Hotline Miami

This game was gifted to me in 2016, by a guy that used to be my friend. After gifting me the game, he proceeded to write to my ex and bang her. Bros and hoes are momentary, Jacket is eternal. 10\10, made me relive the trauma after all these years

I put off playing Hotline Miami for far too long. Despite knowing of its impact and legacy in the indie scene and being a fan of top-down action, I always passed up the game in my mind as being just a gore fest. While it's a very violent game, it also serves as a deconstruction of violence in video games as a whole, which ended up really earning my respect. [i]Do you like hurting other people? Who are leaving messages on your answering machine? Where are you right now? And the final question: Why are we having this conversation?[/i] These are questions posed early on in the game and it only outright gives one answer through dialogue by the end of the game. This leaves a lot of room for player interpretation, there's a real question of [i]why[/i] the player and the character are both so willing to commit so much violence for seemingly mundane reasons. It's fantastic storytelling done through gameplay as much as it's done through dialogue. The gameplay itself does stand out as well, the graphics are constantly disorienting with wavy camera movement and neon colors leads to intense yet surreal action moments. You usually die in one shot and so do enemies, so every level has a puzzle element as it's never as simple as charging through the whole level, especially when different enemies must be killed in different ways. Easily one of the highlights of the game was the decision to use many different artists being used for individual missions. It gives each level a unique feel while still being cohesive in identity, and is a great way to be exposed to new artists. Hotline Miami is a very important piece of art that also survives the test of time, as its very blunt and bleak view on violence in the world only becomes more relevant as time goes on, this game and its sequel are must plays.

The sleazy neon haze, garish colors, and hypnotic soundtrack pull me into a trance. Wearing an animal mask and leaving humanity behind, I lose myself in a fever dream of neon, violence, and blood.