[Review] Hotline Miami

[Lekon]

Title: Hotline Miami
Platform: PC
Developer: Dennaton Games
Publisher: Devolver Digital
MSRP: $9.99 on GOG, Steam, and GetGames
Editor: James "Lekon" Barry

Hotline Miami: a game that is at times frustrating, horrifying, ultra violent, garish, and because of all of this: Beautiful. This is the sort of game that shows just how much more a game can be than the sum of its parts. Already compared to movies like Drive, Hotline Miami is likely going to be generating a lot of conversation over game design, and games in general. It's also going to have a metric ton of Let's Play videos on youtube. Prepare to see the "R to to Restart" often.

This is not an E rated game.

Hotline Miami has you starting out as... well you don't know. You're a guy who gets phone calls telling him to go kill people, without telling you why. On goes the rubber mask, and out comes the murdering. Gameplay's from a top down perspective, letting you aim with the mouse and control with WASD. Controls are simple, shift to look further, middle mouse to lock on, right click to throw weapons, left click to murder. You'll be left clicking quite a bit. The R button restarts the level from the most recent checkpoint. You'll be hitting R almost as much as the left mouse button, at least at first.

Most of the game follows a pattern: Intro scene with some storyline, driving to the game area, picking a mask, Mayhem ensues. Throughout the levels you'll be seeing lots of men in white suits. They need to die. Everyone who isn't you in a level needs to die before you are given the "Stage clear!" to move on. Herein lies your problem. Everyone (except for certain large enemies) can only take one hit from a weapon before they are dead. This means you too. The game quickly teaches you that you must plan your attack, but you must attack fast and not let anyone get up to get revenge. Doors and punches will knock enemies down, but not out, you'll need to finish the deed. It doesn't take long before each level of the game looks like a Tarantino movie gone right.

They won't hesitate. Don't miss.

Missions last around 2-3 minutes on average... when everything goes right. More likely you'll be hitting the R button several times, until you can figure out just how to go through the level and cleanse the evil from the world. Or how to line up a bat/golf club just right. Levels have slightly randomized enemy layouts, occasional deviations, but most of the time, the enemies will be patrolling set points, and sticking to certain rooms, giving you a good chance to plan out your path. The game's deceptively deep strategy starts to come into play here. Melee weapons leave you open to guns, but don't alert enemies in the next room. Firing a gun keeps you at a safe distance, but most enemies one or even two rooms over will hear the shot and come running. Of course you can also fire a gun to bring them into a trap, or wait by a door to kick it in and stun an enemy long enough to gun down his friends... or just wear another mask.

As a reward/persistent bonus, each level rewards you with a new mask to pick from, even when replaying old levels. Get a high enough score, and you'll unlock new weapons that randomly spawn in the levels as well. The masks however can take some of the hardest situations and make them wonder how you had so much trouble. The problem is, you can only wear one through the entire level. Choose one mask, and dogs won't attack you, but if you choose a different one, you'll be able to look farther away to plan your attack. Other masks change it up even more, with the ability to make doors lethal when kicked in, or turning any thrown weapon into an instant fatality. I admit the thrown weapon one was probably my favorite. Something strange about playing toss the gun to kill people. While all of this helps, it still comes down to how well you plan a path, and how quickly you can change that path on the fly when the bullets start flying.

Here we see how the game usually looks five seconds after a level starts.

The screenshots really don't do Hotline Miami justice. This is a game that has a constant feeling of disorientation to it. The screen tilts slightly with each motion of the mouse, movement sometimes changes your perspective, and there's a constant glow to everything. A horrifying, neon, 80's glow that pervades every bit of this game, and helps drive home the fact that this is simply not a normal situation.

I've got to give special recognition to the music of Hotline Miami. Lately a number of games have been focusing on getting music that just fits perfectly with their games (Dust: An Elysian Tail being a great recent example), and Hotline Miami is no different. Between missions there is a slow, almost sleepy tune, but the second you step out of the car and put on a mask, you're treated to thumping, fast beats that help keep you focused on the grisly task at hand. If you're still on the fence, just give a listen to the sound track and listen for yourself.

