Hotline Miami

Critic reviews

• TTechRaptor

  JohnPaul Keith · Nov 07, 2013

  9.1

  It’s no secret that video games have a tendency to be overly violent. Whether it’s ripping out spines in Mortal Kombat, beating up hookers in Grand Theft Auto, or gunning down innocent civilians in Call of Duty, there’s a wide variety of bloody carnage to be seen, resulting in a multitude of critics, both in and out of the industry. But it’s Hotline Miami, a PSN game by Dennation Games, which takes things one step further.

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• PPolygon

  Chris Plante · Jul 17, 2013

  8.5

  Hotline Miami admirably does its best to provide an answer. You'll find it buried deep beneath the game's surface — figuratively and literally. It has more to say about our fascination with violence in games than the lion's share of its competition. That the killing is fun made me feel all the worse. Which was the point. Hotline Miami is exceptional not because it's violent, but because it's violent for a reason.

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• PLPS Lifestyle

  Ryan · Jul 03, 2013

  8.5

  The atmosphere of Hotline Miami is great. While the retro 2D top-down environments aren’t much different than an old school RPG or adventure game, the visual filters, soundtrack and ultra violence really make you feel less like an adventuring hero and more like you’re slowly becoming a murderer-for-hire with a tenuous grip on sanity.

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• PSPush Square

  Damien McFerran · Jul 02, 2013

  9.0

  Hotline Miami’s intense challenge, deep narrative, and penchant for extreme violence mix together to create an intoxicating cocktail which once again brings up that age-old argument of whether or not games should truly be considered art. We’ll leave you to wrestle with that particular quandary, but Hotline Miami is arguably as subversive and shocking as anything the mediums of film, music, or literature can produce — and it’s bloody good fun at the same time, too.

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• PUPlayStation Universe

  Dane Smith · Jul 02, 2013

  8.0

  Genre-wise this game can be termed an action puzzler because of the shortness of the levels and while the game is all about killing, it has you constantly planning the most efficient way to do them like a puzzle. Each stage has a grading score which helps give the game replayability, as well as puzzle pieces to collect for some secret content. However, once the game is done there is nothing left but trying to maximize your score.

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• MModojo

  Chris Buffa · Jun 28, 2013

  9.0

  Wrap it up with a bizarre story and a cool 80s vibe, and Hotline Miami is one of PlayStation Vita's guiltiest pleasures, a blood-soaked, retro-inspired homage to the most difficult video games ever conceived. So long as you're of age, it comes highly recommended.

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