Hotline Miami
| Hotline Miami | |
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Cover art of Hotline Miami
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| Developer(s) |
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| Publisher(s) | Devolver Digital |
| Designer(s) | |
| Programmer(s) | Jonatan Söderström |
| Artist(s) | Dennis Wedin |
| Writer(s) |
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| Engine |
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| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android |
| Release date(s) |
Microsoft Windows
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| Genre(s) | Top-down shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (PC) 85% (PS3) 86% (Vita) 89% |
| Metacritic | (PC) 85/100 (PS3) 87/100 (Vita) 85/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Eurogamer | 10/10 |
| Game Informer | 7.75/10 |
| GamesRadar |   |
| GameTrailers | 8.7/10 |
| IGN | 8.8/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 86/100 |
| VideoGamer.com | 9/10 |
| PopMatters | 9/10 |
Hotline Miami is a top-down shooter video game by Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin, collectively known as Dennaton Games. The game was published by Devolver Digital and released on 23 October 2012 for Microsoft Windows.
Set in 1989 Miami, the plot consists of two protagonists, Jacket and Biker, who have been receiving phone calls instructing them to commit massacres against the local Russian Mafia. The game blends top down perspective with stealth, extreme violence and surreal storytelling, along with a soundtrack and visuals influenced by 1980s culture. The game itself was influenced in part by Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 neo-noir crime film Drive, as well as the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys.
At release, the game received very positive reviews from critics, with praise regarding the narrative and themes, soundtrack, and gameplay, and has since became a cult video game. A sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, was announced in 2013 and was released on 10 March 2015.
Hotline Miami is divided into several chapters, each of which is further broken down into several stages. At the start of most chapters, the unnamed protagonist wakes up in his apartment and listens to cryptic messages on his answering machine. These messages tell him to perform an arbitrary task at a certain location, which in each case is inferred as a metaphor for killing every person at that location, such as giving VIPs at a hotel a 'great stay', or taking care of a 'pest infestation'. Prior to commencing a mission, the player is asked to select an animal mask to wear, each of which provides unique advantages or handicaps.
In each stage, the player navigates a building from a top-down perspective, and the goal is almost always to kill every opponent therein. Occasionally the player must also defeat a boss at the end of the chapter or find key items as they explore, but most levels are very straightforward. Some levels will also include hidden masks for the player to find along the way. The player has access to a wide variety of melee, thrown, and ranged weapons, and will need to handle challenges through either stealthy tactics or overwhelming force. However, the player character is no more resilient than the enemies, so mistakes are usually fatal.
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