Review: SUPERHOT VR on PS4 is still a showcase game, held back by hardware

Introduction

SUPERHOT VR is undoubtedly a showcase game for VR, if not the showcase game for VR. Even after experiencing fantastic titles like Lone Echo, Robo Recall, and even The Mage's Tale, they still don't come close to the amazing feeling you get when playing SUPERHOT VR. There's something incredibly satisfying about dodging bullets, watching them fly by you in slow motion, while you reach over for the nearest handgun, and headshot two dudes in front of you, and dispatch the last guy to the right by throwing your gun directly at him. You basically feel like Neo, but instead of the urban streets of the Matrix, you're performing all of these amazing moves in a simulated world. Or are you?

Now, the PSVR crowd can finally know what's so special about this game. But with some limitations…

I know Gun-Fu

The premise of SUPERHOT VR is essentially the same as its non-VR counterpart; Time only moves when you do, giving you a tactical advantage against your enemies. When a bullet gets shot, stop moving and you'll see it stop mid-flight. You're then able to dodge it, strike it with another weapon, or hell, even shoot another bullet into it, negating its trajectory completely. The game presents you with bite-sized challenges that have to be completed as a set in order to advance. Fail the fourth challenge out of the set of six, and you're sent back to the first one again.

In this regard, SUPERHOT VR is a game of repetition. Over time, you learn the enemy's pattern and anticipate their moves. After a few retries, you'll learn to be one step ahead of everyone, making you feel like some sort of psychic badass.

Everything from your fists, to guns, bottles, knives, throwing stars and martini glasses can be used as lethal weapons. Each challenge presents you with a small sandbox of potential ways to complete it. For instance, in one, you're at a bar with a bunch of glasses filled with what I assume is alcoholic beverages. You have multiple options here. You can grab a glass, toss it at the guy next to you, grab his weapon and dispatch the guy in front and to the right of you. Alternatively, you can simply punch him and reach over for a shotgun that's also conveniently placed on the bar to make quick work of the other two. Hell, you can even make it a throwing match and just toss glass after glass at everyone until they're all dead. It's fantastic!

It's amazing, but…

If there's one thing holding SUPERHOT VR back on PSVR, it's the hardware itself. The game isn't nearly as sharp as it is on the Oculus Rift for instance. Normally, this wouldn't bother me since games do have to be optimized to run at a smooth framerate in VR, especially on the PS4, to avoid motion sickness. But given SUPERHOT VR's art style, I'm wondering why this game couldn't look as sharp, considering the environments and enemies are all so simplistic. To be clear, I'm not criticizing SUPERHOT VR's art style, as I think it lends itself perfectly to the game, but I am disappointed that there had to be a sacrifice made to the crispness, considering it's so aesthetically simple.

But the biggest problem lies with the PS Move controllers. As time passes, the controllers are proving to be more and more of a problem, whether it comes down to tracking them or having a singular trigger button on the bottom of it. The reason why the Oculus Touch controllers are so immersive is not only because it tracks your pointer finger and thumb (which btw SUPERHOT VR doesn't utilize but it's still pretty damn cool) but also because it adds a secondary button to the bottom of the controller. This button is used to grab things, while the trigger is used to fire. The Move controller has a single button that serves both of these functions, and usually, makes for some awkward situations when you're trying to pick something up and use it, and hell, even worse when you're trying to throw something.

Throwing in the PSVR version is damn near impossible. I can never get the trajectory right, or sometimes I just throw the item straight down on the ground. That's due to the aforementioned problem with the lack of an extra button, but also because of its shoddy tracking. Whenever a challenge appears where I have to throw an item, it usually ends up being a nightmare.

Conclusion

If PSVR is your only access to a VR headset, then I still recommend giving SUPERHOT VR a shot. It's an amazing game that feels like it was made for VR in the first place. After playing the VR version, I simply can't even bring myself to play the standard SUPERHOT. When I call it a showcase VR game, I truly mean that. The faults sadly don't lie with the developer, but rather with Sony's hardware. As newer more sophisticated games come out, Sony will need to step up and offer some better control alternatives than a controller from 2010.

Given SUPERHOT VR's price of entry, which is currently $24.99, you get a good amount of hours of gameplay, that's even worth repeating for additional challenges. Just know that over on the other side of that Oculus fence, the grass is definitely greener.