend, as the gameplay is heightened even more, and truly made me feel like Neo from the Matrix.

The game is a little overpriced at full price, as it is criminally short for how good it is, but when it goes on sale, I highly recommend it. I’m not the biggest fan of shooters, but this is one I consistently return to.