The John Wick movies have drawn a lot of inspiration from video games over the years, and for good reason. But on the other side of things, very few games have ever truly managed to capture the feeling of being John Wick, an unstoppable assassin with godlike reflexes. If you’ve been looking for that feeling, Superhot is the game for you. It’s a phenomenally inventive shooter that takes “bullet time” to the next level, and one of the only games you’ll ever find that makes you feel utterly unstoppable. Xbox Game Pass owners will want to jump on Superhot: Mind Control Delete as soon as possible, with its addition to the service.
To clarify, Superhot: Mind Control Delete is technically the third game in the series, following the original and Superhot VR. While Mind Control Delete does build on the first game’s lore, knowledge of that game’s story isn’t necessary, especially since the narrative typically takes a backseat to the main event, the core combat loop. To accentuate its style, the Superhot aesthetic is completely minimalist, done in a striking style that paints the environment starkly white while juxtaposing glowing ethereally red characters.
Superhot makes fantastic use of a minimalist art style, using red to highlight both enemies and their weak spots.
The best way to wrap your mind around Superhot, is to think of it as a shooter that only moves when you do. When you stand still the game’s world is perpetually frozen, but the second you move your character or aim, time speeds up to a normal flow. It’s like the game is constantly going in and out of The Matrix’s bullet time. This means instead of intense action, Superhot can be more about careful planning and strategy, using the tools you have to systematically eliminate every enemy in a room. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get in a “flow” with Superhot you’ll feel like an unstoppable genius.
All of Superhot revolves around this core slowdown mechanic, but you have a selection of different tools to let you get the job done. Enemies can be taken down with punches, or shots from weapons like pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns. However, each weapon has a limited number meaning every move you make is even more important. But even if you run out of bullets, just like John Wick, you can throw your weapons at an enemy’s face. Combat is consistently entrancing in Superhot, and it’s the kind of game that’s easy to say “just one more level,” when it’s 2:00 in the morning.
Mind Control Delete’s roguelite approach adds some interesting wrinkles to the Superhot formula.
Mind Control Delete adds some extra wrinkles to all this by introducing a roguelite formula. Essentially, the game is represented by a massive graph, with each node on the graph consisting of a handful of procedurally generated maps. Your goal is to get the required number of enemy eliminations while making sure you don’t hit zero hearts.
As you progress and reach new nodes the difficulty will increase and the requirements to complete levels more demanding. Wild new elements get introduced as well: invincible bosses that you need to dodge while taking out enemies, or power-ups that grant unique abilities, like a massive katana you can throw to take out multiple foes.
There are a lot of shooters out there, but I’m perfectly comfortable saying there’s nothing quite like Superhot. No matter how much I describe it, words simply don’t do Superhot justice, it’s the kind of game that needs to be experienced to really grasp what’s so special.
Superhot: Mind Control Delete is available on Xbox, PlayStation 4, and PC.
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