Hotline Miami, one of Devolver Digital's most beloved titles that they have published over the years, is an indie that has earned its reputation as a violent and most intense top-down action game that is set in 80s Miami where you take control of a psychopath with a particular affinity for animal masks who is guided by various mysterious calls to clear out the shady and decrepit buildings that are home to many thugs and gangsters who are just as eager and quick to kill you in quite a brutal fashion!
Such is to expected from a game that, in some respects, is satirizing parts of what made Miami in the 80s so iconic (for better and for worse!) as I dare say that one of the finer aspects of this indie is by far the sharp yet almost 'psychedelic' artstyle that fits the chaotic mood of Hotline Miami whilst also hinting at the deranged state of 'Jacket' himself. This fond name given by the fans was not officially coined until the sequel, however it would seem that the developers behind Dennaton Games agreed with the community sentiment and gave the iconic masked protagonist the memorable name for sequels and cameos alike!
As for the tight gameplay itself here, Hotline Miami takes the approach of dealing with threats as efficiently and as fast as possible since you have an arsenal of melee weapons and firearms alongside the odd throwable object to utilize when dealing with various gangsters on each level. Typically these will have to be acquired on-site as each style has its own perks, melee weapons generally being ideal for silent killings to prevent the whole floor from quickly descending upon you, guns allowing for quick dispatching at a more safer range whilst throwable weapons offer silent kills at a distance higher than a blade or bat can reach but not to the degree of guns though can ricochet off walls in a way that bullets simply can not.
To further vary the gameplay up, the start of each level also prepares the protagonist with a choice of masks to choose from. These often provide a bonus to the player that will aid them in their psychotic killing spree, whether this be having a starting weapon already at hand or the ability to move faster, take more bullets from enemy gunfire or even preventing a certain canine enemy from attacking you. Other masks either provide a quirky 'neutral' element to gameplay or actually can make a level much harder by darkening vision or reversing controls!
Although the enemy variety isn't as beefy as other games out there, Hotline Miami opts to keep things simple by having three main types of enemies as typically an overwhelming majority will consist of the standard white suit thugs that come equipped with either a melee weapon or a gun to kill the player with. Following this are the canine Dobermanns I spoke of earlier that lack in health but more than make up for it in speed alongside the inability to be harmed by unarmed attacks. Finally there are the bulky black gangsters that are unarmed themselves but can easily make short work of Jacket with just their muscle alone, being immune to any melee attack alongside unarmed fists that makes guns essential to take down these foes that are more likely to survive bullets than the other enemies. There also exists one special type of enemy on a specific level pertaining to law enforcement that are actually immune to being killed but are prone to temporarily being stunned by melee weapons, a rare one-off that changes how you would typically finish a level once cleared of enemies.
Part of what I feel gives Hotline Miami such a memorable experience isn't just tied to its snazzy visuals that some have credited this very game as bringing about a resurgence in the 'synthwave' aesthetic + electronic music but with how it is very much a challenging game to overcome at first. Naturally newer and more cautious players will treat this as a tactical game that tests your fast reflexes, making you plan ahead for every step and what outcomes could potentially occur as each enemy has a set routine or position that they patrol on each floor. This can vary in not just the guns and melee weapons they wield but also how 'alert' some are since there is a noticeable difference in how perceptive enemies can be when you appear in their eyesight but also whenever a gun is fired as not all enemies will follow to investigate at first.
This 'RNG' element of the game, when combined with just how quickly the brutal action follows on both sides seeing how any successful attack from an enemy will kill Jacket just as he can easily dispose of enemies too with the right skillful approach to groups of gangsters, lends itself well to what I would refer to as a 'speed game' or, in other words, a speedrunner's wet dream. Seeing as the tight action gameplay evolves into a whole new level once you truly adopt the game's idea of being fully 'reckless' but backing it up with experience and confidence in the controls as a whole, plus with there being a surprising amount of tactics one can use to quickly dispose of enemies once you know how to take calculated risks and act on them quickly! (It helps as well that checkpoints are frequent with each floor saving progress mid-level so that the longer stages don't become too frustrating)
No doubt that this is quite an easy game to recommend for anyone who loves classic indie action at its finest, though it won't be for everyone either as I did note how it felt unusually short compared to my first time playing it on the PlayStation 4 port way back in 2015. However, I do feel that my personal nitpick over the game's length may very well be opposed by those who struggle to even get through the base game itself as Hotline Miami demands quick reactions from the player whilst maintaining a degree of precision when striking and aiming at the many gangsters you'll be asked to take down in bloody gore fashion.
All in all, I feel pretty confident about giving this a solid recommendation for anyone who has yet to experience this indie gem of a game that's seeking a nice thrill in retro style that is also not keen to shy away from some of the darker themes that Hotline Miami touches upon but, as I said before, this is one game that feels good to beat and arguably even better to dominate in which, depending on your skill level, may be a rare case of being an indie worth chasing to 100% completion!
TLDR Version:
• Well-designed action combat game from an eagle-eye perspective with a strong flavour of brutality and gore (+)
• Offers a good challenge for most average gamers but also serves as a great game to excel in and speedrun once the controls and mechanics are mastered (+)
• Hotline Miami provides a short yet captivating story that looks into the dark world of 80s Miami and all of the vices it holds, with an equally intriguing subtle background for those looking for it (+)
• Game difficulty is balanced well throughout the levels, providing multiple solutions to difficult problems in almost all levels of the game (+)
• The excellent blending of drug-fueled visuals combined with strong inspiration from the retrowave aesthetics to highlight the madness of Miami's senseless violence helps to make it quite the memorable experience
• Though Hotline Miami is beloved for its intense action, some may find the fast reflexes and quick thinking required in later levels to be too much to handle (-)
• The length of the game is a little on the short side, only providing 16 base game chapters and 4 post-game chapters alongside 2 additional bonus levels (-)
• Hotline Miami's psychedelic artstyle alongside the pixelated visuals could be off-putting to those looking for less visually-distracting indies (-)
