History VideoGame / SuperHot

* {{Feelies}}: An unusual digital-only example. The game's menu interface is a [=DOS=]-inspired OS, and the entire file structure works, allowing you to dig around in your (character's) computer. Culminates in a rather creepy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIf-8-I2kJI video]] labeled "rsm.avi" promoting another of the developers' games.

* ChooseAHandicap: The DEATH node in MIND CONTROL DELETE. Instead of giving you hacks to choose from between levels, the game instead [[spoiler: makes you choose a basic gameplay function to give up instead. At first they're relatively minor functions such as GIVE UP JUMPING or GIVE UP THROWING. However, you'll eventually be asked whether to give up things like shooting or punching. By the time you've given up moving and looking, you're totally helpless. The only option left... is to simply GIVE UP.]]

* SurpriseCreepy: Both the prototype and the full version appear at first glance to be just a HighConcept action game with NoPlotNoProblem - and both become increasingly clear that they're actually a CyberPunk horror story.

* LeadTheTarget: A non-intuitive part of gameplay. It's not just that BulletTime kicks in whenever you're not pressing buttons; it's also that ''all bullets move slower than normal'', because if not then you still wouldn't be able to dodge them. But ''all'' bullets move slower than normal; if you can dodge them, {{mook}}s can too. And do! Unless you... lead the target. Even the railgun in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' has a very small delay, despite its near-hitscan attack.

* HackerCave: Effectively the main menu in the VR version.

** ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' also taunts the player for continually diving into the System to find... absolutely nothing, save their own need for "closure".

* MindPrison: As the player draws the System's attention, they are trapped within a cell at several points, especially in the later portions in the game, unable to get back to the game unless they do what the system says - such as being forced to repeatedly dodge bullets from enemies until they die. It's implied these were experiments on subjects part of "the System". Once they get past the prison, it's used again: this time an extremely low poly tunnel with a caged door at the end [[spoiler: that's a symbolic representation of the real world; it only opens when the player embraces the ArcWords: "bodies are disposable".]]

** Taken UpToEleven in the sense that it takes place in-game and [[spoiler: in real life, when the game asks you to spread the word of the game upon completion of the story.]] That phrase? [[spoiler: "It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years."]]

** Taken UpToEleven in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'', since slashing at bullets with the katana now ''reflects'' them back at the shooter. This goes even further with defall.hack which will reflect ''all bullets on the map'' when you reflect one. If you get the punch hack, you can ''punch'' bullets back.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The Death node in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE''; instead of activating hacks, makes you choose what aspect of your control you give up (melee, shooting, throwing, jumping, looking, and moving). You can do up to four of those things and possibly survive, but once you've given up looking and moving, you're dead. Each level has the option to immediately give up and skip to the next, per the theme of relinquishing control.

* SensoryAbuse: Firing a gun while standing still will basically [[RealityEnsues blind and deafen you for two seconds]].

** [[BodySurf The Addict]], who can body-surf as you could in the original game.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' introduces enemies which are entirely white save one part of them (a limb, torso, or head). The white parts are immune to damage, aren't stunned by thrown objects, and normally lethal attacks will only stun them. However, hacks that upgrade one of your damage aspects (piercing for bullets, damage for punching and throwing) bypass this invulnerability.

** All edged throwing weapons in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' land pointy-end in, from throwing knives to screwdrivers.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The Death node in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'', instead of activating hacks, makes you choose what aspect of your control you give up (melee, shooting, throwing, jumping, looking, and moving). You can do up to four of those things and possibly survive, but once you've given up looking and moving, you're dead. Each level has the option to immediately give up and skip to the next, per the theme of relinquishing control.

* GameBreakingBug: ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' has an error with the spiked enemies that causes you to automatically take damage upon destroying them, even if you're nowhere near the bullets they release. It appears to be more common if the spiked enemy is at a lower elevation than you are, and throwing objects seems more likely to trigger it than bullets.

* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: In ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'', the Super Throwing hack causes any shuriken[[note]]or any object coded to behave as a shuriken when thrown, such as a vinyl record[[/note]] that kills a mook to immediately fly right back to you. Assuming you don't catch it, it will pass through you and imbed itself in the wall behind you.

