Hasta La Gadget!

Sep 18

Superhot: In this FPS, time only moves when you move

(Credit: Blue Brick)

As independent gaming development grows, so too are we seeing the proliferation of game jams where developers are tasked with designing a game in a short time. Last month saw 7DFPS, a game jam where the only requirement was to create a first-person shooter within seven days.

Now, we’ve seen some pretty cool games come out of these jams. Some have gone on to become hugely popular — and one of those is currently in the making. Called Superhot and created by Polish studio Blue Brick, it brings something wickedly fresh and new to the arguably predictable FPS.

It plays out in a very cool, minimally designed white environment whose only purpose is to provide a backdrop to the gameplay. To that end, there are no textures or additional artifacts: it’s just you and your enemies, depicted in red, with zero distractions.

The aim, of course, is to take out everyone else on the level. But here’s where it gets interesting: When you’re not moving, time slows right down to a crawl, which means you have to carefully plan out your moves. And, just as you can dodge a bullet fired at you by stopping, watching its trajectory, then throwing yourself out of the way, your foes likewise have time to dodge your shots, which means you have to calculate your own trajectories accordingly.