| With the sequel just days away, I’ve become acutely aware that not everyone has played Hotline Miami. What gives? An allergy to neon? It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, and even if it’s not your cup of tea, it’s at least worth experiencing once. |
Inspired by the movie Drive, Hotline Miami is the violent video game all those news stories warned you about. You play as a mysterious masked mass-murderer-for-hire receiving at the beginning of each level coded calls about a “delivery” or somesuch. You then proceed to the address you’re given and kill all the mobsters in the building. There are weapons littered everywhere you go, and you’re rewarded for the speed and creativity you bring the pain down on everyone around you.
This game gets brutal- the player character is just as vulnerable as the guys being gunned down, so any stray bullet and it’s game over. Plus, the CMYK 1980’s nightmare graphics and relentless electronic soundtrack add to the intensity of the levels. I spent most level in a literal sweat-- which is the coked-up eighties experience the game developers probably wanted me to have.
The game gets extra surreal when you beat a level; suddenly, all the music cuts out to a droning noise, and you’re forced to walk through all the destruction you just created. Madness.
Hotline Miami is definitely one of a kind, with the darkest story I've ever encountered in an arcade-style game. Personally, I liked the soundtrack much more than the actual gameplay, but I can definitely see the appeal to lovers of twitchy, adrenaline-rush games.
Doesn't particularly like hurting other people,
The Dungeon Dame
The Dungeon Dame
