Hotline Miami

This game is simple, violent and satisfying. The story is very interesting and it kinda gives me some Nicolas Winding Refn vibes, which I really like. But gosh, this game's soundtrack is on another level.

Amazing.

Hotline Miami is a visceral and adrenaline-pumping top-down action game developed by Dennaton Games, blending neon-soaked aesthetics, an unforgettable soundtrack, and ruthless combat into a uniquely thrilling experience. Released in 2012, it remains a cult classic, celebrated for its unapologetically violent gameplay and layered narrative.

Gameplay At its core, Hotline Miami is an intense, fast-paced action game where players control a nameless protagonist, known as "Jacket." Missions unfold in a series of hyper-violent encounters within tightly designed levels. Players must utilize a mix of melee weapons, firearms, and environmental tools to clear each area of enemies. The twist? Death comes quickly. A single hit from an enemy spells instant death, forcing you to rely on quick reflexes, careful planning, and trial-and-error to succeed.

Hotline Miami is ver good. The sprites all look great, the music and atmosphere are great, and the story is really trippy and weird (in a good way). Combat, however, is a double edged sword. Sometimes it's really dynamic and fun, but from my experience, the lock on system is completely broken. In something like Zelda Ocarina of Time, pressing and holding the lock on button will lock on to an enemy, and letting go and holding it again will syphon through different enemies on screen. This works great and I never had any problems with it in that game. In Hotline Miami, pressing the lock on button will result in you locking on to an enemy. When you press the lock on button again, lock on will turn off. To syphon through enemies, you need to use the right control stick, which is incredibly imprecise and often locks on to the wrong enemy. Whenever I killed an enemy that I was locked on to, the game wouldn't auto lock on to the nearest enemy, instead it would auto lock to any random enemy, even offscreen ones. If you kill an enemy that you were locked on to and another starts running toward you, the game will either not lock on to anything or not lock on to the enemy that is running directly at you. I died a lot because of the clunky lock on in this game and it was very frustrating. The game is still very good and is worth playing, but the lock on is so bad.

One of the most impressive things in a game narrative is to make gameplay an important aspect. Many have tried with various levels of success but most talk about Titanfall 2 or The Last of Us. Hotline Miami does this perfectly. I already did a really long review on my steam so you can check that out if you are so inclined on the account Ranesir, but this game excels in every aspect.

Hotline Maimi is a wonderful trip, like a good abstract movie or a bad ass surrealist book.I played the game for the first time on 2012 on my PC, I found it extremely intense and difficult, so after like 8 chapters I quit.This year, I bought myself a brand new PS4, which came with a bonus 10$ PSN card, so I said why not, lets try again this retro indie game,and hell that was a good choice.

The story of the game is a mystery from the begin to the end of the game, because that's the creator's intention, they want you to make the conclusions.

The game-play is mainly a brutal-gory top down massacre, that can be very painful and stressful at first, but with the "try and error" system, you end up controlling the levels in a easier way, but if you want to complete the game at the 100%(as me), you are going to need time and a lot of patience, mainly trying to get the A+ on each level.

The controls, at least on PS4, are very easy to handle, in my opinion, smoothers than the PC ones, although when you start, they take some time to handle, but with time there's no major difficult or struggle.

The graphics have a cool retro style, which ironically, look extremely sweet on HD. Beside this, the game have a very "intense" look, with each stage having a changing color background, which can get some people dizzy or with a headache(luckily that wasn't my case). All the gore of the game, combined with the retro aspect, make the perfect ambient to this non-stop killing festival.

The music is by far the best aspect of the game, having one of the best soundtrack that I've ever listened to, with house and electronic songs that fit absolutely perfect on each chapter, being the perfect addition to this thrilling adventure.

Overall, the game, at least to me, is an indie master piece, being today, one of the best games that the PS4 have to offer.Absolutely recommended if you like the retro style games, the ultra violent games or the good games in general.

10/10