Game Discussion of The Week: Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami...
I played the first, watched a little bit of the second. I think there's definitely a lot of fun to be had, but I can't really tell if it has any potential to keep going.
Even though there are 2 games it's weird to think of them as a series, it's more like "a game that got a sequel".

It's a pretty new game with a old school style. Looks pretty fun.

I thought it was better known! So let me introduce it: Hotline Miami is a hyper violent indie game with not only a great story but also an amazing arcade-based gameplay. It's fast and brutal. It's made by Dennaton Games, a two-man development studio composed by the programmer Jonatan Söderstrom (Cactus) and artist Dennis Wedin. Here is the thing: Cactus has been producing awesome games for years, the most famous being the horror duology Mondo Medicals and Mondo Agency, but also a lot of spaceship shooters and some weird and fun experiments. But Hotline Miami was his first full-fledged, comercial game, and boy, he and Wedin really showed a lot of competence producing this: the gameplay is innovative, the graphics (albeit simple) are very efficient and it has a sense of aesthetic that is rare to see anywhere. The music, especially, is one of the strongest points of the game.

To make it more clear, imagine a 90s arcade adaptation of the movie Drive. That's basically what the game is. I'll just post the very well-made trailer and a gameplay video:





spidershinobi - While I love the game, I do agree it has no potential to keep going: it really was developed as a single game, not as a series. The sequel already pushed things too far and intentionally subverted expectations based on the first game (just imagine what MGS2 did to MGS), and it definitely ends on a note that makes sequels unlikely. Also, I should note that the sequel is not as good as the first one (and, in some aspects, it's just bad) and was initially being developed just as an expansion. I don't think Dennaton wants to keep this as an on-going series.

Seeing how amazingly creative Cactus is, I prefer he just goes for other original games anyway.

This game is quite popular. I always hear people talking about it. I have never played it myself, but I heard people mentioning it on YouTube many times. It looks like some sort of Smash TV indie game.

To spice things up and to make it more unique with a dark twist, I would had liked if the developers had made it an all female characters game. Sadly with SJWs in the West that could had never been possible.

A lady never reveals her age.