Combine that scene in the first Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire watches Flash's fist fly past him in slow-motion, add bullets, swords, rifles and copious Matrix-style hacker lingo, and you have SUPERHOT, the first-person shooter currently making tremendously well-earned waves on Steam (and soon, Xbox One), thanks to having a genius and totally original concept. See, its base idea is that time only really moves when you do, opening up all sorts of possibilities for bullet-dodging, weapon-catching, sword-flinging and everything in between once you get used to how much movement effects the passage of time itself. Soon enough you'll realise you can leap through rooms firing shells in all directions, only for the end-of-level replay to return everything to normal speed, watching your run play back in a blur of death and shattered craniums. It has a great, fairly short story that encourages replayability by addressing itself as a game within a game, but mostly the reason it all comes together so well, is through these thoroughly perfected gameplay mechanics. Audio design across the board is meaty and satisfying no matter whether you're firing a shotgun into a group of enemies or flinging an item off someone's head to stun them. These are the most bass-booming and thunderous weapon sounds since Max Payne; something you won't realise you truly appreciate until you hear the cacophonous clatter of an assault rifle wiping out a corridor of enemies. Easily one of the most innovative shooters I've ever played, SUPERHOT is one of those releases that just makes you love video games as a progressive medium. It might have taken a few years to get here, but we've finally got a truly original shooter that all - including SUPERHOT itself - can learn from going forward. Let us know in the comments what you've been playing, and which games you think might even make it into Game of the Year awards already!
