Opinion - Hotline Miami

There's something deeply disturbing about Hotline Miami, but that's also what gives it its potency. Short, sharp and brutally violent, the game sees you smashing, slicing and shooting your way through a variety of interesting and varied levels. It's a top-down retro-influenced action game steeped in violence and a disturbing story. Your aim on the majority of the levels is to kill everyone, then escape.

I'll be honest, I was only a few moments into the game when I felt like I wanted to turn it off. Somehow, despite the low resolution pixel art, it still manages to feel terribly violent. The game has a vibrant colour-cycling neon effect that gave me an uneasy feeling, whilst there are elements of the UI that tilt and shake in an almost hypnotic way. Combine the art style and violence with the flushed and warped neon, the low quality VHS and TV effects, it all has a disquieting, disturbing atmosphere. It feels like you're playing through a snuff video nasty that should have been censored or banned. Now, strangely, I say this to the games credit.

This Hotline Miami PS3 / Vita trailer gives a good impression of the game (and a glimpse at the soundtrack).

Hotline Miami does an amazing job with remarkably little to convince you that something is wrong. And yet it plays so right... The gameplay is fast, amazingly fast... but still somehow manages to retain a feeling of being tactical. You can switch between stealth and action on the fly, drawing enemies to search for you with gunfire, before flooring them with a thrown weapon and jumping on them for a vicious finish. You'll die, a lot, and that is by design. You can restart the level almost instantly, trying again and again to clear the screen of people... you'll try a different tactic, or just a rush-job attempt, sometimes you get lucky. You can knock enemies over with doors, throw your weapons at them to knock them over (or, with some melee weapons, kill them with a ranged throw).

The basic gameplay is very addictive. As you play your score is tracked, rewarded for things like 'boldness', 'flexibility' and 'mobility'. These points count towards unlocking additional weapons to use, which can make replaying earlier levels fun and different. Achieving high scores on the numerous levels also unlocks additional masks to wear, each with their own abilities which will change your playstyle. I found myself getting a lot of use from the horse mask, 'Don Juan', which makes hitting enemies with doors an insta-kill. This particular mask had me sneaking about, timing my movements before bursting into rooms for brief fast-moving fights.

There's a story that runs through the game, it seems to be quite minimal to start, but it builds. There are various moments, some subtle some overt, throughout the levels and between-chapter interactions that add to the story. There's a feeling that everything is not-quite-right echoing through the game. A twist partway through the game adds to the interesting narrative and providing some depth, drawing you further into the seedy and depraved world of Hotline Miami. The story is disturbing, and surprisingly engrossing.

It's a game I'd describe as equal parts disquieting and engaging. I'd recommend it, and in the same breath warn against it. It felt like a guilty pleasure.