SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE

Superhot: MIND CONTROL DELETE is a truly fantastic, challenging shooter that makes an already incredible premise even better.

The original Superhot was a truly unique experience, masterful in its execution of a simple concept. Mind Control Delete loses some of the novelty of the original but succeeds in exploring new ways to make the game fun. It's a great example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and while some will lament the loss of hand-crafted levels, most should be happy with the endlessly-replayable collection of content now in their hands.

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is superb. The core of it is even better than its predecessor, in fact, by virtue of identifying how to expand on it in a way that truly makes sense. The new abilities not only slot in beautifully; there’s a sense that they bring out more of what is inherently part of the design.

SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete feels like the full-length vision of the concept that was the original game. With more abilities, enemy types, levels, and lore, this is one of the easiest games to recommend for fans of the original.

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE takes the bullet time brilliance of its predecessor and adds many new toys to its violent chessboard to even more thrilling effect.

It’s a game that will have you striving to get through the levels to unlock more hacks and cores, but the endless mode is where it really lets you go to town on everything you’ve unlocked. If you were a fan of the original, you’ll be right at home in Superhot: Mind Control Delete.

A fantastic return to Superhot’s slick shootouts, at the expense of the original’s deft pacing.

This is a tough but addictive installment for the third SUPERHOT follow-on. This game includes multi-level stages, a variety of new enemies, and a roguelike element that puts a fresh twist on the beloved original. Mind Control Delete is also free to those who already own SUPERHOT.

This standalone expansion to SUPERHOT is a welcome addition to the formula. What it lacks in bespoke puzzle elements, it makes up for in a completely fresh and vastly expanded approach to the central concept.

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE may not be the shooter that you expected, but can still entertain. Its less focus on story and more focus on Roguelike elements do hurt the overall experience though, preventing it from being as good as its predecessor.

While you’ll become overly familiar with the limited number of levels, the arrangement of enemies and power-ups is always different. No two fights feel the same. Like the brilliant Tetris Effect, Superhot deftly sidesteps monotony and instead becomes hypnotic, inducing the zen-like trance state of the archetypal action hero when deep in the throes of violence. Ultimately it doesn’t matter who you’re fighting or why. What matters is the fight itself, the spectacle and the flow. Superhot’s self-directed choreography emerges triumphant; stylish, dynamic and gripping.

The only thing more difficult than making a revolution is to re-make a revolution. SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is still a fun shooter, based on innovative and intriguing ideas, but no longer as effective as they had been in 2016. The roguelite approach certainly gives the game a more conspicuous length, but on the other hand ends up watering down at least part of the mechanics, making the overall experience less incisive than that of the original chapter. After all, as SUPERHOT has always taught, reality is all about perception.

Superhot’s standalone expansion Mind Control Delete is a great example of how to achieve growth, drive your franchise forward and prevent an admittedly pretty basic concept from going stale. Before I knew I was ready for a change, Superhot Team thrust age-old video game tropes into gaming’s most unique shooter in ways only they could and, in a crazy twist, it works.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete feels like the fulfillment of the promise so many saw in the game when it was just a browser-based demo. With expanded mechanics, this takes an already smart concept and turns it into a powerhouse of design work. Part puzzler and part shooter - whatever it is, it's a truly unique experience worth checking it out.

Mind Control Delete feels like the brainchild of students who were into debate club as much as programming.

Superhot Mind Control Delete is a sublime action game like its predecessor. A continuous flow of fun that will make you dance through its levels for a long, long time.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete somehow manages to give a lot more of the same slow-mo action without becoming tiresome or boring. However, things do get bogged down towards the end when the game has a little too much fun at the player's expense.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete is the extreme consequence of the original cult game, but also its limit.

These slight changes improve upon an already unbelievable base, stylised and polished.

More than four years on, SUPERHOT remains as instantly recognizable and immensely appealing a gameplay concept as it ever was on day one. MIND CONTROL DELETE may feel more like a continuation of a good run, rather than a full expanding upon the foundation, but that doesn’t mean that what new features it does offer up fail in helping to bolster what still remains a fun and ingenious interpretation of first-person shooting and puzzle-solving fused together. While it’s easy to pick out the over-reliance on repeated environments, as much the disappointing lack of committing to the subversive elements of previous, there are just as many — if not more — new additions brought into the fold, that ultimately, rightfully, claim most of the attention. A familiar reflection of what the base game managed it may be, a slew of new threats, devious twists and further reinforcing of smart tactics to compensate for such unpredictability result in MIND CONTROL DELETE ending up a great addition to the SUPERHOT experience.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete’s focus on improvisation and rogue-lite elements excellently complement its “time moves only when you move” core gameplay loop and distinctive aesthetic, making it a first-person shooter that fans of the genre shouldn’t miss.

Mind Control Delete expands on the Superhot universe in every conceivable way. While there’s a lot of fun within its bigger time-manipulating shooter playground, the lofty ambitions result in a unique concept extended beyond its limits.

The joyous carnage of Superhot remains solid throughout Mind Control Delete, despite the fact that the road you take intentionally tries to delay and derail you. If you’ve been waiting for more of this distinct gunplay, there are at least eight hours of it here, including infinite and endless modes. VR felt like the perfect evolution of the series when it launched, but this new entry lacks an identity beyond just bringing more Superhot to the fans that crave it.

The basic principle as well as the presentation are still cool, but the newfound focus on action, special abilities and the randomized “runs” harms the motivation.

While Mind Control Delete is a good expansion with a few clever ideas, it does fall short in some ways, mainly it's rougelike parts.

More complete and longer than the original Superhot, certainly, but suddenly less intense.

Its status as a level pack is Mind Control Delete's true strength, but also its main weakness. This game is really mind-numbingly fun, but you can grow tired of it really quickly.

Mind Control Delete reforms Superhot’s signature slow motion power fantasy into the shape of a procedurally generated roguelike. It retains the shiny spartan aesthetic, the bellicose narrative, and the most satisfying first-person shooter gimmick of the last decade, but the twists and tweaks behind its operation don’t alter its basic complexion. Superhot felt euphoric when it was new. Mind Control Delete can only reheat that sensation of extravagance.

The biggest downfall of Mind Control Delete is also its slogan: MORE. The gameplay is still great, but the focus on quantity over quality makes the experience feel shallow.

If you wanted more of the same then Superhot: Mind Control Delete's idiosyncrasies will probably frustrate you more than entertain, but if you look beyond them you'll find a wickedly addicting game beneath. Mind Control Delete may rely too heavily on rolling the dice to extend its playtime, but fans willing to put their qualms aside will discover yet another fine entry in the series.

So to be clear… there is a lot of fun to be had here. The actual action of the game is great fun, but for me it’s not worth the bother of dealing with the menus and the “glitch” style. If you are desperate to get back into the Superhot world then you may well enjoy the fact that you can play over and over again, otherwise it’s a pretty steep price tag for something that for some people feels like a fight just to get to the fighting in game.

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is an engaging, albeit shallow experience. The combat is outstanding and still one of the best you can experience, only enhanced by the new abilities featured in this standalone. However, where the combat has improved, the taut and well-thought-out nature of the levels is lost due to the roguelike nature of the game, with the thought and surprise of the originals story lost in what is mostly meandering waffle here. Is it a good game? Yes, it's well worth playing if you just want the combat. If you want more, you'll likely be disappointed.