Superhot VR hasn’t spawned nearly as many games as we thought it might, considering the ‘move to unfreeze time’ mechanic works so well in VR. Now, an upcoming game called COLD VR is looking to invert Superhot’s iconic gameplay and spin it for some fast-paced action.
In Superhot you’re encouraged to stop and execute precise moves in order to unpause time, however Cold VR is the exact opposite: stay still and the game speeds up, meaning you’ll always need to be on the move to get past an army of blue (re: not red) crystalline enemies and their barrage of bullets.
Effectively, taking a second to aim down your sights for a faraway shot may just may put a stop to your run, so you’ll need to make tactical use of cover, and always be moving towards an objective, lest you get hit once and end the level.
Developed by Allware, Cold VR pits you against a corrupted AI who you must battle, all the while being helped by a friendly hacker-man who pops up in cutscenes between levels.
Cold VR is slated to launch on PC VR headsets sometime this summer. In the meantime, you can download the free VR demo over on the game’s Steam page.
One of VR’s highest selling games and an early showpiece of consumer-grade positional tracking is getting review bombed after developers removed scenes depicting self-harm.
The Poland-based developers of SUPERHOT VR issued an update to the game (version 1.0.22.1) on July 21, 2021 with the following text:
“Skip disturbing scenes” toggle was added in a previous update. Considering sensitive time we’re living in, we can do better than that. You deserve better. All scenes alluding to self harm are now completely removed from the game. These scenes have no place in superhot virtual reality. We regret it took us so long.
We’re commited to shipping this update to all vr platforms.
Though the game carries “very positive” reviews across more than 5,200 reviews on Steam since its release on that store in May 2017, 363 recent reviews generally rate the game as “mostly negative” in response to the change. Over on the Oculus Quest store most of the recent reviews also mention the removal in tandem with a one star rating.
For those unfamiliar, SUPERHOT VR is a game in which time flows as quickly or slowly as you move your body, so you can plan to dodge slow-motion bullets and incoming punches just like Neo in the Matrix. SUPERHOT was born first as a game jam demo in August 2013 — you can play a flatscreen browser-based version of it in a Web browser right now — but as VR progressed to the stage of positionally tracked developer kits, a VR version of the game served as an eye-opening moment for many. It is near the top of most VR best game lists and the title’s influence reaches far and wide.
A now-removed scene from SUPERHOT VR.
Prior to the update — after the game teaches you the basics of gameplay — the player is offered a gun and text suggests “Show your dedication” and “Discard your body.” The story moves forward when the player points the gun at themselves and pulls the trigger, progressing them to an entirely different environment with a cyberpunk VR headset dangling overhead — as if the action had peeled away a simulation and moved them to another layer of reality. In the latest version of the game players progress to the control room with a VR headset dangling overhead after grabbing a triangle in the environment like at the end of most levels.
The developers behind Superhot VR added experimental support for 120 Hz mode.
Several years after release, the Matrix-like title continues to be one of the best-selling VR games and it sits in second place on our top Oculus Quest games list. Facebook recently added experimental 120 Hz support for Oculus Quest 2, meaning that objects in motion should look smoother and the environment itself should lock more solidly in place. We count just over half a dozen games with support for the mode on Oculus Quest, and you can check the full list of them out over here.
The Superhot VR developers warn that it is experimental support, so deactivate the mode in settings if you encounter any problems.
Hey @oculus Quest SUPERHOT VR players! We’ve added experimental support for 120 FPS.
It is EXPERIMENTAL so if you encounter any problems you can disable this mode via settings.
For those who might still be unfamiliar with Superhot VR, the game consists of attacking incoming baddies who only move when you do. The gameplay ends up feeling much like becoming Neo in The Matrix and its offered an action-packed introduction to VR for countless people over the years.
Now that Superhot VR, Echo VR and Quest’s table tennis games all supporting 120 Hz mode, that means that the mode is starting to gain traction with titles that respond well to players with quick reflexes. We’re curious if hardcore players in any of these game notice any discernable change in their performance when using the higher frame rate.
Please share in the comments below if you’ve played Superhot or any of the other 120 Hz Quest 2 games and let us know what you think of the experience.
A massive Sh*t Just Got Real sale went live on Green Man Gaming with tons of PC VR game discounts including The Walking Dead, Superhot, LA Noire, and more.
