Platform reviewed on: Xbox One.

Also on: Playstation 4, PC, Mac, Linux.

General/ Plot:…..8

Here my dear friends we have a very unique game. ”Super Hot” is a 1st person shooter brimming with puzzle elements. How is this possible you say? Easily. If i could use a single phrase to describe it, it is like shooting and playing chess simultaneously. The game explains itself right from the bat: time moves only when you move.

The premise is simple: You are a red crystal android with the super human ability to stop time when standing still (I could not find anything more precise to describe it sorry) and whose only objective in every stage is to eliminate other identical with you red crystal androids. Behind this simplicity though, there is a decent plot. I have not seen any other game in recent years so effortlessly breaking the 4th wall. It is like experiencing a lengthy ‘’Psycho Mantis experience’’ from Metal Gear Solid.  Your mind will turn into scrambled eggs since you will not be able to understand what the heck is going on. You are constantly eager to find out what will happen next.

However, there are 2 reasons why I am not putting a higher score here: the 1st is that the main campaign of the game lasts only 2 to 3 hours and 2nd,  the game leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions. What you experience might be intriguing, but personally it disappointed me since I expected a much better ending.

Graphics:…..6

I know super hot is an indie game. I did not expect to see triple A game graphics here but, why only three colors?? In the whole game you will only see orange, black, white and shades of them. This obviously is done by the developers to provide us with a futuristic atmosphere but after some stages, I got tired of seeing the same enemies and the same environments over and over again. When shooting the bad guys, you can see them shattering in pieces before you, which alone is an exceptional spectacle indeed. Furthermore, there is lack of detail: character and object design is overly simplistic. There were times I picked up objects and could not tell exactly what I collected. When bullets fly in the air, they leave behind a red trail indicating their trajectory. This is very helpful and helps improve the accuracy of your next shots.

Sound Design:….4

The only sound track you will hear is a voice saying constantly ‘’Super Hot’’ upon finishing a stage. There is absolutely no music whatsoever in the game. There are only some very basic (yet precise) sound effects, like when firing your weapons or when your enemies crumble in pieces. The game could have been a much better experience if there was at least some kind of techno music accompanying each stage. Disappointing.

Gameplay:…..7

Your character controls very well. You can effortlessly run around and through each stage, carefully stopping and picking up your target. The calculations you have to do mostly include correct time stoppage and picking up anything from the environment that resembles a weapon (from portraits and coffee machines to assault rifles) and then firing it at your opponents.

The game is hard, especially in the final stages since there are a lot of enemies on screen trying to flank you. Thus, you are left in a position where you have to evade a hail of bullets while carefully exterminating them one by one.  In this game, you can create unique moments; once I threw my empty handgun on a ‘’red joe’’ stunning him, picked up a vase from the nearest shelf and smashed his head. Afterwards, I collected his shotgun mid air to exterminate another ‘’joe’’ behind me. You will feel like an 80s action hero who possesses some kind of 6th sense. After each stage, you can see in real time what you did and even save a replay of your effort. These moments are the reason this game separates itself from the pile.

However, after some time of constantly killing red crystal androids, I got a little bit bored since all enemies die in one hit  and the environments are recycled.

Value for money:….7

To tell you the truth, I did not pay at all for Super Hot since it was free on Xbox Live. However I have seen its price fluctuating between 10 to 20 Euros. If you play a demo first and you like it, then there is an overabundance of content for you. After the main campaign, there are a lot of challenges that will undoubtedly test your wit. As for me, I had some fun for a little while with the game but i realized that it is not ”my cup of tea”.

SCORE:….6.4, Good.