Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami is a duology of top-down shooter games developed by Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin under their studio Dennaton Games, and published by Devolver Digital.

List of Games

 * Hotline Miami
 * Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Overall

 * 1) At the start of any level, you can pick a mask and they all have special abilities in which makes the game much easier depending on your playstyle.
 * 2) The cutscenes and character face sprites are well detailed and great.
 * 3) Great soundtracks all composed by a variety of different artists that all contribute to giving it an action-packed synthy rock feel that fits perfectly with the 80's aesthetic and high-octane action.
 * 4) It's possible to knock down multiple enemies with a DOOR SLAM!
 * 5) Outstanding, old-school 2D graphics.
 * 6) Large variety of weapons from throwables, melee weapons and firearms.
 * 7) The games have surprisingly well written stories, which breaks the barrier between reality and dream, wrong and right, sanity and blind-hatred.
 * 8) The games are really hard, and encourages players to strategize on how to beat the levels.

Hotline Miami

 * 1) At the beginning of most of Jacket's chapters in the first game, the player chooses a mask for him to wear. Jacket has 26 (technically 27) unlockable masks in total, each providing a unique effect, except for the default mask, Richard. Most are unlocked by achieving a high score on a specific stage.
 * 2) * Richard (Rooster) Default mask - Grants no special abilities.
 * 3) * Rasmus (Owl) - An Eye For Secrets - Highlights unlockable masks and puzzle pieces.
 * 4) * Tony (Tiger) - Fists of Fury - Faster executions and lethal punches.
 * 5) * Aubrey (Pig) - More Guns - Spawns more guns.
 * 6) * Don Juan (Horse) - Lethal Doors - Slamming doors into enemies will kill them.
 * 7) * Graham (Rabbit) - Walk Fast - Makes Jacket faster.
 * 8) * Dennis (Wolf) - Start With Knife - Gives a knife at the beginning of the level.
 * 9) * George (Giraffe) - Look Further - Allows the player to look further when holding down shift.
 * 10) * Ted (Dog) - Dogs Don't Attack - Dogs sprint after Jacket, but will not attack.
 * 11) * Rufus (Elephant) - Survive One Bullet - Jacket won't die when hit by the first bullet.
 * 12) * Rami (Camel) - Extra Ammo - Adds 1/3 more bullets to the magazine.
 * 13) * Willem (Monkey) - Rip And Steal - Steals enemies' weapons while performing a standing execution.
 * 14) * Peter (Unicorn) - Quiet Gunshots - Reduces the noise of gunshots.
 * 15) * Zack (Frog) - Longer Combo Window - Makes the combo multiplier last longer.
 * 16) * Oscar (Mole) - Darkness - The game gets a dark red filter.
 * 17) * Rick (Fox) - Good Shot - Enemies will always die in one bullet.
 * 18) * Brandon (Panther) - Walk Faster - Makes Jacket even faster.
 * 19) * Charlie (Octopus) - More Melee Weapons - Spawns more melee weapons.
 * 20) * Louie (Chameleon) - Hard To Spot - Makes Jacket harder to be detected.
 * 21) * Phil (Fish) - French Translation - Makes a bad translation of all dialogue to French.
 * 22) * Nigel (Bat) - Reversed Controls - Reverses walking controls
 * 23) * Earl (Walrus) - Survive Two Bullets- Jacket won't die when hit by the first two bullets.
 * 24) * Jones (Alligator) - More Gore - Makes kills and executions bloodier.
 * 25) * Carl (Locust/Grasshopper) - Start With Drill- Gives a drill at the beginning of the level.
 * 26) * Jake (Cobra) - Killing Throws - Kills enemies when throwing weapons at them.
 * 27) * Richter (Rat) - Start With Silenced Uzi - Gives a silenced uzi at the beginning of the level.
 * 28) * Russell (Bull) - Raging Bull - The game gets a black and white filter.
 * 29) ** (Exclusive to Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, Switch and Stadia)
 * 30) Throughout the game the player may pick up puzzle pieces that have a letter upon them. These letters form a simple word puzzle where the player has to figure out what all the letters put together mean. Completing the puzzle gives access to the secret ending in Resolution by using the computer in that level.

