Superstatic

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Neon pulses feel like a dance party for your brain, each glitch is a surprise confetti blast, and the humor makes you grin like a cat on a keyboard.

Superstatic scratches the Hotline Miami itch but adds its own spin with a ghost/possession mechanic that lets you hop into enemy bodies and use them against each other — when it clicks, clearing a room this way feels genuinely satisfying. The camera being locked to your character means you constantly get shot from off-screen, which forces heavy reliance on your clone, and with energy draining fast and guns perpetually running dry after just a couple shots, the pacing often feels more exhausting than exhilarating. The power boxes that recharge your energy blend into the environment and are a pain to locate, and there's no way to finish a knocked-out enemy, so you end up awkwardly waiting for them to stand back up before you can deal with them permanently. It's rough around the edges and notably shorter than I'd have liked, but for the frequent sale price of around a dollar, it's a flawed but interesting take on the genre worth trying if you're hungry for more top-down action.

Interesting idea for a top-down shooter where you can create a ghost that can move forward and possess an enemy. Camera is stuck to your avatar which prevents you from scouting ahead which is somewhat overcome by using your ghost. Guns run out after a couple of shots which makes you overly reliant on the ghost to progress as you hop between recharge stations. Occasionally, you are spawned in a doorway right in front of enemies with nowhere to go which was frustrating. Story is far from compelling. I felt little reason to continue with this, but can see why someone who really likes top down shooters might be interested.

2/10

It is, effectively, a more boring Hotline Miami.