Hotline Miami Review

Thanks to PS+, I just finished Hotline Miami on my Vita. I don’t think I would have picked up this title, which meant that I would have totally missed out on this gem of a game. For those that have played it, what did you think?

Personally, I didn’t expect it. When I put it onto my download list, I expected an alright story, OK Gameplay and nothing that’d blow me away. Boy, was I wrong. The whole story was dark, gritty and made me feel uneasy and felt like the game was lying to me. I felt that the whole game was dishonest and it made me constantly on edge, which I liked.

I felt that the whole idea of it being top-down kind of reinforced the whole point of the game. That the killing you were doing was pointless and it sort of made the killing less personal and so until the victims were lying sprawled out across the ground, you couldn’t see them. Which made killing them all the less consequential.

The music was
fantastic, and not only that, but it tied in so well with the game. It was erratic and confusing at some points and relatively slow paced at others. It tied in so well. The game would most definitely not be the same without the music.
The Ending slightly confused me, however, after thinking about it for a while and after replaying it again, not to straighten out the story, I got it, and I understood every little thing about the ending. Of course, some of the game is left purposefully ambiguous which just adds to the effect.
I played it twice more, not for trophies, not for any kind of validation, just for fun and I really think that this game was a fun game. It wasn’t trying to impress anyone (which it did, by the way) but it merely wanted the player to feel a sense of enjoyment while playing the game.
Also, if people tell you that it is way too hard and that you shouldn’t play it because you will get frustrated, ignore them. Yes, you will get extremely frustrated when you keep dying. However, what makes Hotline Miami special is the fact that you can die one hundred times (you will) but you never feel like it is too much. You never want to put your controller down and give up. Hotline Miami challenges you. It pushes you to the limits of your sanity and back. And that, that is a good thing.

Overall, If you have not picked up Hotline Miami, do so immediately. I didn’t think much of it when I put it onto my download list, but I assure you, this game is wonderful. It has climbed the ranks to become one of my favorite Indie games and one of my favorite PS Vita Games.