Sometimes Hotline Miami is a frantic action game where one hit spells instant death for the Player and his enemies. At other times it’s a stealthy puzzle game whose plot is greatest enigma of all. It’s also a frustrating, chaotic, nearly incomprehensible gem of an indie game that satisfies both brain and hands.
Hotline Miami is a top-down action/ stealth game set in Miami in the 1980’s. Players control a fellow who might be a hitman, or he might just be crazy. Drugged? Brainwashed? Figuring out why this character goes on his many killing sprees is part of the fun.
And there will be much killing! Shooting, stabbing, bludgeoning, and pounding heads into the ground are but a few of the ways that this character can slaughter those unfortunate enough to cross his path.
At the start of each mission, the protagonist receives a call instructing him to perform some mundane task like making a delivery or picking up a tombstone, but these are all euphemisms for “Go here and kill everyone.”
Or are they?
Perhaps these are just ordinary calls and our deranged hero takes it upon himself to brutalize whoever he happens to run across. As the story progresses and the body count rises, players find that there’s a vast conspiracy at work and innocent people are being duped into committing murders for unknown reasons. But whatever is driving this killing machine to slaughter his targets, the Player will be treated to a bloody rampage that is as challenging as it is rewarding.
Each mission sends the Player to an enemy base, unarmed. Using stealth, the Player must enter the building and take down a group of armed guards. The enemies carry a vast assortment of weapons that include several kinds of guns, plus knives, swords, and improvised weapons. A single hit from any weapon will kill the Player. Enemies move with tremendous speed too, so players need a combination of great tactics and great reflexes.
Even once players get their bloody mitts on a weapon, there are severe limitations. The Player can only carry one weapon at a time, and guns can’t be reloaded. This means that players have to rearm themselves repeatedly over the course of a level. This forces them to vary their tactics and experiment with the different implements of death.
Any weapon can be thrown, but only a few can kill when thrown. Most of the time, throwing a weapon just knocks an enemy down, requiring players to pounce on their fallen foe to perform a brutal finishing maneuver.
In fact, just about any kill is brutal in this game. Swords will chop off limbs, guns leave a blood splatter around the corpse, and knives can be used for a cool throat-slitting finisher. Despite the 2-D cartoonish graphics Hotline Miami has great visuals in terms of blood ‘n’ guts.
Hotline Miami has a series on unlocks that are handed out based on how well players perform. These include a huge arsenal new weapons (For enemies and the Player), as well as a series of masks that grant special powers like faster movement, or silencing all guns. After beating the game, these unlockables are saved and any chapter can be replayed with the new weapons and masks. There are hidden items scattered around the levels too, so players who replay have several motivations for doing so.
When players are in the flow, this is a great experience. Yet there are plenty of frustrations that can make some sections become a lesson in trial and error. Death comes quickly and repeatedly, and players begin each mission without a weapon. An unlockable bonus changes this later on, but a lot of players are likely to get discouraged early on.
Some sections of the game let players carry a weapon with them from stage to stage, and this can spell big problems for players who forget to grab a good weapon before they go to the exit. The levels are designed so that all it takes is patience and tactics, but a fully-loaded assault rifle certainly comes in handy too.
Players who stick it out will find several boss battles to be exceptionally tough too. Combine the one-hit-kill mechanic with an enemy who uses two sub-machine guns at once, and you have grim scenario for our hero…
Hotline Miami is weird, hard little game. But the frustrations are worth it for players who take pride in a well-earned kill, or who enjoy bizarre conspiracy-laden stories. It is available now for PC.
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