Hotline Miami

Under Hotline Miami’s graphically limited 16-bit appearance lies a powerful game that lets you examine what it means to play violent video games. While it may lack a certain technical finesse, Hotline Miami manages to take players down a road not many games do. It’s as much fun to play through the game as it is edifying to reflect on what we’ve done, and for that, it is quite powerful.

Hotline Miami is an outstanding title that manages to stand out despite both retro-styled games and overhead shooters being crowded genres. While I wish it supported controllers, particularly twin sticked-ones, the default control setup works well once you put some time into it. It’s an easy recommendation for those who love overhead shooters, games with creepy tones or retro styles and enjoy either dubstep or synth music.

Hotline Miami’s momentum of mystery builds right up to its finale, where snarling cynicism is offered as a justification for why all this machinery of neon fuzz and thumping bass, bright blood and fractured identity was started up in the first place. Yet the justification is also disarmingly simple, the same reason why quarters were dropped into arcade machines built during the late ‘80s era Dennaton Games so clearly reveres.

After hours of assault, the finale of Hotline Miami gives you an opportunity to find out why so very many people are being murdered in quite so brutal a fashion. The explanation serves as a mirror to the player, presenting you with the question of why you're enjoying it, and whether you do genuinely like to hurt people.

It's a shame that Hotline Miami suffers from infrequent crashes, but neither these, nor the vague and unsatisfying ending, should stop you from enjoying this wonderful barrage of the senses. Hotline Miami is a discotheque of death that's very hard to walk away from, and a fantastic twitch shooter with a confident sense of style.

Hotline Miami doesn’t have much of an extended call plan. But with goodies ranging from achievements and the scoring system to weapon and mask unlocks, the game provides plenty of reasons to keep dialing in. Just like the music that inspired it, Hotline Miami pulses with a catchy simplicity that gets under your skin.

Hotline is a confident and addictive shooter that stands out among releases this year, even though its flaws bog it down. It can be sickening at times and brutal at others, but it all builds up toward a commentary on games and pointless violence. The narrative's downward spiral of violence, insanity, and crime will not light up your day but it's very engaging in its own way.

Hotline Miami has more style than substance. The music and story presentation perfectly place you inside the mind of a serial killer. I loved the intensity of the basic design and the challenge of trying to think on my feet, but the clunky controls and repetitive action inhibit what is otherwise one of the most creative indie titles of the year.

It's a game time-traveled in directly from the fear-center of Tipper Gore's brain, circa 1989. It's pure, unadulterated nihilism with a candy-coated shell. And I'll be damned if it isn't one of the most intoxicating games of this year.

The point is well-executed action, resulting in well-executed bad guys and the high scores that come with them. Those looking for a challenge in planning, reflexes and dexterity – and those with the intestinal fortitude to witness the scads of gruesome deaths that result – will be well served by Hotline Miami.

When it all comes together, Hotline Miami's a solid game, but it's not for everyone. While definitely a highly challenging experience, its biggest flaw is how it can get absurdly repetitive at times, especially when you're stuck having to replay the same stage over and over because you keep getting hit by some shotgun-toting enemy who's just off-screen.

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.

Hotline Miami is one of the very few games that is a perfect union of gameplay mechanics and production values. Not only does it provide a rock-solid gaming experience, but it also offers plenty of commentary on violence and really makes you feel. That feeling isn’t pleasant, but that’s the hallmark of a great work of art.

So many games are really good at one or two things, or they're full of lots of good ideas that you respect individually, and their qualities arrive in your head with great fanfare, like a county parade trailing down your high street. Hotline Miami isn't like that. It only works as a whole, and it doesn't hit you like a flavour; it builds up in your system like an intravenous solution.

It's a collection of broken, cheap gaming tropes underlined with utterly bonkers combat all twisted together to create an awesome little indie title. In the sparsely populated kingdom of 2D top-down action titles, Hotline Miami reigns supreme.

Simplemente espectacular. Hotline Miami es un interesantísimo juego descargable gracias a su impactante puesta en escena, adictiva jugabilidad y lo enigmático de su argumento. Es verdad que podría haber sido algo más largo, que la IA de los enemigos debería estar más pulida, o que su apartado gráfico no saca todo su potencial; pero el delirante viaje que propone a través de la mente de un asesino es tan condenadamente bueno, que su compra es muy recomendable.

