I remember when this game was new, and it was the most innovative shooter I'd seen in years. Don't think I played it since then, though, and revisiting it today, it's still an innovative concept, but with very little substance in the game itself. It's basically a fleshed out tech demo to showcase the concept of time that only moves when you move... which is fine, because that's a great concept and it's great to play. I beat it in an hour.

The story in the tutorial certainly exists, and the years have not been kind to it. At the time, I was enthralled by this game, the vague themes were enough for me to feel something and get drawn in, genuinely wanting nothing more than to keep playing, much like the player character. But once you know what to expect, and now that so many other games exist that take these vague themes and expand them into entire actual narratives, it feels a little silly. Quaint, even. But I still enjoy it. Getting past that, however, is where the real game is. Challenge mode and endless mode are way more fun than the tutorial, and I'm sure I'll keep revisiting those every now and then. I beat the katana-only challenge in another hour, and the speedrun challenge modes really caught my eye, because this game is a speedrunning dream.

Probably the most interesting part of this whole concept, though, is how well it was adapted into VR. The desktop game is great fun, but the VR game is an incredible feeling that still makes me feel that same magic as I did in 2016, even after the VR freshness wore off for me long ago. It's truly the same game, but the added dimension of interactivity changes everything. I just wish throwing things was easier.

There is nothing more I can say about this game that hasn't already been said. It's worth playing if you haven't already. I have to play MIND CONTROL DELETE eventually since I got it for free anyway.

(from my web zone: https://kerosyn.link/grab-bag-4/#superhot-vr)