Home » Reviews » Superhot Mind Control Delete Review: Jacked directly into the matrix
Reviews

Superhot Mind Control Delete Review: Jacked directly into the matrix

Superhot Mind Control Delete is a long-time announced… and also, a long-time coming. First mentioned close to three years ago, a surprise announcement today revealed that the title will arrive on Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4 in just one week’s time. Better yet, the standalone expansion goes free to those who already own the original.

If you’re unfamilar with Superhot, that’s a real shame. As Stuart Gollan described it in his original review, the title “takes bullet time to its logical conclusion. Time only moves when you move. The game is one big close shave; bullets whiz by your head as you dodge gunfire and dance through enemies, cutting them down one by one. Like an old Rainbow Six game you assess the situation, make a plan and execute… at least until the next wave arrives behind you and it is time to improvise.”

Still a puzzle game at heart, Mind Control Delete changes up the formula by introducing a series of roguelike elements. A handful of maps are used throughout the game, but procedurally-generated enemies and weaponry keep things fresh. Permadeath is also introduced to the mix, though the penalty for losing all of your life-giving hearts isn’t too severe — you simply have to restart an entire node.

The other huge difference with Mind Control Delete is that it ratchets the action up to 11 — actually, far beyond 11 — combining Superhot‘s traditional gameplay with a series of hacks that drastically change gameplay, leveraging the ability to take over an enemy as seen in the original.

You can choose to hack the system and start out with more lives than before, or simply spawn with a katana at the start of every round. You’ll unlock additional hacks as you progress, offering up enhancements to your natural abilities or even those that provide superhuman strength. My personal favourite is Charge, a move that lets you dash across the map to deliver a crushing blow. Combine that with the katana and you’re practically unstoppable.

These slight changes improve upon an already unbelievable base, stylised and polished. Borrowing again from Stuart, “Superhot oozes slick graphical touches, the bare colour pallette, the way levels tear apart upon failure, the phosphor glow of the ASCII interface and the way enemies shatter upon impact with swords and bullets.”

If you’ve played Superhot, you get Mind Control Delete for free; it’s a no brainer. If you haven’t, check out our gameplay video below… and remember that if you decide you want to try it, go and buy the original Superhot (ahead of 16 July) and save yourself some cash in the process.

 

# out of 10

The good

  • More — LOTS more — Superhot.
  • Crazy new hacks add a lot of variety to gameplay.

The bad

  • If you didn’t like the original, you won’t like this.

 

Superhot Mind Control Delete was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox One X, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.


This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.