HOTLINE MIAMI

Verdict: Looks are neon, sounds are addicting, gameplay is addicting.
Rating: 9/10

Hotline Miami is a pixelated kill-'em-all presented to the player from an eagle's eye perspective. For the main story mode, which is the first fifteen chapters, you play as a faceless, nameless man. You are plagued with visions of three animals - a kind, protective horse-head on the body of your drug addicted girlfriend, a prophesizing, mysterious rooster-head on your own body and an angry owl-headed Russian Mafia thug who hates you. These visions have no control over you, they instead serve to shed some light on what is going on because the game certainly doesn't, not directly at least.

Hotline Miami takes you to a wonderful world soaked in every colour available in the neon palette. You play as a hardworking man just getting over a break-up with his girlfriend. Jacket (the protagonist's unofficial name) has multiple jobs. On some days he works as a plumber, on others he works as a DJ. He is a great guy and every shopkeeper in the neighbourhood will occasionally treat him to a snack, pizza or drink. Working that many jobs is not easy and everybody needs a little help sometimes.

The basic premise of the game: someone leaves you messages on your answering machine, including addresses. You go to these addresses and kill everyone there. Sometimes the message will ask a bit more of you than the 'usual', through subtext like 'taking care of prank callers'. Those, by the way, are metaphors meaning 'kill them'.

You start each level with a choice of which mask you will stain with the blood of your enemies. They all have some benefits, except Richard, which is the mask you start off with. Depending on which mask you choose, your play style will differ. It doesn't matter what you prefer. Be it ranged, close-quarters, or even French, there's a mask for that.

Throughout the level, you may find weapons lying on the ground which will help you speed up your kills. Every enemy in the game will be armed, so killing any of them will give you a weapon as well. Weapons come in three broad categories; the melee weapons which allow for sure kills, the projectiles which are unreliable but give you bonus points and the guns with their limited ammo but improved range.

They all serve their purpose. When you are unarmed you use your fists. Hotline Miami has kept in touch with some older games like Pac-Man or Metal Slug. The 'life' or 'health' system in those games were if you were hit, you died and started your next life, no life bar or anything. It is just as easy for an enemy to kill you as it is for you to kill an enemy. With this system, it is inevitable that you will die... a lot. When that happens all you have to do is press 'R' and you will restart the level at the beginning of that floor. Don't be surprised if you find yourself dying from doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. The music and visuals will drive you in such a way that only when you've rushed in and killed everyone without pause will your blood-thirst be quenched.

The Hotline Miami soundtrack is one in a million. This soundtrack has been highly praised by every site and magazine that reviewed the game. It is not just the songs, the sound effects are convincing as well. From the high-pitched whistle one hears after being too close to an explosion to the unique metallic whirr of a drill, the FX will bring to life the neon world of Miami in 1989. The visuals are nothing to scoff at either. The game may be presented to you in pixels but the animation achieves a great deal with just these pixels.

As close to perfect as this game is, it does have a few problems. There are a few infrequent bugs, usually present with the use of projectile weapons. On my first play through, I did not encounter any bugs, but on my second play through, I encountered three. All they do is interrupt the rhythm of the game.