Hotline Miami, is, under all the neon signs and addicting music, a game about killing people, a lot of people actually. While there is nothing new about a top-down shooter with tons of blood in it, Hotline Miami easily escapes the boring routines of modern games by providing us with a surrealistic experience like few other games can deliver. Trust me, this game is so good you will get withdrawal symptoms after finishing it.
Story
You awaken in a mysterious room with three individuals wearing animal masks and asking you questions that you can't possibly answer, you don't seem to remember much. Paranoia is an ever present feeling during the short campaign of Hotline Miami, you will frequently ask yourself if what you're seeing is even real, maybe it's all just a drug induced trip, maybe it's all just a dream.
These levels of surrealism invoke memories of movies like Mulholland Drive, The Machinist, Eraserhead or The Elephant Man.
Gameplay
You move using the keyboard and shoot the enemies in the face using the mouse, it's that simple. You can also expand your field of view with the touch of a button, an important skill when you need to scout out levels, later in the game you will get a mask that lets you increase the range of this ability allowing you to actually snipe some enemies before they even react to your presence.
Yes, enemies are not exactly brainiacs, but that is the only thing that works to your advantage in Hotline Miami as all the other skills and senses of these villains are super sharp.At the beginning of each and every level you will get to choose an animal mask, these masks provide our protagonist with special abilities and also contribute to the surreal atmosphere of the game. Just imagine, some random guy going through an entire building, killing and maiming everyone in his path just because he was asked by some stranger on the phone...yup, Miami Hotline is that amazing!
Graphics & Sound
Don't let the simplistic 2D graphics dampen your interest in the game, you have to think of every stage as a white canvas, a white canvas that at the end of each level is beautifully painted using the blood and guts of the poor sods that dared stand in your way. All of this while listening to some of the best tracks in recent videogame history, the fast-paced electro is the perfect supplement to the frenetic and almost nonstop action that Hotline Miami delivers.
Final Thoughts
One can't deny the inspiration that Hotline Miami snorted from the 80's, after all, Miami Vice and Scarface influences are very well present here. Yet, the sensation that it ultimately leaves behind, is one of something completely different from everything created within the gaming industry in the past few years, it is truly a unique and cocaine-like addicting experience.
Year of Release: 2012
Platforms: PC
Developer: Dennaton
10 out of 10
Thanks to GOG.com for providing a review copy of the game.
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