Hotline Miami

9.5/10 rating = A psychological descent disguised as a violent arcade shooter. Beneath the neon colors and brutal gameplay lies a story about guilt, identity, illusion, and the darkest parts of human nature. The masks, dreams, and distorted reality represent the internal conflict of a person slowly consumed by violence. The game asks uncomfortable questions: Are we truly in control, or are we just animals searching for purpose while hiding behind excuses? : ) With its iconic pixel art, unforgettable soundtrack, and symbolic storytelling, Hotline Miami proves that artistic vision matters more than technical realism. Buzz off AAA slop games. A masterpiece of violence, symbolism, and psychological decay.

After the game, I stopped rejecting calls from other people's numbers

[h3] Review 1 of my 100% completion games series: Hotline Miami 1! [/h3] [b] Rasmus: [/b] [i] "You're no guest of mine!" [/i] [b] Overall 8/10: [/b] This was my first game ever 100%ed and man was it challenging! HLM is a simple top down shooter with IMO lots of replay ability. There are many different masks and weapons which allows for different play styles/experiences. Getting all the achievements was easy for the most part except for a few which were annoying and a pain in the ass (with much love tho lol). I absolutely love the series and will continue being a massive fan of it!!! [b] Story: [/b] In HLM 1 you play as Jacket who is tasked to kill members of the Russian mafia at different target locations by mysterious and strange unknown callers. Now, at a first glance it seems to have little to no story to it but digging deeper into not only HLM 1 but HLM 2 it's revealed there is way more going on than you'd think at first. I could and have ranted about these games and their lore for hours but I won't here lol, but since the first game has little but good story I give it a 6/10. [b] Gameplay: [/b] I absolutely love playing this game, it can be quite challenging or smooth as butter depending on what level you're on and what items you use. You can also try speedrunning the levels for extra fun which I love trying to do! There are 35 different weapons ranging from melee to guns and throwables you could use and 26 different masks (27 on console) to choose from which all give different boosts/advantages! This makes gameplay different each run. The level goals are simple: kill all the enemies, and as easy as that sounds sometimes it can be extremely hard to do like on Hot & Heavy which is why it's important to try different things out and see which helps you the most! It gets a 8/10 for gameplay. [b] Achievements: [/b] There is a total of 35 achievements which IMO makes it a good game to start at if you want to learn/start 100%ing games since it offers not only a decent amount of achievements but they range from super easy to challenging but not hell hard. These are my tips for some of the harder achievements: [table] [tr] [th]Achievement[/th] [th]Tip[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Combo King[/td] [td]Use masks like Zack(frog): to help extend the combo time window or Brandon(Panther) to help move faster and play on a level with lots of enemies. These things combined will help you easily get a 12x combo if you practice and plan your run well![/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Get A Life[/td] [td]Using Zack and Brandon to get long combos helps to earn those A's but another mask I recommend is to use Carl(Grasshopper): gives Drill at the start of the level. Finishing enemies with the drill can give huge point bonuses which helps to get that A although it's a bit slow so be careful when you execute![/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Bonus: Masks and Puzzle[/td] [td]On your first playthrough you should use Rasmus(Owl): helps find letters and masks. This helps you hit two achievements with one stone as there are multiple achievements having to do with the masks and puzzle and for the secret ending you need all of the letters collected and the puzzle solved.[/td] [/tr] [/table] That is all for my first review, I do plan on 100%ing HLM 2 and am slowly chipping away at it. I hope this review has helped someone and you look forward to more from me! (If there's any questions I can and will try my best to answer!)