Hotline Miami PS VITA Review

[Remilia Scarlet]

IT'S ABOUT TO GET

MESSY

 

Neon soaked skylines. Palm-dotted beaches. Alcohol driven parties. Druggy underworld. Mobsters. Welcome to Miami. It's about to get messy.

 

Synopsis

 

Hotline Miami is a top-down arcade-style shooter about a nameless man who takes hit jobs against the Russian mob in 1989 Miami, Florida. You use various weapons to destroy your enemies and complete 12 levels, gradually unraveling a bizarre story about murder, drugs, prostitution and revenge. One of the stranger elements in the game involves a trio of men wearing animal masks, who question you as the game progresses.

 

Hotline Miami was originally released in 2012 for PC, and received its PS3 and PS VITA ports in 2013. In 2014 it was ported to PS4. Upon release it received universal critical acclaim, with critics heaping praise upon its neon-soaked visuals and over the top levels of gore. Many also praised its difficult but fair gameplay, bizarre story and graphic design that hearkened back to the glory days of penny arcades. The game was a sleeper hit, selling over 300,000 copies in just over a month and a half. The game officially put Devolver Digital on the development map.

 

Story

 

As stated above in the synopsis, Hotline Miami has a very bizarre story that takes place in 1989 Miami. Just like the games of old, there is no spoken dialogue; instead, the developers opted for lines of text to convey the characters' thoughts. On the right side of the screen the speaking character's head appears, bobbing back and forth. The game opens in an unrevealed time frame, with the player character (we'll call him Joe) being confronted by three mysterious men in animal masks - a horse (Don Juan), a cock (Richard), and an owl (Rasmus). Don Juan is the calm, intellectual one. Richard is the mysterious philosopher, and Rasmus is the angry, confrontational one. The story plays out in memory flashes as they question Joe about his past and recent activities. Before long, the story takes a very grim and dark turn as murder and conspiracy begin to take shape.

 

The player is regularly interrogated in this neon room.

 

The story is bizarre, among some of the strangest story telling this generation. However, it is also very good. It keeps you on your toes, wondering what Joe has done to land him in his current situation.

 

Visuals

 

Hotline Miami is a gorgeous game. The neon-soaked visuals are bright and aesthetic, with the background regularly cycling between every color of the rainbow as you play. The retro 8-bit graphics are crisp and visually appealing on the PS VITA's 960 x 544p display. The artwork of Niklas Åkerblad is unique and fits well with the game's gritty tone. Keeping in line with the games of the late 80s, objects will sometimes push through the borders of the levels, appearing through the walls, though it remains unknown to me if this was an intentional design choice or just a graphical glitch. Also keeping in touch with the 80s aesthetic is the layout of the game's information panels and level design.

 

 

Just like the video games of the late 1980s, text is blocky and large. There is no health indicator, and you have a score counter on the top right. Certain actions (especially extreme violence) will cause a gigantic score to appear in the center of the screen. I really felt like I was playing an actual 80s arcade game so much that I had to stop and research it to be doubly sure it was actually a modern game. The passion and love for the classics the developers show here is astounding.

 

Sound

 

The sound in Hotline Miami is phenomenal, especially considering this is a PS VITA game. I am not knocking the VITA's ability to clearly convey sound, merely the ability of most developers to adequately utilize it. Devolver Digital is one of the developers who took full advantage of the stereoscopic sound. The blast of shotguns and explosions is deafening, and the sound comes through clearly and crisply. The music is spectacular, using a range of digital noises and beats and galactic instruments to convey a sense of action. Beautifully recorded and ambient music permeates every level of the game. The soundtrack is available on Google Play and the Apple Music Store, so go buy it!

 

Gameplay

 

Players have one objective: Kill everything. You will use dozens of deadly objects ranging from machetes, katanas, frying pans and axes to murder your enemies. The level of violence is extreme, with a simple punch causing an enemy's head to explode in a shower of crimson gore. Enemies will be eviscerated, chopped to pieces, beaten up, burned alive, eaten by dogs, shot, stabbed, gibbed, blown up, turned into Swiss cheese, and killed in many other ways over the course of the game.

 

Death is a constant. You will die. A lot. But those deaths rarely ever feel cheap. More often than not it will come as a result of being too slow to press R or X to kill your enemy. Movement is essential to staying alive. If you feel cornered you can press L to throw your currently equipped weapon to stun an enemy and close the distance.

You will die. A lot.

 

Certain actions will gain higher points, such as executions, chain kills, varying your kills and going through the level fast. As far as I know, death does not have a penalty other than taking away your current point total from before you died. However, you keep your points from before the current checkpoint. Recklessness is awarded the most points, while playing it safe is not. After each level the points are totalled and graded on an A+ - F scale.

 

Because you will die so much, the developers were kind enough to give players a slight advantage in the form of masks. Masks will give you special abilities or more luck, making it easier to get through the levels. These range from being able to survive more than one hit to being able to find twice as many guns in the level. You can also use the PS VITA's touchscreen to drag the map around and see what obstacles lie ahead in order to better plan your approach.

 

 

That is the true beauty of Hotline Miami, being able to vary your tactics in order to advance. You can go in guns blazing or take the Agent 47 approach, stealthily going room-to-room, assassinating your targets silently. The weapons provided are also randomized, further providing a new way to go about things. The possibilities are limitless.

 

Wrap Up

Hotline Miami released five years ago, but it feels like a new game. A new game with the heart of a 1980s arcade classic. As of this review I have played over 22 hours of the game and died over 300 times. I love it. I hope you do, too.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Star Butterfly

[IntroPhenom]

I wasn't sure what to expect with the title of your topic being only the title of the game (perhaps add 'Review'?), but this is a well-written, thoughtful review.  Nice job.

And it's on sale now!

[BG_painter]

great review! i had a lot of fun playing HM! And the soundtrack is perfect!!!!!!!!!!

[StrickenBiged]

Unless I missed it, you didn't mention the soundtrack... the soundtrack is fucking awesome!

 

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

3 minutes ago, IntroPhenom said:

I wasn't sure what to expect with the title of your topic being only the title of the game (perhaps add 'Review'?), but this is a well-written, thoughtful review.  Nice job.

And it's on sale now!

 

I'm having problems with the formatting for some reason. I have images imbedded but they won't show up, and the title keeps dropping "Review" for some reason. This is very annoying. Thank you!

Just now, StrickenBiged said:

Unless I missed it, you didn't mention the soundtrack... the soundtrack is fucking awesome!

 

 

 

I did mention it, but the editor keeps removing it, along with the rest of my title and the images I imbedded.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Finally got everything to appear properly!

[M-A-D-R-O-K]

I platted this game on vita, but the sequel played horribly on it for some reason, and I had to play it on ps4 instead.