I'm writing this as the unskippable 2.5 hours after-credits wait is still going, and I must start this review stating that this is the most horrendous way of finishing a game. That being said, the overall experience of SuperHot: Mind Control Delete was pretty great, I'd even say it's superior than the first entry (and it sure is better than VR by a mile). At a first glance it's pretty similar to the first SuperHot, and while some elements are brought back, the weapons, abilities and enemies, each one of these elements are massively expanded and improved upon.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the difference between Mind Control Delete and the original SuperHot. The first SuperHot was a self-contained and linear game whose gameplay revolved around memorization, much like Hotline Miami. You'll be dropped onto a level and then do your best or die trying, and if you die you'll restart the same level and replay it until you eventually eliminate every enemy successfully, so it was more about trial and error, especially towards the final levels. Mind Control Delete is a game about improvisation. Sure, the levels repeat over and over, and some are brought back from the first game, and you'll eventually get used to their layout, but that's about it, everything else is randomized, even the player's spawnpoint. The levels are gathered in a randomized collection, so if you die on one level, the collection changes and it starts all over again. I know this sounds boring and frustrating as hell, but since everything is random it turns out different each time you play.
But it doesn't end there. In every collection of levels, after completing a certain amount that can vary, there will be an also randomized hack to choose from. Hacks are special abilities that the player can obtain by completing certain level collections. These hacks are then unlocked to be selectable during any set of levels. This adds a lot of replayability since if you die you'll start empty handed so the hacks you get to choose from are different for each collection of levels, and as you go on, there'll be more to select from. And whenever you get to select them, two random different hacks show up for you to select one of them. There will never be one that's clearly better than the other so you discard one of them entirely, your selection depends on your context. For example, if you're low on hearts (yeah, you can take a few hits before dying, which is a great addition), choosing a health regaining hack might be a better option than bullet ricochet, or maybe you're doing great and want to try otherwise. The options are almost limitless, it's about choosing wisely which ones to use, because some can be pretty helpful while others can be relatively useless. It turns out to be more strategic than the first game.
Another thing Mind Control Delete expands upon is the enemy variety. There are still your common red guys that work the same, but now there are these red guys with spikes that blow up releasing a lot of bullets into the air that can hit you, so maybe it's better to keep a distance with them. Another new type of enemy is the one that's entirely white except for one limb which remains red and this is the only weak spot they have, so for the rest of the body they're practically unkillable. Tho the biggest and most important enemy addition are the immortal enemies. There are a total of three of these and they appear at random in random levels so you never know when one's gonna show up, and this always keeps the player on edge if they do eventually show up, because they have a similar special ability the player also has (I forgot to mention it, but when you start a collection of levels there are four different permanent abilities to choose from that stay activated until the collection is finished, even if you die), so as everything is randomized, there's a pressure to kill all the enemies the level requires to be finished that gets even more tense when one of these three enemies do show up. This game works with tension better than any of the previous two entries, because this game is about mastering its mechanics instead of repeating a level until you find an optimal way of clearing the level, and it's a blast when you pull it off correctly. All of this game's elements work together masterfully turning the first SuperHot, what was essentially a gameplay experiment and barely anything more, into a more tenseful experience with more strategy and decision making.
[SOME SPOILERS HERE, JUMP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE ENDING]
Now for the narrative aspect, it's a certain improvement. Like, the first game had a story, kinda, it was some creepypasta-esque cryptic bs that ended up nowhere and was more of a hindering than anything else. Mind Control Delete is a meta-game on not having a story so it's less bs and, while cryptic, the story isn't much of an obstacle this time. I tried my best to understand it and all I ended up with was that it talks about isolation for damaged individuals (whether physically or mentally) on virtual violence and how it can absorb them entirely. Basically, a story about addiction to/escapism via virtual violence. Remember those immortal enemies? After what is basically a boss battle with each one of them you eliminate both their and your special ability resulting in what I assume is their physical termination, and this is done in segments where you'll see them static looking at you until you get rid of their own ability. It isn't explicitly said, but I think that, as with the original game, you're controlling someone irl killing them. For example, the dog one appears in a hospital room sitting on a wheelchair. Also, while on the menu you can read notes related to these characters which give away hints about how they really are. After this, the game concludes with what I think is game-ending yourself by uninstalling everything (?). I know all of this may sound overanalitical and nonsensical, and that's because it is. And that final 2.5 hours loading screen just to play the game again screams pretentiousness. If not this, all I can think of is that the game criticizes the player for enjoying mindless violence, which I hope isn't what they were going for. Either way there are some aspects of the story that I couldn't understand at all so that was the best I could've come up with. I think it's better to play the game's meta-game of not having a true meaning and just enjoy the experience.
