One could argue that shooters haven't evolved much in the past few decades or so. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare helped create the infinitely popular RPG leveling mechanics in multiplayer games, and before that, 007 GoldenEye and Halo: Combat Evolved helped bring shooters to consoles — other than that, things haven't changed much since the original Doom.
There have definitely been improvements, and there's more variety within the genre than ever ... but none of the games' core mechanics have really changed.
That's why, when the original Superhot prototype was released, people went absolutely nuts. By turning the mechanics of first-person shooters on their heads, the team behind Superhot created one of the first truly unique FPS experiences in recent memory — and thankfully, it wasn't long before a full game was in the works.
It's been almost two years since then, and now that the full game has finally arrived, only one question remains: does Superhot fall in line with the rest of a tired genre, or can it succeed as its own, complete experience?
Superhot's gameplay is further bolstered by its art style. True, there have been plenty of independent games with bold color palettes and low-resolution models, but Superhot uses its visuals to quickly and easily convey information to the player: if it's red, shoot it; if it's black, pick it up. It's not as if the game is without its fair share of smaller details: lighting does quite a bit to add depth and detail to the simple character models, and particle effects look fantastic throughout.
Sound design is equally fantastic, with gunshots echoing through empty halls and enemies shattering like glass. Music is used sparingly, and the game's ambient tracks do a great job of creating atmosphere. That being said, if there's one thing gamers will remember from Superhot's audio, it's the droning "Super ... Hot" that plays after every level — but to say any more would be wandering into spoiler territory.
Superhot is, to put it bluntly, phenomenal. On the surface, it may look like a normal shooter, but once you actually get to play the game, it becomes clear that Superhot is truly one-of-a-kind. In the current gaming landscape, with all its sequels and safe bets, getting the chance to play something like Superhot — a genuinely unique experience — is a reminder of what gaming can do.
To be fair, it's not perfect — Superhot isn't exactly bursting at the seams with content, and technical issues do pop up from time to time. In the long run, however, those minor problems don't really matter: Superhot does what it does so well that skipping out on playing it simply because of a short runtime would be a huge mistake.
Long story short: if you've got a couple bucks lying around, pick up a copy of Superhot. You'll be happy you did.
