Comments on: Thoughts: Hotline Miami.

By: PlayNicely

PlayNicely — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:34:31 +0000

First I had similar thoughts, but once I finished the game and started trying to beat highscores I realized that the campaign is merely the tutorial for the actual game.

This is a game about beating highscores, about dexterity and quick decisions and that’s where its strengths lie. With a little practice you can clear the stages in surprisingly fast and dynamic ways – the little random factor of weapon spawns and slight variations in enemy behaviour serving not as an annoyance, but as the factor forcing you to depart from the purely mechanical execution of a perfect plan towards a more intuitive and consequently more satisfying playstyle.

Drawing all the enemies in with gunfire and turning them into a single big pile of dead meat often works, but it’s rarely the way to go if you are after highscores. Instead, killing in a fast-paced, mobile fashion and using different weapons for each kill is being rewarded.

Still, as much as I enjoy Hotline Miami on that level, many reviews are too generous especially when it comes to its artistic qualities.

By: Gap

Gap — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:33:39 +0000

Well, there is a lot of trial and error, surely? Enemies that can instakill you and will turn around and gun you down in an instant, level starts that throw you into a situation where 15 guys will come at you, levels that begin in an open space with guys with guns, etc. It’s not necessarily a criticism of the game, but you will die a lot in mostly unavoidable circumstances.

By: the_p

the_p — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 06:13:17 +0000

Senor, if you’ve concluded that ‘success is based on trial and error and a large quantity of luck’, you are bad at the game. Stick with it and you’d find otherwise.

By: sandplasma

sandplasma — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:32:23 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. I find it hard to play, not due to the violence, but to the graphics. I don’t even notice the violence as much becuse the character itself looks like a blog hitting another blob. The music was awesome, I’ll give them that.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:35:21 +0000

Absolutely.

By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:34:16 +0000

I would prefer evil paths have ways to logically and/or morally justify themselves. InFamous 2 did a good job with the basic choice, but ultimately botched it by making the protagonist explicitly evil (tyrannical, even) for the Infamous ending, despite the fact that both choices are remarkably similar.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:55:37 +0000

And Dota.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:54:20 +0000

There’s an argument to be made that the more uncomfortably bloody the violence the more effective it is, because violence isn’t simple or clean. Throwing grenades at people and having them explode into a collection of barely recognisable body parts isn’t nice, but it’s far nicer than most of what actually goes on in a war. Hollywood and most games sanitise and glorify violence, so it’s good to be reminded that true violence is nasty and messy and repulsive even if the resulting game is somewhat unpleasant to play.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:32:41 +0000

Played WW first time with Xbox pad. Hated it. Later played with Keyboard/Mouse and was fine. Booyah.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:31:53 +0000

Spec Ops: the Line is interesting because despite the fact that I basically knew everything that it was saying and showing, it nevertheless has dulled my taste for warmanshoots. I mean, I wasn’t that keen on that category before, but it occasionally seemed appropriate and fun. Spec Ops made me think that that yeah, actually, I should just stick with the feeling that I shouldn’t bother.