* {{Retraux}}: The technology level of the real world portions is a loving send up of old hardware, complete with [=DOS=] commands, [=IRC=] clients, [=ASCII=] displays, the clicks and whirr of the machine, and so on.
** ''SUPERHOT VR'' takes this even further by showing the protagonist's setup including a VR helmet and gloves... connected to a bunch of old CRT monitor [=PCs=] resembling UsefulNotes/CommodoreAmiga 3000/4000/1200 systems with ''SUPERHOT'' itself stored in ''floppy disks''.
*** This isn't too far-fetched when considering that the Amiga 3000 was the architectural basis of older Virtuality arcade VR systems, the sort you could play ''Dactyl Nightmare'' on.

* RuleOfCool: You toss your weapon at the end of every level for no reason other than it's cool. [[spoiler:And because you always throw away your weapon when you release control of a hijacked body.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: Spiked enemies in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' explode in a hail of bullets when killed. Specifically, this happens when their body is shattered, so while bullets and other forms of instant death will explode them on contact, punching them to death or using blunt weapons allows you to get behind cover and wait for the body to explode when it hits the floor. If you swap into one with Hotswitch, it will activate the effect without killing the host, which can be useful in killing off nearby enemies and is a safe way to detonate them in general.
** There is also an upgrade where you explode into ninja stars when damaged, though this is Downplayed since you still have extra lives.
* ThrowingYourGunAtTheEnemy: Guns have limited ammo, so throwing them away is a given. Throwing your weapon is also much faster than waiting for the next bullet to cycle into the chamber if you're using the pistol or shotgun. You also end up throwing your weapons away when a level ends for the sake of looking cool [[spoiler:and because that's what always happens when you abandon a body]].

** The katana can be thrown and is lethal upon hit, and is one of the few thrown items which can be retrieved. The Ninja mind of ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' focuses around throwing your katana, and its various upgrades allow you to do far more fancy tricks with it.

** Downplayed with every other item you can throw; it stuns an enemy on hit and makes them drop anything they're holding, allowing you grab it for yourself. Thrown items can be faster than waiting for your gun to stop shooting in many instances.
*** Unless it's the VR version, in which case ''any'' thrown item is lethal.
* TimeStandsStill: An interesting variant tied to your motion. Stand still, and time slows to a crawl - or stops completely in the VR version. Start walking, and it'll speed up to real time. It even extends to moving the camera: time accelerates a little when aiming and firing.

''SUPER'''HOT''''' is a series of FirstPersonShooter / PuzzleGame hybrids. The core concept of the series is that time only moves when you move -- specifically, when you press buttons on the controller. If you’re standing still, time nearly stops, slowing bullets to a crawl and stopping enemies in their tracks. If you move, bullets will zip right at you and enemies will start shooting again. Once you've used up a gun’s mag, you have no choice but to [[ThrowAwayGuns throw it at your enemies]] and grab one of their weapons, unless you'd rather take them down up close and personal. [[RuleOfCool It's friggin' cool.]]

* ThrowAwayGuns: Guns have limited ammo, so throwing them away is a given. Throwing your weapon is also much faster than waiting for the next bullet to cycle into the chamber if you're using the pistol or shotgun. You also end up throwing your weapons away when a level ends for the sake of looking cool [[spoiler:and because that's what always happens when you abandon a body]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: Using the katana to deflect bullets back at the shooter in ''MIND CONTROL DELETE''. It's just as cool as it sounds, but the bullets are reflected back at the shooter's current position and don't take movement into account. If the shooter is doing anything other than standing still or running at you, it's almost guaranteed to miss. The only time it's worth doing consistently is with the ''defall.hack'' upgrade [[note]]deflecting one bullet will also auto-reflect ''every single'' bullet currently moving through the map[[/note]] or with projectiles fired from the Railgun.
** You can cut bullets out of the air with a katana, won't really do much for you though. The timing is quite narrow and if you fuck up you WILL get shot, and good luck stopping anything more than a few handgun shots.

** The VR version makes any thrown object lethal by default - ordinary objects, guns, you name it!
** ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'' adds a slew of semi-lethal to very lethal thrown objects. Anything pointy that isn't lethal will stick in the enemy and can be grabbed out of them to be thrown again. Headshots with anything pointy will always be lethal, unless the enemy is invulnerable for one reason or another.

** The shotgun can potentially hit multiple targets with its buckshot, but it only gets two shots and is clumsy to throw.

* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: In ''MIND CONTROL DELETE'', the Super Throwing hack causes any circular object that kills a mook to immediately fly right back to you. Assuming you don't catch it, it will pass through you and imbed itself in the wall behind you.

* ShortRangeShotgun: Averted. Shotguns have just as much range as other weapons in the game.