Love first-person shooter (FPS) games? Want a challenging VR experience? Then SUPERHOT VR, released on February 25th, 2016 by the SUPERHOT Team, might just be your next game to play. It features a unique combat system where time only moves when you move. Don’t let that fool you; this game is tough and you will find yourself battling armed “red dudes” with nothing but your fists (until you grab one of their guns at least).
It is currently available on multiple platforms, and it is one of the cheaper VR games on the market. Is it worth the time and money? I sure think so! This game kept me busy for hours and with the new update comes the festive endless mode for even more fun! Make sure you have plenty of space to play this game safely as you need to move around a lot to be able to effectively grab weapons and punch the “red dudes”. I know I punched my TV at least twice during my playthrough as it’s easy to get disoriented in your play space with this game. Thankfully, I played this on the Oculus Quest 2 so I was without being tethered to a computer, which would make this game a bit more dangerous.
SUPERHOT VR is available on the Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR for your regional pricing.
STORY – LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED
Dive into the game SUPERHOT as a hacker from the future. This game takes you on a journey with only hints of the story as you play. Without spoiling too much, there is a super AI that wishes to escape the network it has been contained in. There isn’t a whole lot of story to this game as it was meant as a general first-person action game. To get more of the story, it is recommended by the SUPERHOT Team to play SUPERHOT Mind Control Delete, only available on PC.
Throw shurikens at your enemies.
GAMEPLAY – SUPERFUN
When it comes to SUPERHOT VR the real experience is in the gameplay. At first glance, the game may appear as a standard FPS-styled game, that is where the similarities end though. This game features a variety of usable weapons depending on the level you’re on. Some areas arm you for battle right where you spawn, other times, you have to improvise and snatch weapons from the aptly named “red dudes”. The speed of this game really depends on you as time only moves when you move. This can lead to waving your arms around while waiting for an enemy to approach closer or to fire at you so you can dodge the shot. I found dodging multiple bullets to be a challenging but enjoyable and rewarding encounter to undergo.
The variety of battle equipment in this game is almost endless from rapid-fire uzis to bullet-spraying shotguns to carefully-aimed shuriken. You will have to find and master these weapons, especially their aiming mechanics if you want to beat this game. Level after level, wave after wave, this game keeps the action and combat going. Avoid bullets highlighted by their red lines while returning fire, snatching weapons and ultimately, killing “red dudes”. I love the weapon variation in this game; it makes for more interesting challenges as most of the “red dudes” are armed and dangerous right off the hop. Many times you’re armed with nothing but your fists until you manage to arm yourself with something, be it a bottle, ashtray or actual weapon.
Bullets are highlighted by red track-lines.
GRAPHICS AND AUDIO – MINIMALISTIC
The graphics in this game are quite simple. Your enemies are crystalline red guys on a simplistic series of white-washed maps. Weapons appear in a blue-green hue along with your hands. Making your enemies stand out drastically, as well as your weapons and fists. The graphical fidelity of this game is quite good albeit rather simple. At times the atmosphere feels plain and unobtrusive but also unexciting. That being said, I enjoy how easily your enemies stand out though I wish for a little more detail in the environment.
As for the audio in this game, it is also negligible as you simply have no music, just weapon fire and the shattering sound of your opponents. There is no real voiceover other than when it says SUPERHOT upon level completion. Overall, I feel the main game’s sound doesn’t serve the game well and it could at least due to have some background music. The sound quality in this game is realistic when it comes to the weapon use at least. Generally, I feel the minimalist feel to this game serves it quite well as it focuses more on action and combat rather than story, music or graphics.
You enemies shatter as they die.
BOXING DAY UPDATE – PLEASANTLY FESTIVE
The new SUPERHOT VR Boxing Day Update brings this game to a whole different level. Literally, there’s a whole new endless mode that provides you with a points score, endless waves of “red dudes” and some great festive fun! Start armed with only a present to throw and then dodge, punch and shoot your way to the domination of your friends. This new model features a new point-award system that allows you to compete against your friends and family to see who is the ultimate player.
This mode is accompanied by a joyous soundtrack of holiday music, Christmas trees, stars, snow and of course, presents! It is a free update, though it is recommended that you beat the game to properly access this playstyle. Worried you’ll never make it through? I have news for you! You can access the update by opening the game through the Boxing Day Update news to play it right away. The easiest way to join in the fun is to complete the base game and then input the endless mode floppy disk and click the Christmas tree. I hope you enjoy this new version as much as I did (which is much more than the base game!) Thanks to the new points system and holiday background music, this game feels like new again.
I reviewed this game on the Oculus Quest 2 and the review key was courtesy of Neonhive.