Note: They can and will run out of keys and not every deal lasts as long as others. For example, as of the time of this writing at 12PM PT, the deal for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners only has six hours remaining and Star Trek: Bridge Crew is currently out of stock despite being on sale, but may become available again eventually.
You can find every game in the sale here or the ‘Top Picks’ from Green Man Gaming here. In total there are 63 games discounted including some deep price cuts as low as over 80% off. When you buy a game on Green Man Gaming it’s not a shady key reselling site, it’s just a storefront for Steam keys provided to GMG. It works like the Humble Store. After buying a game on GMG, you get a Steam key and access the game just like you had bought it on Steam directly.
Here are some recommended picks based on the sale price relative to the game’s value, in my opinion:
Superhot VR (2016) has long been held up as one of the ‘must-have’ VR games. Now the studio announced it’s just tipped the one million mark for units sold on the Oculus Quest platform.
Superhot VR is a virtual reality success story if we’ve ever heard one. Taking the same mechanics from the studio’s viral hit Superhot (2016), its VR counterpart offers up an addictive mix of cinematic slow-motion action scenes as you physically bust up the hordes of oncoming red crystalline enemies.
Superhot Team announced the news in blogpost, celebrating the PC game’s fifth year birthday. There’s no word on exactly how much of this is owed to sales on Quest 2, Facebook’s recently launched follow-up to the standalone headset, but we have a rough idea.
The graph below (provided by Superhot Team) represents all Superhot franchise games sold to date. In the purple you can see Superhot VR, which saw a significant bump in sales with the release of Quest in May 2019—nearly twice as much than the flatscreen game its its viral heyday in 2016.
Image courtesy of Superhot Team
That even larger spike in sales in late 2020 was on Christmas Day, which the studio notes was the day when more copies of Superhot VR were sold than ever before. This is undoubtedly a result of new Oculus Quest 2 owners buying the game en masse for their first VR experience.
What’s more, at $25 (currently on sale for 30% off), that puts gross revenue somewhere topping out at $25 million. There have been regulars sales and bundles, so that’s only a conservative estimate on the high side though, but it’s a number that makes VR development sound pretty attractive.
It’s no secret however that Quest 2 has accelerated sales in many games on the Oculus Store. Facebook announced recently that the plucky $300 standalone helped generate over $1 million in sales for over 60 Quest apps, making for about a third of all apps on the official store. Meanwhile, Quest 2 has leaped to the second most-used VR headset on Steam, owed to its ability to use Oculus Link and a VR-ready PC.
Superhot VR (2016), the VR adaptation of the popular time-warping beat ’em up game, just got a fresh update in time for the holidays. Coming alongside some quality of life patches, the update brings a few new features to all platforms that should get you back and punching at crystalline red dudes to your merry heart’s content.
First, a look at the game’s free holiday DLC drop, appropriately called its ‘Boxing Day’ update.
The Boxing Day update brings to the game a new endless level, a new scoring system, and what Superhot Team call a “suitably festive soundtrack.”
The studio says that users who’ve already finished Superhot VR can gain access to the Boxing Day update by loading the Endless floppy disk in the Hacker Room and selecting the Christmas Tree. The endless mode scoring system awards points for punching, dodging, headshots, style shots, and more.
Both PC VR and PSVR versions of the game just got patches too. You can check those out below:
SteamVR Headset Patch
Switching between multiple save profiles
Guest Mode
Switching between pyramid flow and the more fluid pyramidless game flow
Auto-playspace rotation (transitions will rotate your playspace so the gameplay is always in front of you – not recommended for wired headsets)
Brightness options
Two different control schemes on the HTC Vive wand controllers
Exiting out of game modes like Endless mode & Guest mode
PSVR Patch
Many, many performance improvements
Overall stability improvements and crash fixes
Multiple graphics enhancements
Fixed collider issues on levels and throwables
Fixed typos and improved clarity of displayed texts
Improved pathing in several levels to prevent clipping of enemy limbs
Fixed lighting on several objects
Fixed VFX bugs and improved clarity
Fixed animation and Inverse Kinematics bugs with enemies
Fixed loads of bugs in enemy AI behaviour
– – — – –
Superhot VR is available on all major VR headsets, including SteamVR, Oculus Rift, PSVR, and both Oculus Quest 1 and 2.
Superhot VR (2016), the VR adaptation of the popular time-warping beat ’em up game, just got a fresh update in time for the holidays. Coming alongside some quality of life patches, the update brings a few new features to all platforms that should get you back and punching at crystalline red dudes to your merry heart’s content.
