Earlier in the year, I played Super Hot, a fun minimalist first-person shooter with an intriguing story. Browsing XBOX Game Pass I saw they had the third game in the series (the second being on PlayStation VR). It was an easy decision and downloaded it immediately.
I was never a big fan of the original thin chipsticks (the ones that look like matches), and while I have never eaten a match I imagine they have a similar taste. They just taste like salt, no discerning flavor and while they have a satisfying crunch they were sharp as hell. In a nutshell, not a huge fan, despite my love of most crisps. Playing SuperHot Mind Control Delete I found myself asking was this potato, salt-laden crisp for me?
Story
Unlike the original installment of Super Hot which had an intriguing story and had a twisted realness to it, this time around the SuperHot Team has gone for something different. There is no story, instead, there is a bunch of concepts: giving up, being a slave, and freedom to name a few. While using this approach is perhaps more artistic it failed to really hold my attention especially for a game that takes on average 12-15 hours to complete.
Overall the concepts used are interesting in a way but there seems to be a certain lack of cohesion that existed in the original. While in some cases the story is not everything this a game that does feel like there should be more to it and when the ending finally comes it feels disappointing.
Visuals
The art style used in the game is very slick and slightly improved over the original with the introduction of new enemies and weapons. Some enemies explode and you can see them in slow motion approaching you. There are tougher enemies and some that appear not to be beatable. There are a number of levels two of my favorite being Prison and Dojo. As the game moves along some of these levels are altered making them more difficult to navigate.
Overall the visuals are one of, if not the strongest part of the game. There are levels in between levels that often over trippy visuals which feel both intense and cool.
Music
There is a similar tone to the music in Super Hot Mind Control Delete as the original installment, a creeping sense of foreboding. Venezuelan keyboardist, DJ, composer, producer, and mixer Zardonic created the sound for this soundtrack as well as the original game.
Gameplay
At its core the gameplay is simple, the world only moves if you move. This means patience and planning can pay off rather than running through everything which, while fun, will likely have you catching a bullet. The game has evolved in terms of gameplay versus the original installment.
The is more of a variety of enemies, there are the bog-standard red enemies, those with only one weak spot, those that explode when killed, and two that can't seem to be killed but like to terrify you by running at you. They are split into nodes, each one has three to fifteen levels to conquer. If you die you have to start over, in the beginning, it is fairly straight forward but later on, can become extremely challenging. This time rather than killing all enemies you have a set amount you have to kill. Also this time you can also unlock hacks (abilities) that offer you a range of benefits; more ammo, move faster and more health to name a few.
It is at that point things start to fall apart. The levels repeat themselves, a lot, the only difference is where you start and the type of enemies. Enemies will appear out of nowhere, often behind you even when there is no possible way you could anticipate them, giving them an unfair advantage. The game feels stretched out and could have been far more enjoyable if it were shorter. The ending is frustrating, and this is before you find out you have to wait two and a half real-time hours before being able to access the end of the game, which essentially is a plus game. Originally the SuperHot Team was going to have the timer last twenty-four hours, then released it with eight hours of a wait and after negative feedback reduced it further. There seemed to be no real point other than aiming to be artistic.
Overall at its core SuperHot Mind Control Delete still offers some entertaining moments, but unfair advantages, repetition of levels, and a lackluster ending seriously watered down the gameplay and the game as a whole.
Final Thoughts
So, after almost twenty hours how did I feel? Relieved. The story was more conceptional and artistic and as a whole just did not pay off. The visuals and music are as solid as ever and the introduction to new enemies was welcomed. The core gameplay of the original was still there but the new direction did not work and it felt like the developers were flogging a dead horse. Overall the game was too long for what it was, some cheap decisions really diluted the content and stopped it from being all a good follow to the original. This one scrapes a 2 out of 5
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