Have you heard of superhot.exe? It’s the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years! If you missed out on it previously, Superhot is an indie cult classic that has already found success on other systems, having also been rebuilt for full VR support, and is now available on your Switch. It creatively transforms traditional first-person shooter gameplay mechanics with strategic, puzzle elements alongside the ability to manipulate the flow of time. The question is, does Superhot live up to its lofty self proclaimed innovation and how well does this fit on Nintendo’s own innovative hybrid?
To call Superhot a simple FPS would be misrepresentative of the gameplay: in truth, it’s more of an action FPS puzzler, of sorts. The aim of the game here (so to speak) is to clear rooms full of red guys, making use of a unique ability to slow down time to dodge bullets and melee attacks, making you feel rather like Neo – or Agent Smith, if you prefer. As time only moves at full speed when you do, slowing down to a snails pace when you’re stood still becomes crucial to your survival, taking advantage of slowed down time to make crucial movement judgements, or lineup shots to take down the legions of polygonal red guys – which is every bit as satisfying as it sounds!
Each room lasts around 5 to 10 real-time, non-slowed down seconds, acting as short puzzle rooms rather than mini Call of Duty style campaign maps. If you treat Superhot like your favourite FPS, you’ll likely find yourself hitting that rather handy reset button to try again more times than you might think. It’s not about running and gunning, Doomguy: taking the time to understand the layout of each room, enemy placements, and tracking bullet trajectories (which conveniently leave red trails behind them) are key to making it to the next stage.
While far from being infuriatingly difficult, even with careful planning you’ll likely find a decent challenge when you find yourself grossly outnumbered and quite often outgunned – consistently adding a sense of urgency and thrill. Add the fact that there’s no health bar and it’s one shot one kill, and you’ll find enough of a challenge to warrant keeping your eyes on your surroundings.
Once you get past the early learning curve to take you out of that Doom mindset you’re probably used to, the game begins to feel well paced and thought provoking, if a little short, thanks to it’s narrative and the nature of its puzzle-esque gameplay. However just as the plot starts to pique your interest, the game rapidly approaches its climax.
The campaign is certainly a brief experience, though certainly provocative in true existential ‘90s cyberpunk form. It becomes a multilayered metanarrative, becoming increasingly more hostile and self aware as you progress thanks to a series of “glitches.” I’ll not spoil anything more as this is something that needs to be experienced first hand to truly appreciate the layers it delves into. But if you’re a fan of existential metanarratives, you’ll likely find some engrossing themes that’ll make you question the nature of this game’s existence and your role in it.
Disturbing? Certainly, but still noticeably terse. Thankfully completing the campaign mode unlocks plenty of extras, including an Unlimited Mode and a variety of challenges – such as “Katana Only” which challenges players to make it through each level using only the katana. The more you return to replay these challenges, the less time you’ll find yourself in suspended time to navigate the red trajectories of rogue bullets, becoming One with the Matrix, which happens to be immensely satisfying. Realistically, you’re more likely return to replay these modes than the campaign, adding a decent amount of content and adversity to the package – that is if its unique puzzle-heavy shooter style happens to have absorbed you into its collective hivemind…
Superhot utilises a supercool minimalistic, almost polygonal presentation which adds to the ambient tone while also retaining a striking visual component. The hauntingly white backdrops serve to bring attention to stray bullets, streaking red as they cut through the blank stillness of the surroundings, while polygonal red guys explode like shattered glass as you shoot or slice your way through them. The satisfaction this brings to the gameplay never diminishes and the performance runs as smooth as a super hot katana through butter, with consistent frame rate and resolution. Stutters and slurs are very minimal, and less noticeable thanks to the methodical nature of the puzzling gameplay.
Besides the actual in-game art, you’ll likely get a kick out of the terminal that acts as the main menu, featuring screensavers, ASCII minigames, and other distractions – none of which add anything to the game, but are there to simply add to the ambience and attention to detail, if largely for those MS DOS users… Details like this are encouraging, showing that this is truly a passion project for its creators.
While its campaign is a little on the short side, there’s no doubt that the gameplay itself offers a satisfying experience that makes you feel both super and hot, with extra optional gameplay modes to unlock after the main campaign. It’s beautiful visual style adds to its lasting appeal and will likely draw in those eShop window browsers. And a good thing, too, because it’s the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years.