First, a look at the game’s free holiday DLC drop, appropriately called its ‘Boxing Day’ update.
The Boxing Day update brings to the game a new endless level, a new scoring system, and what Superhot Team call a “suitably festive soundtrack.”
The studio says that users who’ve already finished Superhot VR can gain access to the Boxing Day update by loading the Endless floppy disk in the Hacker Room and selecting the Christmas Tree. The endless mode scoring system awards points for punching, dodging, headshots, style shots, and more.
Both PC VR and PSVR versions of the game just got patches too. You can check those out below:
SteamVR Headset Patch
Switching between multiple save profiles
Guest Mode
Switching between pyramid flow and the more fluid pyramidless game flow
Auto-playspace rotation (transitions will rotate your playspace so the gameplay is always in front of you – not recommended for wired headsets)
Brightness options
Two different control schemes on the HTC Vive wand controllers
Exiting out of game modes like Endless mode & Guest mode
PSVR Patch
Many, many performance improvements
Overall stability improvements and crash fixes
Multiple graphics enhancements
Fixed collider issues on levels and throwables
Fixed typos and improved clarity of displayed texts
Improved pathing in several levels to prevent clipping of enemy limbs
Fixed lighting on several objects
Fixed VFX bugs and improved clarity
Fixed animation and Inverse Kinematics bugs with enemies
Fixed loads of bugs in enemy AI behaviour
– – — – –
Superhot VR is available on all major VR headsets, including SteamVR, Oculus Rift, PSVR, and both Oculus Quest 1 and 2.
Four years on from launch on PC VR, Superhot VR just got an all-new holiday treat.
The Boxing Day update adds in a newly-themed endless game mode. As with the normal endless mode, it tasks you with staying alive for as long as possible as the game’s iconic orange (or maybe red? I can never decide) enemies slowly march towards you. The new map just has a touch more Christmas cheer to it, making exploding someone’s head that bit more festive. Check out the trailer below.
Superhot VR Hot Boxing Day Update Out Now
This update should be live now across all of the game’s many versions, including PC, PSVR and Quest. The developer is also adding a raft of other improvements with this patch, including a new in-game pause menu with the ability to switch between multiple save files, new brightness options and further stability improvements. On SteamVR, there’s two the choice of two control schemes for the HTC Vive and everyone now has the ability to exit out of Endless and Guest modes too.
The update rounds out a big year for one of VR’s best-selling games. Superhot launched a big new update for Quest 2 a few months back and, earlier in the year, confirmed it had sold over two million copies. In July, its developer said it was continuing to experiment with VR, but we’ve still heard no news about a possible sequel or new IP from the team.
Will you be checking out the Superhot VR boxing day update? Let us know in the comments below!
We talk to the people behind Superhot and Pistol Whip on how Oculus’s latest headset, the Quest 2, allowed them to up their game and improve performance.
[UploadVR regularly commissions freelance writers to review products, write stories, and contribute op-ed pieces to the site. This article is a feature piece from an established journalist.]
When details of the Oculus Quest 2 were leaked, VR enthusiasts were ecstatic about one item in particular: the new headset would be more powerful. As the Qualcomm GPU behind the standalone went from the Snapdragon 835 to the Snapdragon XR2.
We now know from benchmarks that the Quest 2 GPU is more than twice as powerful than its predecessor. But what does that really mean for users? Developers have gone that extra mile to tap into that GPU power to improve the graphics of their games.
One of the first breakout titles for the original Quest was Superhot VR, a reimagining of the PC shooter for virtual reality. Many who played this version of the game found it to be more engrossing than the flat-screen version, with the motion controls in three-dimensional space enhancing the time-bending and bullet-dodging gameplay.
“We were able to add a lot of little things back in,” said Mark Schramm, Lead VR Developer at Superhot Team. “One example is the incredibly detailed concrete texture that was missing from all objects. This may not be something players would notice right away, and we joke a lot about it internally, but thanks to the higher resolution display of Quest 2 it was a super important addition for us. Other items include transparency effects, such as the ground fog that makes distant geometry blend much nicer into the scenery.”
Players on Quest 2 will now find a Superhot game that has more polish and more shininess than before. There is a texture to the objects of the world and improved lighting. The red crystalline enemies gleam in ways they did not before. And the backgrounds are closer to the original, with art fading in the fog to make everything feel suitably disembodied.