Overall

 * 1) The games are incredibly hard which leads to lots of annoying levels.
 * 2) *Hotline Miami
 * 3) ** "Trauma". Not only is it a sudden unarmed stealth mission in the middle of a game as frantic as Hotline Miami, but it's also a massive Interface Screw too.
 * 4) **The following level, "Assault", can qualify too. Loads of enemies, most of which have guns, very little opportunity to stealth through, and multiple Thugs.
 * 5) *Hotline Miami 2
 * 6) ** Most of Evan Wright's levels can be this, because given his character, he'll instantly unload any gun he picks up, and he won't pick up any sharp weapons like knives; he'll only grab blunt weapons. Because of this, Evan is practically useless at long ranges, making any open-ended level with him a nightmare. Although he can use any weapon upon activating his rage mode, getting the best score possible is only feasible if you stick with his normal mode.
 * 7) **All of Beard's levels can count too, due to the fact that you can't pick other guns once your starting one runs out of ammo, instead having to look for ammo boxes to refill it, which, depending on the gun you chose, can give you less than half of the ammo you started with. The standout, however, is "Casualties", with absolutely huge areas full of places to be shot from.
 * 8) **"Death Wish", an absolutely brutal 4-floor marathon of death involving all 5 of the Fans.
 * 9) ***Surprisingly, Corey's segment in this level, despite normally being fairly easy, turns incredibly difficult in Hard Mode, since most rooms now get a lot of windows.
 * 10) **"Dead Ahead" is the longest level in the game, spanning a total of five floors, brutal and filled to the fucking brim with gunmen and later on, Thugs.
 * 11) **"Demolition" in general isn't particularly frustrating, but its first floor consists of an open area with a group of melee mooks, a gunman, a Thug and no cover whatsoever. You have to quickly kill the melee mooks, take down the gunman, and then rush to get his gun to use on the Thug; in Hard Mode, you also have to deal with two Dodgers who appear in the same place as the Thug. There's very little room for error. It can be a major pain in the ass for anyone used to playing more sedately and cautiously.
 * 12) **"Release" is one of the longest levels in the game, beginning with a boss that's followed with four areas full of enemies. Each area is huge and full of windows where enemies with guns can shoot you miles away. This is also the first level on normal difficulty that introduces the Dodgers, who are immune to gunfire. Not only can they only be killed by melee weapons, but the variants that appear here (cannibalistic prisoners known as "Psychos") run as fast as Dogs, and can pop out of nowhere.
 * 13) **"Seizure" is full of Interface Screw, and with several enemies that are hidden by the objects in the environment. It deserves special mention for you having to fight black mobsters in black clothes with black Dogs patrolling on a black background while the screen flashes red, green and blue. To say it's unpleasant on the eyes would be a massive understatement.
 * 14) **"Take Over" has gigantic rooms with very little cover, filled with enemies armed to the teeth, Dogs, Thugs and worst of all, the aforementioned Dodgers, who get worse here because there are very few melee weapons. And let's not forget that this level is filled with windows, which will get you killed by offscreen enemies a lot. Hope you're not going for an S or A+ grade, because you will smash the shit out of your keyboard/controller after many deaths.
 * 15) You can only beat a level after killing all the enemies and re-entering your vehicle.
 * 16) The story modes are quite short with the first game being only 5 hours and the sequel being 9 hours.
 * 17) The puzzle pieces can be tedious to find.

Hotline Miami

 * 1) The Biker is a pretty anti-climatic boss since he runs right at you, so all you have to do is whack him with your cleaver.

Hotline Miami 2

 * 1) The first Hotline Miami wasn't easy by any means, but it pales in comparison to this. Wider levels, more areas to be ambushed from, a greater emphasis on firearms, larger enemy cones of vision and reaction, and several levels with unique twists like "Withdrawal", which features meth labs that go off if so much as a single bullet enters the room.
 * 2) The game got into controversy when the demo for the game shown at Rezzed and the 2013 Penny Arcade Expo featured gameplay in the tutorial that had players appear to attempt to assault a woman sexually as the Pig Butcher. The player character lowered his pants and straddled the woman before the scene is interrupted by the director of Midnight Animal, revealing the whole sequence to be a film shoot.
 * 3) *On January 15, 2015 it was reported that because of the implied rape scene, the game had been refused classification in Australia, which prohibits sale within the country, effectively preventing its wide release there. In an official statement from Devolver Digital and Dennaton Games the creators mentioned that they have added a cut and uncut option for the slasher-flick level. Dennaton also reconfirmed that the context of the scene is important and that they were "concerned and disappointed" by the actions of the Classification Board, stating it stretched the facts in its judgment of the game. The statement concluded with Dennaton confirming that they will not challenge the ruling. Developer Dennaton Games have since suggested that people in Australia interested in the game should pirate it if they are unable to purchase a retail copy. With the release of the Nintendo Switch Hotline Miami Collection in August 2019, the game was no longer banned in Australia, with a new rating MA15+.

Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami received critical acclaim upon release, with praise given to its neon-soaked depiction of 1980s underground Miami, overflowing with raw brutality and ultraviolent close combat as the player is outgunned and must use wit and cunning to choreograph a way through impossible situations. The game's soundtrack was lauded for accentuating the already heightened tension and gritty violence. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 87/100 based on 19 reviews, the PlayStation Vita version 85/100 based on 27 reviews, and the Microsoft Windows version 85/100 based on 51 reviews.

Awards
The game received the "Best PC Sound" accolade by IGN from its "Best of 2012" awards. It was also nominated for "Best PC Action Game", "Best PC Story", "Best PC Game", in addition to "Best Overall Action Game", "Best Overall Music", and "Best Overall Game".

It was the recipient of both Eurogamer 's and Rock, Paper, Shotgun 's Game of the Show award at their inaugural EGX Rezzed expo. On 24 December 2012, PC Gamer awarded the game with "The Best Music of the Year 2012".

Hotline Miami also won "Best New IP", "Best Gameplay" and "Best Soundtrack" at the 2012 Vidya Gaem Awards, and received several nominations in other categories.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Upon release, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it holds an aggregated score of 75/100 based on 18 reviews for the PlayStation 4 Version, one of 74/100 based on 67 reviews for the PC version, and one of 66/100 based on four reviews for the PlayStation Vita version.

Steven Burns from VideoGamer.com gave the game a 7/10, while praising the narrative as well as the brutal violence featured in the game, which he stated "has tread a fine, sophisticated line between titillation, power, and reflection, an integral part of both narrative and mechanics.", he criticized the oversized maps, as well as the game for being overly difficult, frustrating as enemy attack players where they can't be seen from the camera angle, and restrictive as the game forced players to play a certain way very often.