[SPOILERS CONCLUDED]
Overall, this is a major improvement on the first SuperHot. After finishing the VR one I didn't want to play another SuperHot because of the bad impression it gave me, and boy did I miss something great. This game is the definitive SuperHot experience and I don't know why here it has a lower average rating than the previous games. Anyways, if you liked the original SuperHot or the VR one, this is better in every single way, so I ought you to check this one out. Sure the game's core differs a bit from the previous games, but it somehow works surprisingly great and rarely gets tiring with its randomized gameplay.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the difference between Mind Control Delete and the original SuperHot. The first SuperHot was a self-contained and linear game whose gameplay revolved around memorization, much like Hotline Miami. You'll be dropped onto a level and then do your best or die trying, and if you die you'll restart the same level and replay it until you eventually eliminate every enemy successfully, so it was more about trial and error, especially towards the final levels. Mind Control Delete is a game about improvisation. Sure, the levels repeat over and over, and some are brought back from the first game, and you'll eventually get used to their layout, but that's about it, everything else is randomized, even the player's spawnpoint. The levels are gathered in a randomized collection, so if you die on one level, the collection changes and it starts all over again. I know this sounds boring and frustrating as hell, but since everything is random it turns out different each time you play.
But it doesn't end there. In every collection of levels, after completing a certain amount that can vary, there will be an also randomized hack to choose from. Hacks are special abilities that the player can obtain by completing certain level collections. These hacks are then unlocked to be selectable during any set of levels. This adds a lot of replayability since if you die you'll start empty handed so the hacks you get to choose from are different for each collection of levels, and as you go on, there'll be more to select from. And whenever you get to select them, two random different hacks show up for you to select one of them. There will never be one that's clearly better than the other so you discard one of them entirely, your selection depends on your context. For example, if you're low on hearts (yeah, you can take a few hits before dying, which is a great addition), choosing a health regaining hack might be a better option than bullet ricochet, or maybe you're doing great and want to try otherwise. The options are almost limitless, it's about choosing wisely which ones to use, because some can be pretty helpful while others can be relatively useless. It turns out to be more strategic than the first game.
Another thing Mind Control Delete expands upon is the enemy variety. There are still your common red guys that work the same, but now there are these red guys with spikes that blow up releasing a lot of bullets into the air that can hit you, so maybe it's better to keep a distance with them. Another new type of enemy is the one that's entirely white except for one limb which remains red and this is the only weak spot they have, so for the rest of the body they're practically unkillable. Tho the biggest and most important enemy addition are the immortal enemies. There are a total of three of these and they appear at random in random levels so you never know when one's gonna show up, and this always keeps the player on edge if they do eventually show up, because they have a similar special ability the player also has (I forgot to mention it, but when you start a collection of levels there are four different permanent abilities to choose from that stay activated until the collection is finished, even if you die), so as everything is randomized, there's a pressure to kill all the enemies the level requires to be finished that gets even more tense when one of these three enemies do show up. This game works with tension better than any of the previous two entries, because this game is about mastering its mechanics instead of repeating a level until you find an optimal way of clearing the level, and it's a blast when you pull it off correctly. All of this game's elements work together masterfully turning the first SuperHot, what was essentially a gameplay experiment and barely anything more, into a more tenseful experience with more strategy and decision making.
[SOME SPOILERS HERE, JUMP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE ENDING]
Now for the narrative aspect, it's a certain improvement. Like, the first game had a story, kinda, it was some creepypasta-esque cryptic bs that ended up nowhere and was more of a hindering than anything else. Mind Control Delete is a meta-game on not having a story so it's less bs and, while cryptic, the story isn't much of an obstacle this time. I tried my best to understand it and all I ended up with was that it talks about isolation for damaged individuals (whether physically or mentally) on virtual violence and how it can absorb them entirely. Basically, a story about addiction to/escapism via virtual violence. Remember those immortal enemies? After what is basically a boss battle with each one of them you eliminate both their and your special ability resulting in what I assume is their physical termination, and this is done in segments where you'll see them static looking at you until you get rid of their own ability. It isn't explicitly said, but I think that, as with the original game, you're controlling someone irl killing them. For example, the dog one appears in a hospital room sitting on a wheelchair. Also, while on the menu you can read notes related to these characters which give away hints about how they really are. After this, the game concludes with what I think is game-ending yourself by uninstalling everything (?). I know all of this may sound overanalitical and nonsensical, and that's because it is. And that final 2.5 hours loading screen just to play the game again screams pretentiousness. If not this, all I can think of is that the game criticizes the player for enjoying mindless violence, which I hope isn't what they were going for. Either way there are some aspects of the story that I couldn't understand at all so that was the best I could've come up with. I think it's better to play the game's meta-game of not having a true meaning and just enjoy the experience.
[SPOILERS CONCLUDED]
Overall, this is a major improvement on the first SuperHot. After finishing the VR one I didn't want to play another SuperHot because of the bad impression it gave me, and boy did I miss something great. This game is the definitive SuperHot experience and I don't know why here it has a lower average rating than the previous games. Anyways, if you liked the original SuperHot or the VR one, this is better in every single way, so I ought you to check this one out. Sure the game's core differs a bit from the previous games, but it somehow works surprisingly great and rarely gets tiring with its randomized gameplay.