Gaming Hotline Miami review

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2012/10/30/hotline-miami-review/1

 

As a hemophobiac, will I enjoy this game?

 

Yes. I promise you there are very few gingers in this game.

 

This is one brilliant piece of writing indeed! Even though it doesn't really give me a real idea whether or not I'd like it. But I think that is not a problem, as I suspect that everyone has that feeling.

 

Im confused.

 

Hotline Miami will do that to you.

 

I think its fairly clear from Joe's comments recently that he is disillusioned with scoring systems, I'm sure this review is some kind of extension of that.

Nice writing though and I just bought this will try it out tonight, is aiming done by the mouse?

 

I'm not disillusioned at all - they're a useful nonsense in my eyes; one great for certain audiences but not the most important part of the review and not one particularly deserving of any real discussion.

I mean, just imagine: What if all the talk we spent on review scores was actually spent talking about the reviews themselves? Man!

The review structure is more intended to communicate the fact that Hotline Miami is a game which will polarise audiences, has several valid approaches to it and - ultimately - is a complex experience where the on-going discussion and interpretation are part of the life of it. Like Braid, this is something I think we'll be discussing for a long time and for which that discussion will become a critical part of how we understand it.

At the same time, because we need to balance a product-driven approach, this structure lets me drop in the things you might need to know (bugs, unpredictable enemies, controls) while still emphasising that this is a game that's more important than it is actually good.

 

Or something.

 

Played through the game myself and I think it's brilliant, but at the same time, you will almost feel sick if you play it for too long at a time.

 

Such a great game.

 

OK thanks for the explanation (of this review and previous comments).

Played last night and I have to say it is an intriguing mix of thingies. Dreamy sub-reality tarantinoesque film making, twitchy GTA gameplay with a sort of Hunter S Thompson veil over it all. I like it a lot but the gameplay draws more than any of the trappings, it has that arcadey WANT TO PLAY feel. Can't wait to get home.

 

Looks like it'll do for seven quid. I looked at it for a while and wondered how it stacked up against the original GTA, but then it occurred to me that it's not like I even get to play the original GTA any more since I lost the disks a long time ago. Also I like that you can drill people's heads. That's classy.

 

The original GTAs were released as freeware, IIRC...

 

The only thing is shares with GTA is that its top down and pixelly really, its much more fast paced and much less open world.

 

I'm suddenly interested in this game. I think?!?! Great review Joe.

 

Having given it a spin I must admit I like it a lot less than GTA. It's a very similar game to play, a little slicker, but it's much more tightly focussed so it would have to be. All things considered I like it, and I feel sort of happy that I contributed to something that has such an artful story, but it does annoy me. I've gotten used to games that just tell me the story, Hotline Miami won't. It's really, really hard. So I'm stuck, I may never learn its secrets.

Partly I think that is the way games should be. But partly I really want to know what happens and I just want the game to stop being a dick and tell me.

 

This was the funniest comment I've read on bit-tech in years. Fantastic.

 

Bought it. Love it!

 

It is difficult, but I found that there are some certain tactics that can really help you out. Setting up killing lines, for example, where you use a single gunshot to frighten nearby enemies into investigating through one bottleneck. Using doors to knock people out too. The choice of Mask has a massive impact as well.