Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

It scales up the original's freewheeling carnage considerably, but the larger stages also mean constantly getting shot by enemies I can't even see.

Hotline Miami 2 is an extremely ambitious game that has also really earned my respect. The story itself is far more ambitious than the first game as there are multiple different characters with intersecting storylines told in a non-linear fashion, requiring attention to piece together what it all meant. This approach also gives a lot more varied gameplay and different level theming to experience. I think the ending was perfect given what the franchise set out to do, and I found myself thinking about the game as a whole many times already after beating it. I'll certainly be revisiting its story as I feel there will be even more details to pick up with each read. Most of my praise from the first game is bolstered in the second - the commentary on violence in video games, the usage of many different artists to give a very varied soundtrack, and how fun it is to approach every level as a puzzle. It's a natural progression of the game's mechanics in many aspects, a natural evolution. I view this game very positively, however I do agree with the common criticism that the level design took a step back. Levels are far bigger and much more open, but having the same one hit to die mechanic made these levels far more frustrating to tackle than they should have been. Most levels also give a choice of masks (abilities) which were a cool mechanic in the first game, but in the sequel some masks make certain levels feel unbeatable. In other words I view Hotline Miami 2 as a game that took two steps forward in terms of storytelling, but one step backwards in terms of gameplay. It's still a natural evolution of the first game and is absolutely worth playing through and through.

yeah man it's pretty fun. if having fun is being subjected to infinite pain and torture. like the first one but the story is better and the gameplay is worse. they very clearly and shamelessly went for quantity over quality in this installment. there are more levels, more characters, more floors, more enemies to murder. everything is larger, but seldom is it better. and perhaps this part is less of a universal experience with this one, and maybe i am simply fueled by rage in this regard, but this installment feels twenty times jankier than the first. obstacles take up more room than they should, doors are completely ballistic, and enemy ai feels inconsistent. this is a pretty big problem i have with this game, because why does it make sense that a sequel to a game should feel less polished than the first? that said though, if you enjoyed the first hm then you will probably enjoy this one too. not only is it more of a challenge but the addition of hard mode is a nice touch that i wish was in the first game. so, despite how infuriated the flaws in this game make me, i can't say i don't recommend it.