La frescura y la originalidad de Hotline Miami son indiscutibles. En tiempos donde se aprecia por encima de cualquier otro elemento las propuestas que se salen de la norma, difícilmente se puede obviar el esfuerzo que Devolved ha realizado por ofrecer un videojuego que sepa homenajear una visión específica del género.

Hotline Miami se debe saborear poco a poco, a pesar de que invite a lo contrario. Terminar un nivel es extenuante y gratificante a partes iguales, una experiencia intensa como pocas. En poco tiempo nos empuja a convertirnos en depredadores rabiosos e implacables, a encadenar las muertes cada vez más rápidamente y de formas más originales. Decíamos que al terminar el nivel se apaga la música y vemos nuestra obra.

Wenn Videospiele dazu da sind, um in Welten abzutauchen, in denen man gerne sein würde, aber die Gesellschaft/Realität/physikalischen Gesetzmäßigkeiten es einem nicht erlauben zu sein, dann hoffe ich, niemals die Leute zu treffen, die so über Hotline Miami denken. Bis zu diesem grausigen Tag spiele ich es einfach nur.

Der erste Blick auf Hotline Miami bewirkte bei mir große Freude darüber, dass meine Zeitmaschine endlich funktioniert und ich exklusiv einen Blick auf die Alpha-Version des ersten Grand Theft Auto werfen durfte. Die grobe Pixel-Präsentation ist... gewöhnungsbedürftig. Und das aus dem Keyboard einen nachweislichen Retro-Liebhabers. Aber hier ist die krude Kulisse Mittel zum Zweck, sie passt hervorragend in das absurde Design und ergibt in Kombination mit dem minimalistisch, aber doch nachhaltig pumpenden Soundtrack eine ebenso ungewöhnliche wie unheimliche Atmosphäre.

Hotline Miami veut votre peau ! Et il l'aura. Le pire, c'est que malgré une humiliation certaine et répétée, malgré la mort et les outrages, vous allez l'aimer. À cause de ses grilles de pixels, qui sont autant de petits cachets qui font rire. À cause aussi de son atmosphère de mauvais rêve sous stupéfiants et de son gameplay ultra rapide, brutal et incroyablement gratifiant.

Hotline Miami n'est pas un titre à mettre entre toutes les mains. Vous risquez fort, en effet, d'être rebuté par son extrême violence, son look rétro et son gameplay intransigeant. Mais si vous êtes un joueur nostalgique accro au sang, au pixel et au challenge, vous ne pouvez pas passer à côté de cette perle à l'état brut qui pourrait bien vous faire perdre la raison.

Hotline Miami è un gioco violento e brutale, questo è evidente. Eppure nella sua estrema e sadica rappresentazione, il titolo di Dennaton riesce a decontestualizzare ogni spargimento di sangue, fino addirittura a spingere l'utente a riflettere e a sentirsi quasi in colpa.

Aggiungeteci una narrazione così maledettamente intrigante da togliervi il sonno, un'accoppiata grafica/sonoro che celebra nel migliore dei modi l'epopea delle console 8 bit e, non ultimo, qualche sano ettolitro di sangue, e capirete da soli per quale motivo, al vostro posto, mi fionderei su Steam alla velocità di una DeLorean.

Hotline Miami’s gameplay werkt zeer verslavend en kent een lekker what the fuck- momentje door het verhaal. Het ouderwetse stijltje waarop de game leunt maakt het alleen maar sterker. Clichés houden we niet zo van, maar soms beschrijven ze zaken het beste. Hotline Miami is namelijk niet voor iedereen geschikt, maar voor degenen die niet bang zijn voor geweld, is dit een welkome ervaring.

Annars är Hotline Miami exempel på självständigt utvecklade spel när de är som allra bäst. Det är kreativt och fritt från genrekonventioner utan drivs istället utav en stark identitet och människor som faktiskt vill något. Årets bästa portion superstilistiskt ultravåld hittar du här. Nåde dig om du vågar missa det!