In closing: this is a game that really shouldn't be missed. It is short, brutal, tells a strange story, and despite its ugly parts, the entire whole is incredible. For ten bucks, this game is a steal, and you'll be replaying it often. Your eyes will bleed, but you'll be happy all the same. This game has that Dark Souls level of glee when you get past a stage, a true sense of accomplishment... at least until you ask yourself why exactly your character is doing all of this, or who's on the phone this time.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


James says: "Hotline Miami is a damn fine game with one hell of a sound track. Quick, violent levels, an over arching plot to explain why, and several secrets to find make for a great trip."

[Spigot]

I'm just digging into the game now and it is a strange game. You nailed it when you talked about how it gives off a kind of disorienting aura. It's not scary, per se, but it just doesn't feel right... but in a good way!

[Libuke]

Well I know I expressed hesitation about the game earlier but I bought it based on your review Lekon.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by Libuke

Well I know I expressed hesitation about the game earlier but I bought it based on your review Lekon.

Yay! Enjoy it! ... OR DIE.

No really, have fun, the game has some hard stages, but it's well worth the price of admission. For bonus laughs, check out the Giant Bomb Quick Look. The poor guy almost has an aneurysm, and no one bothered to tell him you can lock on to enemies with the middle mouse button.

[Kelegacy]

The game is brilliant. It's so simple yet so compelling. Earlier this month I heard of it and wrote it off after seeing screenshots and videos. Didn't seem interesting. But I just didn't get it.

Now the game is one of my current favs. It really is unsettling but it's also one of those games that makes you want to keep trying over and over. It's great that respawn is instantaneous, like Super Meat Boy. Great title and one of this fall's biggest surprises for me.

[Libuke]

Was heating up my computer something fierce for some reason.

[Codicier]

Bought it today. Goddamn but it's fun.

[c0m3d14n]

been plaing for a few days. its a great and mesmerizing game.
quick question about the secrets though

when i was wearing the cadmus mask once, i found kind of a sort of blinking pixel which i could pick up, was that a secret? and what was the effect? more points?

also concerning the great soundtrack, when searching if i could buy it somewhere, i stumbled across a post in the steam forums that said all the tracks are in the games folder in DRM-free ogg

[Pale Ale]

I thought it did a pretty good job of replicating a 30 year old arcade cabinet.

[Deadend]

I am so anticipating getting my hands on this.

[Codicier]

Also it's $1 off on GoG for a little while.

That's the version I got, the Steam version seems to be having issues with Steam integration, or so I've heard.

[Spigot]

It's interesting. It even says when you start up "Do you want to enable Steamworks? (May Not Work)"

I spent far, FAR too long with this last night and that was just on the second portion of the second stage. I feel really bad for the guy in the room at the top of the stairs. I may not have taken anyone else out on some of the attempts, but he ALWAYS got a face full of boiling water. Poor bugger.

[Kielaran]

I'll just leave this here.

[Superman's Dead]

I'm worried about this game creeping me out. Binding of Isaac creeps me out.

[jpublic]

God, there needs to be some graphical controls with this before my eyes bleed. Either that screen flicker has to go, or they have to allow windowed mode.

[Lekon]

Comedian: That was indeed a secret. There's one in almost every stage (In the chapters menu you can see which stages you've found them in. They'll be purple instead of black.)

They're part of a bigger secret so I won't say more.

[c0m3d14n]

Originally Posted by Lekon

Comedian: That was indeed a secret. There's one in almost every stage (In the chapters menu you can see which stages you've found them in. They'll be purple instead of black.)

They're part of a bigger secret so I won't say more.

awesome, thanks for the info

[Pinchy]

Regarding the soundtrack, they're almost all in OGG form in the Steam folder. One of the tracks is sort of split up into two, and one track is missing (at least when you compare to the SoundCloud link they have). There are also 3 tracks that aren't on SoundCloud.

Anyway, great soundtrack

[MagGnome]

I've had my eye on this one for a while now. Great review, Lekon! I'll be adding this to the pile soon for sure.

[Libuke]

Still not sure I am sold on the game. I don't regret the 10 bucks I just don't think I am enjoying it as much as a lot of you.

I will agree about the soundtrack I do enjoy it.