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# SUPERHOT on Oculus Rift draws the game into its clearest focus yet
- URL: https://www.killscreen.com/superhot-oculus-rift-draws-game-its-clearest-focus-yet/
- Published: 2014-06-20T16:59:40.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-17T16:52:14.000Z
- Description: Time enough.
- Author: Alexander Saeedy
- Tags: News, first-person shooter, oculus rift, Superhot, Virtual Reality, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-26 09:39

Control over time is what makes *SUPERHOT* tick. It’s a fantasy that’s truly worthy of a videogame: time only moves when the player does.

But the recently Kickstarted game is reaching for another dream, too: virtual reality. *SUPERHOT* was one of three games shown off by Oculus Rift at E3\. Since Oculus’ second development kit uses positional tracking, the newly designed *SUPERHOT* allows the player to dodge a bullet just by moving her head out of the way and watching the bullet slowly pass by. It was a good sign of Oculus Rift’s stated emphasis on gameplay over hardware at E3.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/superhot_scr4.png)

One true maestro of time, Scott Thrift, was amazed with *SUPERHOT*. Thrift created ThePresent, a 365-day clock that “helps players of the game of life to be more present” in their ceaseless battles against boxed, calendar-oriented time. *SUPERHOT*’s similar experimentation with time caught his attention. “There is a certain level of predictability with any FPS. You’re going to be moving forward, pointing a gun, and shooting enemies,” he said. “But by manipulating time through movement, the game cracks open the dimension of time in a way I haven’t seen since *Braid*.”

Time was the key to reimagining how a first-person shooter could be created. I spoke with Luke Spierewka, a coder for the team behind *SUPERHOT*. “We imagined *SUPERHOT* as a game about time from the get go,” he said. “It was meant to be a game where the gameplay wouldn’t have to feel rushed. You wouldn’t have to always be acting quickly and relying only on your reflexes. And in hindsight, I think this was a good decision.”

Maybe he’s right. What if after all of the quick, go-go-go action of shooters like *Grand Theft Auto V* or *Resistance 3*, we’ve forgotten what’s most fun about shooters: taking good aim, and then diving into cover. Virtual reality, it would seem, wants to immerse you in a much slower world—and not necessarily overwhelm you with grenades, bombs, and tanks (or at least not yet).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/13491081124_f3afe4a775_k.jpg)

When time reaches a near standstill, *SUPERHOT* shines. Luke put it this way: “When you let go of the keyboard in *SUPERHOT*, the world stops.” And at E3, this meant that everything you saw, the entire kinetic energy of the perceivable world, came to a standstill. And suddenly, you’re Snake from *Metal Gear Solid*. You’re calm, you can look at your surroundings, and you’ve been thinking for a while about your next move. For once, time is on your side.

And so *SUPERHOT* strikes another checkbox in humanity’s bucket list: the ability to perceive a moving bullet with one’s own eyes when said bullet doesn’t exist. But is it a sign of things to come? Oculus Rift has shown interest in the game since October. And if Oculus is willing to rethink the very traditional, much as *SUPERHOT* has, then maybe the poster child of technological progress can deliver on the much-awaited promise of virtual reality. *SUPERHOT* works so well because it’s transformed the quickness of the FPS into a wholly engaging, precise, and thoughtful experience. The future of the FPS and of VR is bright, assuming time continues its slow forward march.

*Oculus Rift image via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/13491081124/in/photolist-gunhjj-eQMYhy-myajoY-guoHCn-eQMVC3-fjsVeP-kUAvup-f4hfJY-nVEozZ-mgk54Y-nffhCr-eWvkzc-gup34G-eWGJUA-eWcLCo-gwcD7s-gwd4vC-gwdiAF-kUAvFg-kY7LDT-fjtnHR-eVeCYL-msZ9NW-nivkDH-niLZme-mJwqCQ-mJuGvz-nkEA9s-mj4bXk-m54TRa-iURk6U-iUT2B3-kPVzCV-kPWEmS-hEnesr-hDRtmS-nGSs2L-jhtTpH-fVkwE2-nF8K8U-nF8wMS-nERqvA-nGWNC5-fuTjfD-fv8BUy-eVmFRJ-eVeMDq-gYRymK-ihiyxe-fp3JPt?ref=killscreen.com)*.