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This fact is emphasized by the lack of a save feature. Hotline Miami is meant to be played in one sitting, with the 4 to 5 hour story experienced all at once. The difference, though, is that in a video game you play the part of both the audience and the gladiator.
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It is Russell Crowe shouting "are you not entertained?" to a coliseum filled with a cheering, jeering audience. Case in point, the achievement earned for finishing the game is titled "That's it?" It is a genuine question posed to the player asking whether you are satisfied with the outcome, or even if any outcome could satisfy the degree of bloodshed that preceded it. In fact, Hotline Miami's story is a very difficult one to spoil. However, without the bursts of action present in other missions to unload tension like a tightly wound spring, the trial-and-error gameplay quickly gives way to frustration.ĭon't worry, that doesn't spoil anything in the story. From a narrative perspective, it is one of the most interesting moments in the game. A late game mission strips you of all weapons, forcing a pure stealth approach. Hotline Miami spins an intriguing tale, though at times it can become overzealous in that regard. As the story progresses, these non-violent moments give way to darker connotations that help to establish the killer's state of mind - one of the rare cases of a video game successfully presenting the player with an unreliable narrator.
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He even appears to be a valued friend of the community at times, as each clerk greets him with a smile and offers whatever he wants on the house. He rents movies from the video store, picks up pizzas and gets groceries. In these slower moments, you get to see a different side of the silent, psychotic protagonist. Perhaps you save these self-designated rivals for last, ensuring no other enemies can interfere as you take him out, followed by a feeling of relief. You will plan your route around him, perhaps to take the threat out quickly, but more often following a different path. They never have names or dialog or any personality of any kind, but you will remember foes like "guy with a shotgun who shoots you through the window every time" and build a personal grudge against him. The constant repetition breeds a feeling of personal connection with your victims. And just like Super Meat Boy, Hotline Miami is quick to get you back in the action so that the penalty for failure is as minimal as possible. You will fail a lot in the process though, making the trial-and-error heavy platformer Super Meat Boy a fitting comparison. That one room requires precise planning and timing, followed by quick execution so that you can plan for the next one.
#HOTLINE MIAMI PROFILE PICTURE WINDOWS#
This will be just one room of dozens for each mission, as you eventually have to contend with guards leaving doors open, windows that can be shot through and the simple fact that firing a gun alerts all enemies in a wide radius. A typical encounter has you slamming open a door to knock down a patrolling enemy, quickly grabbing his weapon and bludgeon his partner, then turning back and finishing off the initial foe before he can get up. But you don't start with a weapon, initially throwing punches or slamming open doors to stun and knock enemies to the ground - where the space bar can perform a brutal finishing move. You control him with the WASD keys and mouse, right clicking to pick up and throw weapons and left clicking to use them. Upon arriving, he puts on a rubber mask and begins his dark work.
#HOTLINE MIAMI PROFILE PICTURE MOVIE#
While a movie can give you a glimpse into a killer's mind, a game can give your mind a glimpse of being a killer.Įach mission begins with a phone call and an address, as a mysterious voice leads the nameless protagonist to each of his victims. He is a murderer, a mass-murderer in fact your own American Psycho to inhabit on the neon-filled streets of 1989 Miami. Hotline Miami, on the other hand, does not shy away from or try to sugarcoat its protagonist. Games have done this too, but all too often the virtual killing is treated flippantly as little more than an obstacle, or placed in a war-torn context where it is seldom thought of as murder. Murderers have been explored in books, movies and television before, giving the viewer a brief glimpse into the mind of a killer. It's difficult to talk about Hotline Miami without sounding like a sociopath.