Bullet time is just as important as ever in SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE. Despite being the third entry in the franchise, the core gameplay mechanics that made it popular haven’t changed very much. Time still only moves when the player does, and they are tasked with eliminating all the enemies in their path with any weapons or objects they can find around them. In an effort to shake up the standard formula, however, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE has taken on some roguelike mechanics and ditched the more complicated encounters of the other entries.
Visually, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE looks just as eye-grabbing as usual with its minimalistic yet engaging art style. The red on white color scheme really helps enemies and objects stand out, which is perfect for when the player is trying to make a quick decision. The sound effects are also great as well, with the repeating “SUPER HOT” always being a welcoming noise signifying the end of a level. Nothing has changed here in this regard, but it remains a strength, and shows just how engaging these simple aesthetic choices can be.
The basic rule of the SUPERHOT franchise is that since time only moves when the player does, moving quickly is a death sentence. Players will need to slowly survey their environment and decide which nearby items can be best used to their advantage. This is even more true of SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE because the game sports randomly generated situations in each level. Enemy and object placements are never the same, which means that players must be much careful about how they plan their actions. It’s impossible to just memorize the exact movements of enemies by repeating a level over and over again – instead, strategies and gameplans need to be developed on the fly, upping the stakes of each individual decision.
There are several other new features in SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE as well. Players will navigate through different nodes on the map to play through five or six levels at a time. If the player dies during the course of any one of these levels they must start over from the beginning of the node, which makes death a much bigger problem. In order to combat this, players are given a set of three lives that carry over between each level. In between some of these levels players can choose between special upgrades referred to as hacks. These can do interesting things like refill health, increase the damage of weapons, or have the player fire out a swarm of shurikens when damaged.
These new skills and upgrades are a welcome addition to the game, but the core premise of SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE suffers slightly from the roguelike mechanics. Both SUPERHOT and SUPERHOT VR had intriguing storylines and more structured combat scenarios that made for great set pieces. SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE has very little of those elements, which takes away a lot of the intrigue and magic of the series. The game is still a lot of fun, but the randomly generated levels don’t have the same depth of interesting design that made the first two titles feel like combat puzzle games.
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is perfect for players who finished the original SUPERHOT and were left wanting more. Those who enjoy the series for its unique combat mechanics will find that they have been fine tuned and perfected, and all of the new aspects, like hacks, fit like a bright red glove. The less involved storyline and lack of structured fights are a bit of a bummer, but not enough to stop SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE from being a fun, worthwhile experience.
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE can be played on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. A PlayStation 4 code was provided for the purposes of this review.
