Hotline Miami Critic Reviews

It only works as a whole, and it doesn't hit you like a flavour; it builds up in your system like an intravenous solution. If you took away the masks, or the blinking colours, or knocking over guys with doors, or the stuff about answerphone messages, or the DeLorean, or the wobble on the screen, or the super-fast movement, or walking back through what you've just done, you probably wouldn't understand why it stopped working, but it would definitely stop working.

Although its grim presentation and hearty challenge won't be for everybody, Hotline Miami is a rare game that articulates its own design thesis not only thoroughly, but with palpable enthusiasm. Underneath its moody graphics, stellar sound design and masterfully tuned combat is a strong feeling that this game's creators love making video games.

Enjoying Hotline Miami doesn't make you a worse person, though you may find yourself wrestling with just why the act of deftly delivered murder is so damn much fun. It is because it's a lovingly crafted game, well-designed and deeply addictive.

Finishing each level is as exhausting as rewarding, making Hotline Miami an extremely intense experience.

Hotline Miami is proof that it is possible to create a fresh and addictive action game, even with the game's emphasis on retro. At the same time it evokes truly human feelings the modern-day shooters die trying to deliver.

Hotline Miami is one of the very few games that is a perfect union of gameplay mechanics and production values.

Hotline Miami is a fair game, as much as it is hard, and you always know why you're dead, even if it was a fickle turn of the controls.

Not only is Hotline a shoe-in for Indie of the Year, it represents a masterful, artistic achievement that generates equal parts frustration, enjoyment and addiction, and therefore comes highly recommended.

Gore, violence and blood have never been so beautiful like in this "new" 8-bit game. Hotline Miami is pure gameplay, addictive and thrilling like no other. With an incredibly intriguing storytelling and a stunning techno-electronic OST powered by Jasper Byrne, Dennaton's game shouldn't be missed for any reason.

Wonderfully strange, outrageously violent, and unexpectedly intelligent. Hotline Miami is indie video game design at its very best.

Hotline Miami wants you dead! And he'll get satisfaction. The worst is, despite certain, repeated humiliation, despite death and outrages, you'll love it.

If you're of age, buy Hotline Miami. It's a great, emotionally heavy game with superb mechanics. It's a bit expensive and offers only a few hour of fun, but it's worth the price for the opportunity to ponder on man's nature. I wouldn't mind, if it was longer. You could appreciate simple, old school graphics, an excellent soundtrack and unique gameplay more. Still - the game's great!

The combination of simple graphics, terrific soundtrack, grotesque violence, creepy and nightmarish atmosphere, and the blistering fast and demanding gameplay makes Hotline Miami one of the best action games we've played in ages. Buy it. Buy it now.

There's enjoyment in the game's mechanics, in the way it hones your abilities until you're a taut, efficient, angel of death, but little joy to be found in the unraveling of your subconscious and the consequences of your new-found talents.

It's a puzzle game and a strategy game as much as an action game, then, and like Rockstar's Manhunt, it will sicken you even as it provides its murky thrills.

Hotline Miami is the rare breed of game that feels as smart as it is bloody. It is unabashedly gratuitous, but there's a context to its mayhem that escapes most ultra-violent operas. There's really nothing quite like it: its unique blend of tactics, tension and a cracked-out fiction bleed together to form a coherent experience that is equal parts cool and disturbing.

Rather than preaching, Hotline Miami asks the questions and forces the player to confront the answers himself, without exculpating its own creators. That's the real mark of maturity.

If you're worried about getting your $10 worth of gameplay out of Hotline, don't be. I would have paid at least twice the price for the game as is. With the promise of more levels, I can't see anyone being upset about the value of the game.

Lightning fast gameplay with an unexpected depth of subject matter. A surprise indie gem.

Hotline Miami is a gem of a game. It has satisfying gameplay, an atmosphere that is both disturbing and gripping, and it provokes thoughts like no other game this year. What more could you want?