Superhot for Quest 2 seems to be proof that despite the drop in power from a PC to a standalone headset, a game could look just as good, giving users the full experience the developer intended.
“Quest 2’s chip is quite a beast and we were pleasantly surprised at how far we can push it. As we become more familiar with the hardware, I am certain we will be able to do even more cool things with it, and we’re continuing to work on it,” said Schramm.
The fore-mentioned increase in screen resolution, from Quest 1’s 1440 by 1600 per eye to Quest 2’s 1832 by 1920 per eye, was one way Superhot Team was able to utilize the hardware. Luckily, their game had support baked in.
Schramm said, “Many of our in-game materials are procedurally generated, which meant we were able to make great use of Quest 2’s higher resolution display. Our complex materials such as the crystal and concrete have used texture slots in the past. As an example, this would include textures for any grout lines in the floor tiles, reflections inside the crystal or the scan line stripes.”
“For Quest, we changed to a procedural system where many of these features are calculated via code, rather than loaded in from a texture. This meant two things: The materials use less texture memory, which can be a limited resource on mobile GPUs in general. And we can easily scale these features when eye buffer resolution increases. In practical terms, this means we do not need to author two different texture sets (one for Quest 1 and another one for Quest 2 resolutions), but also that our materials are as sharp as they possibly can be. This was super important for us, since we want to always maintain that clean, crisp Superhot look.”
On the opposite side of the gun barrel is Pistol Whip, the quick-paced counterpart to the slow gunplay of Superhot. This rhythm-based shooter that feels like an amalgam of Beat Saber’s music and the bullet action of the arcade games of yesteryear was an already colorful game, but Cloudhead made it prettier. Bringing back lighting and other graphical effects that are found on the PC version, Pistol Whip feels more surreal, more glossy, thus more like itself than before.
“The thing we were most excited about was having the chance to push the boundaries of visual elements in the game. One of our goals is to make sure the game always looks amazing on all platforms, from Quest to PCVR, so the team is always working on solutions to see the visuals getting close to the high end platform. The Quest 2 gave us the opportunity to push this further,” said Ed Lago, Senior producer at Cloudhead Games.
Once the Quest 2 was in their hands, Cloudhead knew they had to restore much of what was previously missing from the Quest version. Fortunately, Pistol Whip was always evolving, receiving a steady stream of new songs and accompanying levels, wrapped in a metaphor of films playing at a movie theater.
Lago said, “We were in the middle of the ‘Heartbreaker Trilogy’ production when we decided to update the game for Quest 2. This new content was really different from the previous updates, way more colorful, more heavy on sfx’s and new shaders we wanted to implement in the game, it was the perfect time to take advantage of Quest 2’s higher specs so the visuals would look amazing in the new headset. “
The lighting and effect improvements demonstrate how much this level of polish can bring a game to life. Some Quest games had a tendency, while still having wonderful characters, objects, and worlds, to feel flat. Lighting was not dynamic. Scenes were simple. This was what the Quest 1 GPU could, and that was with aid of Fixed Foveated Rendering (FFR), where software lowers the resolution of the picture on the edges of the screen, reducing the load on the GPU.
The Quest 2 does not suffer from a limited GPU and the resulting flat graphics. With lights, shadows, and other flashy effects now possible, games like Pistol Whip feel more present and less like simple throwbacks.
“We always wanted to have PC and Quest versions as close as possible in terms of visuals, but due to original Quest’s limitations we had to sacrifice some features such as realtime shadows and bloom. Fixed Foveated Rendering is also used on Quest to save some GPU time. So, the first thing we thought when we got a Quest 2 was ‘what if we turn everything on?’ Then we tried and the results were super impressive.
We were able to keep acceptable framerates with real-time shadows enabled and FFR disabled, which is great. With FFR disabled, we were also able to match the dithering effect (during scene transitions or when damage is received) quality in PC and Quest 2 platforms. We’re now working towards bloom and evaluating other visuals,” said Teo Dutra, Graphics Engineer at Cloudhead.
And these are not the only improvements for these titles. There are more to come. Cloudhead will continue to tweak and improve things, as they continue to add new songs to the game.
Detra said, “With each new update, we are constantly improving visuals and the performance of the game. Platform parity is a conversation we have frequently and the Quest 2 brings us incredibly close to the PC version of Pistol Whip. We are now able to use the same shaders, shadows, VFX, and resolutions as PC, and in the future we hope to work towards hitting 90fps.”
