Review: Hotline Miami (2012)

Hotline Miami’s core focus is centred on taking the law into your own hands and killing pimps, drug lords and mobsters. Each level is divided into several chapters which are further broken down into several stages. You are given objectives via telephone or answering machine and you are told to clean up or visit certain individuals.

A vigilantly, hitman, assassin or just gone insane, you never really understand who you are. The entire atmosphere of the game makes you feel like you are in a drug infused hallucination. Even though you may not receive any answers to the surreal questions, the only outcome to the game is to kill, kill and kill some more.

Hotline Miami is a 2D top-down perspective addictive action game with a soundtrack and visuals influenced by the 1980s retro culture. You arrive at each level unarmed but can decide on a selection of unlockable creepy animal masks, each with different perks.

You then can decide if you want to play stealth and kill everyone quietly or just go in like a deranged lunatic and cause all kind of hell. You can use your fist to punch and strangle people to death or you can just pick up whatever you can get your hands on from baseball bats, pool cues, guns, knives and even kitchen pots and pans. Death comes with a single blow or bullet so there are no life packs or rechargeable health.  Positioning yourself and striking at the right time is key to completing levels.

You can use the environment around you to your advantage by using doors to knock over enemies passing by. Then use your weapon to brutally finish them off with a large selection of executions. Using shotguns, machines or pistols is incredibly fun and brutally rewarding. However, these weapons alert everyone, so you can find yourself shooting a barrage of storming enemies.

The upside to this is killing multiple people quickly builds combos and gets you a higher score. At the end of each stage you a graded and if you’re not happy with a C you can always choose a different mask with the added perk to beat your score.

The game is majorly influenced by Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 neo-noir crime drama film Drive staring Ryan Gosling. Just like the film the game is stuffed with the 80’s culture from bright neon lights and electronic soundtrack.The soundtrack is a stunning mixture of downbeat psychedelic groove and fast paced electro beat that will certainly get the blood boiling for the intense moments of violence.

The overall style, visual and sound to Hotline Miami feels like you’re locked in cocaine filled psychotic killing spree on a vigilantly quest. Hotline Miami is a game that flaunts its violence with beautiful 80’s visuals and soundtrack. Hotline Miami is step into a world where law and order is in chaos in a neon-soaked underground 1980’s Miami.

It is a game that justifies violence by becoming a vigilantly and taking the law into your own blood soaked hands.