PlatformOVERALL
PC7.90
Overall 7.90
You see two men run at you from both sides, another two are up on a balcony firing at you from above. There is a shotgun and a glass bottle in front of you. You grab both, the enemies are closing in, you extend each arm out toward both enemies at once. You fire the hand with the shotgun without even looking, you stare at the enemy on the side you are holding the bottle which you fling at his head killing him. His gun starts to fly in the air toward you as you bring your gaze center just in time to see bullets about to reach you. You duct and twist away from the bullets, you see them fly harmlessly pass by you. The gun from the killed enemy is falling toward the ground, you snatch it from the air and bring up both arms, one with a shotgun one with a handgun and open fire on the enemies above.

No this is not a scene from the matrix, this is superhot VR, the ultimate badass simulator. I have no clue what the standard version of superhot is like but there is no way it matches the incredible unlike anything you have ever controlled experince this has to offer in VR. As of now it is the showcase game for the touch controllers on the rift. The only problem, and it's a big problem, is that this game is super short and has no depth.

Superhot VR is split into a series of scenes where the player is stuck in place while enemies attack from all sides. The hook of the game is that time does not move unless you move. So sometimes you spawn with an enemy about to stab you but if you don't move they won't move so you have time to scan the area with your eyes and see what you can do to kill this guy before he gets you. Each area you spawn into usually has some weapons near your reach which you grab just like you would in real life. Bullets only move when you move so as long as you move your head slowly you can dodge bullets neo style, or if you have a knife you can cut the bullets as they come at you.

The freedom of control VR gives the player is something that really needs to be experienced. in a normal game aiming is normally only done at one spot, yeah you can have two guns but you aim at one spot, the hands can't be independent unless there is some form of auto lock. Well your hands are free, you can move your arms independently of each other any way you want. You can focus your gaze on any spot independent of your arms as well, something that is impossible on normal controls.

The entire game is built around making the player have to worry about two or three different things happening at once from multiple directions. You will grab, throw, duck, and punch in all directions as you take out these enemies in awesome ways. Since you determine the speed of the game you can do all these actions slowly to carefully plan out your attack, but since levels never change you can quickly learn the pattern and attempt to get faster and faster at the motions to the point where you are moving in near real time.

It is a shame this game is so short, it takes a little over an hour to finish and has no replay value at all outside just wanting to experience the levels again. No score attacks, no challenge modes, no difficulty levels; what kind of crap is this. Still the experience is so unique and visceral that it's worth the two hours. The intuitive nature of the controls shows the potential of VR on gaming. My dad can play anything with sticks, it's alien to him. I let him try superhot and he was shooting, dodging, flinging Chinese stars like a pro and didn't want to stop. This is such a simple concept, imagine when developers start to find ways to make full fledged games with controls and actions as fun as this.

Superhot VR is a far better experience than it is a game. The game itself is way too short, way too simple but the execution is so great and it's the best showcase for this new technology.
Posted by Dvader Fri, 23 Dec 2016 16:55:47
 
Sun, 25 Dec 2016 21:16:00
Sounds cool. I used to dual wield wii remotes with HOTD Overkill and RE Chronicles, was cool to independently aim. So you are stuck in one spot in Superhot? So like a shooting gallery or is the screen moving like a rail shooter?
 
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 20:56:06
Stuck in a spot but you can move a few steps any direction and duckpr crawl.
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