Superhot review: connecting body and time

Much has been made—and rightfully so—about the collapse of the two dimensional viewing experience in virtual reality. One of the medium’s amazing features is this revolution in screen space, placing us “inside” the movie or game. Or in the case of the innovative Superhot VR, we’re taken “inside” a special effect. More particularly: the famous “bullet time” element from the Washowski’s sisters seminal sci-fi film The Matrix, which at the time felt like an aesthetic revelation—delivering a whoosh of eye-widening, oft-imitated slow-mo spectacle. 

Once Keanu Reeves’ Neo gets his “The One” game on, bending the fabric of existence as a long-prophesied Jesus-like saviour, he can dodge sprays of bullets directed right at him, no problemo. Who could forget those iconic shots depicting the protagonist bending backwards at impossible angles and maneuvering his arms? Begging the question: what might this experience look and feel like from Neo’s perspective? Superhot proposes some answers. Instead of time being relative to distance, as it is in our world, time here is relative to bodily movement: move your body slow and time moves slow; move it fast and time moves fast.

Developer: SUPERHOT Team
Release date: December 5, 2016
Available on: Quest headsets, Oculus Rift, Steam, PSVR
Experienced on: Oculus Rift

This concept rearranges basic aspects of known reality to propose a different relationship between corporeal being and temporal existence. Plus: you get to do fun stuff in between and even during dodging—like throwing knives and glass bottles, and using a range of guns to return fire on creepy faceless enemies. These blocky human-shaped figures, devoid of distinguishing features, constantly run and attack us—but thankfully shatter like glass when we punch or shoot ‘em. 

The inhumanity of their appearance is matched by Superhot’s cold and sterile environments, which look like they’ve been hosed down with ammonia or some other hideous chemical. These settings include offices, warehouses, rooftops, hallways, elevators, an airplane, a kitchen, and various corporate spaces. As the game progresses the locations get slightly more interesting, though they’re never navigable and the crux of the experience doesn’t move past the core premise—marrying movement of the player with the flow of time. 

I haven’t watched somebody play Superhot, but I assume this would be similar to playing Beat Saber in that one feels ice cool inside—busting mad moves, like a superhero—but looks totally unco from the outside. I’ve played through the entire game a few times, always taking a couple of breaks, because the concentrated action gets exhausting—with no quiet moments or overarching storyline to broaden out the experience. All killer and no filler, as they say. I wonder what Superhot, or a Superhot-inspired production, might be like with a padded out narrative; maybe these “bullet time” scenes become (like in The Matrix) bursts of spectacle—the dressing rather than the meat of the experience. 

As it stands the experience is pure gameplay: even the act of observing the environment around you becomes an act of playing. Every head turn is a movement, and every movement alters the unfolding of time—a very clever and well-executed  idea that doesn’t outstay its welcome.