SUPERHOT VR is one of those titles that feels made for the Oculus Touch. It is a vibrant, action-filled first-person experience that might be light on content, but heavy on thrills.
Both stylish and unique in execution, SUPERHOT released awhile ago on the PC to rave reviews. So what happens if you take the same game and ramp up the immersiveness to a 12 out of 10? You get SUPERHOT VR on the Oculus Touch.
There is a very strong Matrix vibe to this game as soon as you fire it up. Why? Because it plays out slowly. Yes, it is also a beak-neck action game. Confused? Let me explain. Movement only occurs when you move. This gives SUPERHOT VR a very strategic layer to the action, because you can take in what is happening around you and react accordingly. It recreates that infamous bullet-time from the Matrix where you need to move out of the way of oncoming bullets (making great use of the entire play space established by the second sensor on the Oculus Touch).
However, the action when it is rolling is awesome. Throw a bottle at the guy with a gun and he will die, pitching backwards and losing his grip on the pistol that now flies into the air. If you time it right, you can reach out and grab the pistol through the Oculus Touch controls and then start firing away. If someone gets too close too quickly to get a read with your gun - or you don't happen to have one? Just swing out and punch them (maybe take a step or two back from your monitors before playing). Oh, and they do not just come at you from straight away. Your opponents will come at you from the sides or somewhat behind you as well, forcing you to keep your head on a swivel. You often find things in the environment to interact with so you need to look out not just for enemies, but potential weapons as you stand your ground and try to finish the wave off.
The combination of action with the paused reality creates a sort of risk versus reward gameplay proposition that teaches you not to waste movements. In the early going, it is pretty easy. You learn the basics and get to use a few cool weapons. However, as the game progresses, wasted movement means enemies are reaching you faster and leaving you less time to defend yourself or take them out before they can attack in the first place.
The visuals are trippy to say the least, with a vividly bright and contrasting colors with characters that are simple in their textures and appearance but well animated, with blood and core replaced with geometrical shapes and shards. The sound design and visuals work wonderfully with the Oculus, with sound often tipping you off when someone is coming from just outside your peripheral view and it can be pretty startling to turn your head and find someone right up on you. Best of all is how intuitively it all controls. The first time I used a sword to cut someone in half or shot a man and snatched his gun out of the air with my second hand to start shooting two pistols at once, I was completely caught up in the moment. There are several very memorable points in the game where the action just creates this incredibly cool series of moments that thrust you into the role of a star in an action movie.
If there is a knock to be made about SUPERHOT VR, it is that the title is not a terribly long one. It never drags out and overstays its welcome through padding, but know that the basic campaign is only going to take you a couple of hours to get through. Considering how cool the overall experience is, and the rush of pulling off some of the slick moves during gameplay? I was less worried about time spent playing than I was simply playing, so the price point works just fine from my perspective.. During that time there are a variety of ways to take on the different waves of challenges. These are all tied into the visuals, with black weapons, red enemies and a starkly bright by comparison white background (that still has plenty of lighting and textures to give it depth).
SUPERHOT VR is a creative game that makes you think about that next move - and then allows you to carry it out in fantastic fashion due to its movement / time-freeze mechanic. Adding the Oculus to mix is just a perfect fit, with great controls and crisp visuals that throw you right into the action.
Game Information
PC - Oculus Touch
Developer(s):
SUPERHOT Team
Publisher(s):
SUPERHOT Team
Genre(s):
Action
First-Person Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Xbox One (Non-VR Version)
Source:
Provided by Publisher
Article by Nick
