SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE – Complete Game – No Commentary Gameplay – IDC Plays
0One of the most innovative FPS games of recent years came out of a Game Jam and features a rather strange plot, a clean to the point of being flat aesthetic and the words SUPER and HOT repeating constantly.
After two years and a DLC that isn't a DLC, MIND CONTROL DELETE has arrived, with new content for fans who can't leave SUPERHOT behind.
It has to be said that SUPERHOT, on a narrative level, went a step further. Instead of insisting on telling a clear story, we as the player (thanks to a friend) will discover a mysterious title called superhot.exe that will lead to an addiction. At the end of the game, "The System" will recommend us to communicate the following message:
"SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years". But then what exactly is MIND CONTROL DELETE?
This content started as a DLC but grew to become separate from the base game that maintains the core SUPERHOT gameplay and includes new mechanics which make the game more varied without feeling too different from the original.
MIND CONTROL DELETE doesn’t tell a story as such. In fact, it takes the ending of the original game and turns it into an excuse to annihilate as many enemies as we can in a game mode that has a spirit very close to the Roguelites of today.
In this title we will control a person who is looking for "more" SUPERHOT, so it is possible that he is a person who reached the end of superhot.exe and wants to keep going to the limit. The meta-narrative of control and addiction seen in the original remains intact here.
Until we get to the end of the game.
This content has one of the most absurd "endings" ever seen and is definitely its strongest point. Not only did they take inspiration from the critically acclaimed NieR Automata, but they went a step further by referencing what we as people would be willing to put up with for our addictions.
Its meta-narrative is certainly interesting enough, but the game (like the original) excels in its mechanics.
Unlike the base game, MCD is more like a Roguelite. Although the level plan does not change, the player appears in different places each time they enter a level, so it is necessary to adapt to the weapons with which to defend themselves and know how to move to gain an advantage.
The game will launch us into a level, where we will have to face a variety of enemies until we destroy the ones we need to advance. There is no timer nor time limit, we will just destroy whatever comes our way to continue to the next level.
This approach is quite interesting as, despite repeating the levels continuously, there is an interest in forcing the player to do different things or improvise on the fly in any way they can.
Conceptually, SUPERHOT is quite simple. Time moves... when we move. This adds a puzzle component to all the levels, so rather than shooting at anything that moves, it's more about thinking about what our next move might be according to what we might anticipate from our enemies.
Alongside this, MIND CONTROL DELETE includes new mechanics that enhance the overall experience and make it different from the base game. The game will be made up of cores and hacks.
The cores will be "core files" that will give us an advantage at the start of the game. Do we want to start with more lives? Then I play with MORE.core. Do I want to be able to launch an attack on my enemies? I start with CHARGE.core. Not only does this give the game variety, but it allows us to adopt styles to be more effective in the levels, but it will also come at a price.
As we unlock new cores, we will also encounter a new type of enemy that will appear randomly in some levels. This character will not be able to die and will have very similar abilities to the cores, so be even more careful when these characters appear.
Then come the Hacks. These .hack files focus on substantial improvements during a game. Every few levels, the game will ask you to choose one of these upgrades to make the game easier to play. Because it is easy to create game-breaking combinations, MCD selects two at random and we choose one.
Visually, the style of SUPERHOT is maintained. The enemies are red, the weapons and we are dark grey, all in a white environment. This aesthetic not only sets it apart from a lot of titles, but also makes everything stand out and be mechanically clearer, so we know what weapons are possible and where to hit enemies.
Undoubtedly, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE brings supremely interesting things to the table and manages to capitalise on established mechanics to improve an FPS that had gone one step further on its original release. Unfortunately, the game at times falls under the weight of its own content and does not feel as varied and engaging as the main game did.