Superhot: Mind Control Delete review – a stylish John Wick-style shooter
PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One; Superhot Team
This time-bending game offers little in the way of plot but compensates with thrillingly meditative action
Taking place in a computer simulation where the world is carved from alabaster and your opponents made of orange glass, Superhot hinges on the gimmick that time only moves when you do. Remain still in one of its wickedly stylish combat arenas, and the world will hang in an almost-frozen state. Enemies stand like statues while bullets linger in the air, moving as if through treacle. Look around or press a button and the game will begin to speed up, projectiles and adversaries flying towards you in a flash.
It's the world as viewed by John Wick. Everything is abstracted apart from the targets you need to eliminate and the projectiles coming to kill you. You're able to spot and sidestep bullets with ease, and to plan your attacks with the precision and thought normally reserved for strategy games. Superhot's combat plays up to this notion of planned improvisation. Objects such as bottles and bricks can be picked up and tossed at opponents; when an antagonist staggers and drop their weapons, you can catch them before they hit the ground and turn them on their previous owner.
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