Superhot Team will also provide that significant jump in presentation to match the PC version, just as soon as Oculus brings the promised support for it: the increase in framerate from 72 frames per second to 90.
Schramm said, “Since the game has many very bright scenes, running at 90HZ reduces the perceived flicker in the peripheral vision, which is one of the main complaints, and the reason we added a screen-dimming option to the Quest version. 90fps also makes the game buttery smooth to play, not only in fast, action heavy moments, but especially in scenes where players move slowly and deliberately. It heightens the experience and makes it so much more visceral.”
And these two games are not the only ones to get new life on this new headset. We have seen the improvements in VR mainstays like Arizona Sunshine and newer titles like Onward. And we will likely see even more as developers take the time to upgrade their games, or just make new ones that can utilize the power of Quest 2.
“Oculus has put tremendous effort into making developers’ lives easier, both with technical support and tools support,” said Dutra. “It feels like we’ve crossed a threshold into the future, where mobile VR is finally encroaching on console and PCVR. The future of VR has never been brighter.”
Oculus Quest 2 launches tomorrow, bringing along with it higher resolution, higher refresh rate, and a cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset to drive native VR games on the company’s most powerful standalone headset yet.
Although all games out of the box will benefit from Quest 2’s overall bump in hardware specs to some extent, there’s already a few Quest games out there that are getting graphical overhauls just in time for tomorrow’s launch to make good use of the upgrades.
To squeeze out everything Quest 2 has to offer, some developers have already gone into their previously released Quest games and optimized for the headset’s ‘experimental’ 90Hz support and ability to push higher quality assets and textures thanks to Snapdragon XR2. While this list may evolve as new games come to light, here’s the 10 games we’ve found that are going to benefit from developer optimization:
Apex Construct
Summary:Apex Construct is a single player VR action/adventure. Wield an upgradable bow & shield combination to battle enemy robots while exploring and solving mysteries in a shattered world.
Summary: VR meets the zombie apocalypse! Arizona Sunshine is the original zombie shooter rebuilt entirely for Oculus Quest. Powered by 360° gameplay freedom, the untethered Arizona Sunshine® experience immerses you and up to 3 fellow survivors in a world overrun by zombies more than ever.
Summary: Build Your Incredible Machine – Gravity Lab would like to introduce our new range of gravity modifying appliances! Currently awaiting regulatory approval, we invite you to visit our testing facility and give them a go! We have prepared a selection of test scenarios for you and we are certain you can solve them!
Summary: Ironlights is a VR dueling game with skillful, fluid, slow-motion melee combat. Test your skills in multiplayer battles, or fight to the top of the league in the huge single-player campaign!
Summary: Dispatched into hostile wetlands in your military kayak, utilise weapons and equipment to neutralise enemies. Engage targets lethally or infiltrate unnoticed from the shadows across a full campaign. This is stealth action redefined.
Summary: Let’s dive in and explore the world of fishing or just sit back and relax in a mesmerizing scenery together. Real VR Fishing invites you to the incredible real-world fishing spots to feel the taste of fishing in the Multiplayer mode or to relax and enjoy the stillness in the Single-play mode.
Summary: Red Matter is a story-driven VR puzzle adventure game set during a dystopian Sci-Fi Cold War. Take on the role of Agent Epsilon, an astronaut of the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned Volgravian base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. Your mission: to investigate a shady top secret research project.
Summary: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move.
Summary: From the co-creator of Rick and Morty comes Trover Saves the Universe. Your dogs have been dognapped by a beaked lunatic who stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. Only you and Trover can save everything in this bizarre comedy adventure filled with combat, platforming, puzzles, and morally questionable choices
Summary: If you have ever wanted to make things disappear with a snap of your finger, throw fireballs, or telekinesis, then this experience is for you. Now included among many other hand tracking features!
Summary: Not a game, but rather a utility to connect to your computer to watch movies, browse the web or play games on a giant virtual screen or in various theater environments. Developer Guy Godin says Virtual Desktop will allow Quest 2 streams at higher resolutions, a higher maximum bitrate (150 Mbps instead of 100) and supports 60, 72, 80 and 90Hz.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you’re overhauling your Quest game, or know of one that’s getting some graphical bumps to optimize for Quest 2, let us know in the comments below!
We’ve added experimental support for 120 FPS.
