Let's Look At: Hotline Miami

Let’s Look At: Hotline Miami

Few games question the player in any meaningful way. Spec Ops: The Line made some efforts, but it felt a bit crude. “Do you feel like a hero now?” popped up at you on the loading screens on occasion. Hotline Miami handles things in a different way that ironically might be more subtle. There’s something less judgmental, and more probing, about the way a character asks you, “Do you like hurting other people?”

Hotline Miami is a top down 2D arena action game that takes place in the neon tinged world of 1989 Miami Florida. You play as an unnamed protagonist, dubbed Jacket by the fans. Somebody calls you and informs you that the “cookies have been delivered” to your home. All you find in the bag, however, is a rooster mask and instructions to carry out a hit on the Russian mafia. You are warned that “failure is not an option.”

You're never told what's going on,  just where to go. There's something compelling about all of it, though. You'll always be looking for clues.

Each mission starts with a seemingly unrelated phone call, involves a giant amount of carnage, and ends with a trip to a convenience store and restaurant, all run by the same bearded man. After every chapter you get points based on style and brutality, which unlock various items. You can find secrets on each mission which progress the story, but Jacket is an unreliable narrator at best.

This is always a little unsettling, and the pixel art doesn't help things look less grotesque.

He sometimes hears voices from the corpses of his victims and tells (or perhaps remembers) the story out of order. You can also play as a character dubbed Biker after you’ve completed the main missions to find out more about the plot of the game, which is nice for those who don’t like loose ends.

The combat in Hotline Miami is the focus, and for good reason. You can use a large selection of melee weapons and guns, all of which can be thrown to knock enemies down. You can open doors to knock down any enemies in your path, or shoot through windows to deal with threats in the other rooms. Knocked down enemies will get back up unless dealt with, usually none too gently.

Grotesque though it may be, but you only really notice it after you're done. Maybe that was intentional; to show you how people can do terrible things not even realize until it's quiet.

The large variety of weapons gives you a lot of options for playstyles and definitely increases the replay value. What’s especially gratifying is that both you and most enemies can take only each one hit before dying. Dying is quick and not aggravating, which makes it easy and fun to try all kinds of strategies without repercussion. Over time you unlock new masks to take with you at the start of every mission. The variety of bonuses that the masks give you can change up your combat style and increase replay value.

The sound design, art, and level design are also wonderful. Everything in this game is bright pastel or neon, with none of the so called “modern grit” that we see in most action games. The pixel art gives a surprising amount of character to the world, despite the lack of detail. Every song on the soundtrack is a neo-80’s treat, which goes extremely well with the fast paced combat. 

Prolific developer Jonatan Söderström and graphic artist Dennis Wedin have announced their newest game collaboration Hotline Miami will be released under their new joint label Dennaton Games and published by shady game cartel Devolver Digital. Step into the neon-soaked underground of 1980s Miami as bizarre messages on your answering machine seem to be urging you to commit terrible acts of violence -- but will you obey? Hotline Miami overflows with raw brutality and skull crushing close combat as you find yourself outgunned and using your wits to choreograph your way through impossible situations. An unmistakable visual style, a driving soundtrack, and a surreal plot that will have you question your own thirst for blood. Bash and blast through over 20 multiscreen levels with 35 unique weapons and collect 25 game-altering masks in one of the darkest and most unusual independent games on the scene. The hotline itself can be reached at +1 786 519 3708 or @HotlineMiami. Leave a message. http://www.HotlineMiami.com/ http://www.Dennaton.com/ http://www.DevolverDigital.com/

The convenience stores and restaurants you see after missions are grimy enough to be interesting, which help make the game feel like a real world. Every stage is designed so that you have multiple ways to carry out your mission, and a number of them have several levels to work your up or down. There aren’t any places where you feel the game designers were trying to give the opposing team the advantage.

The story is minimal without feeling barebones. You don’t know who the protagonists are, who the enemies are besides their mob status, or even what’s happening (until the very end of the Biker Campaign that is). You get a feeling for the overall narrative quickly though. Somebody is organizing what seems like a gang war, or maybe even a larger conflict, and you’re the blunt instrument. You, as a player, start to really question why things are happening the way they are. Why is every shop run by the same bearded guy?

Who are you? Are you with them? Are you even real? How do you know my pizza order?

Why does he keep giving me free stuff no matter what? He comments on the massive death toll in the city, but never seems to ask me about it, even for an opinion. Periodically, Jacket has visions where he is confronted by three mask wearing figures, who ask him questions about why he’s doing what he’s doing, and how he feels about it. You’re not sure if this is a real thing that’s happening, or if Jacket is just so messed up from what he’s doing that he has to argue with himself about it.

Personally, I think they represent his mind. One wears a rooster mask, Richard. He is cryptic and questioning. Another, the owl-headed Rasmus is angry and confronts you about your actions. The horse-headed Don Juan, is sympathetic. I think these three are Jacket’s brain trying to come to terms with the things he’s done or been forced to do.

There are times when Hotline Miami missteps, however. The points system only encourages a very high risk style of play, which is frustrating if you want to unlock all the masks/weapons. You could play through the game once as a berserker, then go through a second run more calmly, but I think the points system should be a little more flexible.

As you can see, not a lot of subtlety here.

Also, due to the fast nature of combat and how the physics of the game work, you can end up throwing a bunch of weapons on top of each other, and you’ll have to keep picking up and throwing them to get at the one you want. This is really difficult to do in the middle of combat and stands out as an annoyance in an otherwise well-designed game. Another nice addition would be the ability to block or parry other melee weapons with a well-timed swing. As it stands, you can’t approach anybody wielding a melee weapon if you don’t have a longer one, a weapon to throw, or a gun.

Worth Playing?

Yes.

Hotline Miami is fun, fast-paced, difficult, and more introspective than a game about a rooster mask wearing murder has any right to be. You’ll play the levels over and over again, trying for that perfect run, and at the end of it all, you’ll wonder if that owl guy was right when he asked, “You’re not a very nice person, are you?”