Time moves only when you do. That was the high concept behind Superhot, the webgame we all got very excited about 245 days ago. Never before had bullet time been applied with such creative flair as in this modest shooter – which somehow turned the FPS into a simultaneous turn-based affair a little like Frozen Synapse.
“We’re onto something,” says creative director Piotr Iwanicki. “We can’t just leave it as a half-baked prototype. We need to make a full game out of it.”
Evidently blown away by last year’s 7 Day First Person Shooter prototype success, Superhot’s Polish team of friends have been left with permanent grins disfiguring their faces. They’re still in love with their game’s conceit, and it shows.
“Every step you take, you have as much time as you want to do it. If a bullet is in the air, you may stop at will and try to avoid it,” explains mad-eyed co-developer Marek Baczyski. “You can really see the gunfight from within.”
Their roadmap is simple enough: more levels, more enemy types, and more guns. The original prototype has been “basically rewritten” in the months since release to make it most expandable – and the team have both iterated on the art and experimented with subway, skyscraper and elevator scenarios to “solve”.
A single bullet in Superhot means death, which makes each level a “deadly puzzle” as players dodge bullets and pick up new weapons from their fallen opponents, hurling spent weapons into the faces of the goons behind.
The team’s $100k goal will cover living costs, hardware, software licensing and a few extra hands on deck – while any additional funds will be funnelled into promoting the game at international events.
They say the game is about “empowerment”, and it certainly is – insofar as it’s about good planning. It reminds me most of Dishonored’s Daud campaign, which paused the game whenever the player reached for the teleport button.
This is as close as first-person shooting gets to being turn-based. Is that something you’re interested in?