- Nov 14, 2003
- 9,811
- 110
- 106
Picked this up when it was on sale at gog.com a few months back, just got into playing it last week.
Wow.
I hate most game story-lines. Terrible writing and nonsense plot filled with stupid puns seems to be par for the course, so much that I normally skip the story as much as possible in any game I play.
Well, I started playing Hotline Miami without really paying attention to the story but I quickly found myself replaying those early levels to see every little detail that I skipped over. Not going to say it's the best story ever, it uses a fair share of common tropes, but for a computer game story it's pretty high up there.
Gameplay is incredibly basic on the surface, but actually ends up being extremely fun. Some say the game is very hard, I think it's just a matter of training yourself to do each level- none of them were really all that hard after a few (dozen) attempts to learn the enemy locations and figure out the best strategy. Even if it's not sold as a puzzle game, figuring out the best way to clear each stage room by room almost feels like a puzzle.
The graphics are retro, but work well IMO. I never subscribed to the idea that graphics makes a better game.
The soundtrack is excellent, it actually got me interested in looking up other music by the artists involved, even though I normally don't care for electronic music of the sort. There are enough songs that it never gets stale, and they each seem to fit their chapter perfectly.
Value? For all the good things I have to say about the game, it's only worth it's normal $9.99 price just barely, because it's a fairly short game, probably 2-5 hours to play through the first time, and it doesn't have any multiplayer component or "hard mode" for additional content. At half price or less though, it's a great deal.
Wow.
I hate most game story-lines. Terrible writing and nonsense plot filled with stupid puns seems to be par for the course, so much that I normally skip the story as much as possible in any game I play.
Well, I started playing Hotline Miami without really paying attention to the story but I quickly found myself replaying those early levels to see every little detail that I skipped over. Not going to say it's the best story ever, it uses a fair share of common tropes, but for a computer game story it's pretty high up there.
Gameplay is incredibly basic on the surface, but actually ends up being extremely fun. Some say the game is very hard, I think it's just a matter of training yourself to do each level- none of them were really all that hard after a few (dozen) attempts to learn the enemy locations and figure out the best strategy. Even if it's not sold as a puzzle game, figuring out the best way to clear each stage room by room almost feels like a puzzle.
The graphics are retro, but work well IMO. I never subscribed to the idea that graphics makes a better game.
The soundtrack is excellent, it actually got me interested in looking up other music by the artists involved, even though I normally don't care for electronic music of the sort. There are enough songs that it never gets stale, and they each seem to fit their chapter perfectly.
Value? For all the good things I have to say about the game, it's only worth it's normal $9.99 price just barely, because it's a fairly short game, probably 2-5 hours to play through the first time, and it doesn't have any multiplayer component or "hard mode" for additional content. At half price or less though, it's a great deal.