Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

I got Hotline Miami 2 on a sale recently after hearing about a release date for the beta version of the level editor. I enjoyed the first game a lot, but didn't feel an urgent need to buy the second one when it came out. It's quite an intense game, and I honestly wasn't sure if I'd want to play more than was in the original - but the prospect of creating my own levels just to experiment with the game mechanics was appealing. The sequel offers some entertaining variety and a conclusion to the story, but it still almost overstayed its welcome for me.

My first important note should be that I'm not an 'enthusiast' for what you might argue is the core of Hotline Miami - the combos and end of level scores. The more people you can kill in a row, the bigger your score, and particular actions earn you more points (e.g. executing stunned enemies on the ground gives more points than just killing them with a weapon, but takes longer). It's still very enjoyable even if you completely ignore this side of the game, but if you're the kind of person who gets their thrills from chasing and reaching that 'S' rating, there's a lot more game here than for someone who just plays through the missions once.

As you can see, here I'm taking a breather in preparation for taking out the last two enemies. This is not how you earn an 'S' rating.

​So, with that out of the way, we can talk about why I am playing the game. The aesthetic of the game is immediately compelling, and the music complements it excellently (though I didn't notice any standout tracks like Hydrogen, by M.O.O.N from the original). I also enjoy the quick restart nature of the game, where you can die fast and try again faster. If anything, I felt some of the later levels with their larger environments detracted from this sense of freedom, but it very rarely got to the point of being frustrating. There are a few moments when you try out an audacious or just elegant approach to removing a group of enemies, and get the satisfaction of seeing it succeed  -probably after dying more than a few times. Maybe I have rose-tinted glasses on here, but I seem to remember getting that feeling more often with the original game. It could also be that it was all more novel with the first game.

On seeing this screenshot, I remember this corridor. It was a pain to deal with, and eventually I figured out a plan where I tempted some melee enemies to come close, knocked one out with a gun I couldn't fire because it attracted too many other foes, stole his weapon and killed the others. Then I had to run into the toilet, dodging a few bullets, to ambush the gun carrying guys who followed me in.

​As you play, you unlock alternate styles/characters for each mission, some of which have interesting implications for how you approach a level. One character kills instantly with his fists, but cannot use weapons, for instance. Now, finding a weapon is rarely a challenge, but being able to take on everything in the same manner can be useful  - one type of enemy is immune to melee attacks, but this special character can still stun and then execute them with his punching power. Another option is actually two characters, one of whom carries guns and follows around the other who wields a chainsaw - you control the chainsaw user, but still trigger gunfire yourself from your accomplice. This offers enormous power, as you can eviscerate one group of enemies and then shoot others entering across the room, but also provides challenge in trying to keep track of where the man with the guns is, and directing the chainsaw almost at the same time as trying to aim and shoot. Given the hectic pace of Hotline Miami action, this is no mean feat.

​My favourite moment was discovering a particular character was actually a sort of pacifist. I first noticed he seemed to execute downed enemies quicker, and those he hit with a melee weapon had different animations after going down for some reason, but I was still confused as I kept trying to grab a gun and shoot, only to have nothing happen, naturally resulting in my swift demise. At some point I picked up a gun out of combat, and realized that he was emptying it, before throwing it away (which earns him points and continues the combo, incidentally). The rest of it all made sense then, as the disabled, but not murdered, enemies writhe around on the floor after he smacks them with a baseball bat.

There's a brightness and general tone difference between levels that I didn't notice until seeing these screenshots next to each other.

​I don't really have much to say about the story. There seemed to be more meaningful info on the wikipedia page for the game than I got from my incidental following of the plot in the game. I missed some of the back story newspaper articles that you can find around levels, and never unlocked the full ending to the first game, but it still mostly seemed to be a vague story of crime lords and vigilantes prompted by phone calls from a mysterious group attacking them. Some intriguing stuff is hinted at, with one character being a soldier fighting Soviet troops in Hawaii, but I never felt motivated enough to really put that much effort into working it all out, especially when my primary interaction with this world was murdering (or just grievously wounding) endless identikit thugs and a few Russian soldiers. You can appreciate the narrative style they were going for, and it fits the mood and art of the game, but it just didn't really inspire me. I think it worked better in the first game, where you had the same lack of knowledge about the phone calls as the character you played.

Okay, this one I noticed the lighting difference, since it was set in a club. I like the purple shirts on these enemies - they're functionally no different though. There are I think five different types of standard enemies with special attributes or behaviour. Most are just mooks, which is a good thing since it keeps the special foes special.

​I'm looking forward to the editor - there's an unofficial one already available I think, but I'm not that eager to play around with Hotline Miami's toybox. The game isn't long, but isn't short either (I have 6 hours played, without going back to any levels for a better score), and they already mix it up a lot, so I'm not sure if there's really going to be anything interesting I can produce with the editor that isn't already done in the first or second game. In some ways I'm probably more excited about trying ridiculous scenarios to see how they play out - a maze of glass corridors (that you can shoot and see through) that a mass of enemies have to navigate to reach you, and give you a handful of pistols to thin them out before they reach you in numbers too great for you to handle without a melee weapon. Or just a long corridor where melee enemies attack from all sides and you keep knocking them down with ease. We'll see what can be done. I don't know how flexible it will be in terms of offering triggers or gameplay options, or if it'll just be placing walls, furniture and enemies down and letting the player go at it.
 
It's a good game and a good sequel, but I think it's smart of the devs to rule out a third game.