See the trailer
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Devolver Digital
Release Date:
October 23, 2012
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51 Critic Reviews
Positive:
48
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
Games.cz
Dec 2, 2012
Hotline Miami is proof that it is possible to create a fresh and addictive action game, even with the game's emphasis on retro. At the same time it evokes truly human feelings the modern-day shooters die trying to deliver.
Eurogamer Spain
Nov 6, 2012
Finishing each level is as exhausting as rewarding, making Hotline Miami an extremely intense experience.
Giant Bomb
Nov 6, 2012
Enjoying Hotline Miami doesn't make you a worse person, though you may find yourself wrestling with just why the act of deftly delivered murder is so damn much fun. It is because it's a lovingly crafted game, well-designed and deeply addictive.
DarkStation
Oct 31, 2012
Although its grim presentation and hearty challenge won't be for everybody, Hotline Miami is a rare game that articulates its own design thesis not only thoroughly, but with palpable enthusiasm. Underneath its moody graphics, stellar sound design and masterfully tuned combat is a strong feeling that this game's creators love making video games.
Eurogamer
Oct 23, 2012
It only works as a whole, and it doesn't hit you like a flavour; it builds up in your system like an intravenous solution. If you took away the masks, or the blinking colours, or knocking over guys with doors, or the stuff about answerphone messages, or the DeLorean, or the wobble on the screen, or the super-fast movement, or walking back through what you've just done, you probably wouldn't understand why it stopped working, but it would definitely stop working.
Machinima
Oct 27, 2012
Hotline Miami is one of the very few games that is a perfect union of gameplay mechanics and production values.
Hyper Magazine
Dec 17, 2012
A drug-induced coma of violence, strategy, death and rebirth. [Jan 2013, p.67]
Pelit (Finland)
Dec 12, 2012
Hotline Miami is a gem of a game. It has satisfying gameplay, an atmosphere that is both disturbing and gripping, and it provokes thoughts like no other game this year. What more could you want? [Dec 2012]
PC PowerPlay
Dec 2, 2012
Lightning fast gameplay with an unexpected depth of subject matter. A surprise indie gem. [Dec 2012, p.76]
Gamer Limit
Nov 26, 2012
If you're worried about getting your $10 worth of gameplay out of Hotline, don't be. I would have paid at least twice the price for the game as is. With the promise of more levels, I can't see anyone being upset about the value of the game.
GameCritics
Nov 10, 2012
Rather than preaching, Hotline Miami asks the questions and forces the player to confront the answers himself, without exculpating its own creators. That's the real mark of maturity.
Thunderbolt
Nov 5, 2012
Hotline Miami is the rare breed of game that feels as smart as it is bloody. It is unabashedly gratuitous, but there's a context to its mayhem that escapes most ultra-violent operas. There's really nothing quite like it: its unique blend of tactics, tension and a cracked-out fiction bleed together to form a coherent experience that is equal parts cool and disturbing.
Edge Magazine
Nov 2, 2012
It's a puzzle game and a strategy game as much as an action game, then, and like Rockstar's Manhunt, it will sicken you even as it provides its murky thrills.
IncGamers
Oct 30, 2012
There's enjoyment in the game's mechanics, in the way it hones your abilities until you're a taut, efficient, angel of death, but little joy to be found in the unraveling of your subconscious and the consequences of your new-found talents.
Gamereactor Denmark
Oct 30, 2012
The combination of simple graphics, terrific soundtrack, grotesque violence, creepy and nightmarish atmosphere, and the blistering fast and demanding gameplay makes Hotline Miami one of the best action games we've played in ages. Buy it. Buy it now.
GRYOnline.pl
Oct 30, 2012
If you're of age, buy Hotline Miami. It's a great, emotionally heavy game with superb mechanics. It's a bit expensive and offers only a few hour of fun, but it's worth the price for the opportunity to ponder on man's nature. I wouldn't mind, if it was longer. You could appreciate simple, old school graphics, an excellent soundtrack and unique gameplay more. Still - the game's great!
Gameblog.fr
Oct 29, 2012
Hotline Miami wants you dead! And he'll get satisfaction. The worst is, despite certain, repeated humiliation, despite death and outrages, you'll love it.
Metro GameCentral
Oct 29, 2012
Wonderfully strange, outrageously violent, and unexpectedly intelligent. Hotline Miami is indie video game design at its very best.
Eurogamer Italy
Oct 26, 2012
Gore, violence and blood have never been so beautiful like in this "new" 8-bit game. Hotline Miami is pure gameplay, addictive and thrilling like no other. With an incredibly intriguing storytelling and a stunning techno-electronic OST powered by Jasper Byrne, Dennaton's game shouldn't be missed for any reason.
Gameplanet
Oct 25, 2012
Not only is Hotline a shoe-in for Indie of the Year, it represents a masterful, artistic achievement that generates equal parts frustration, enjoyment and addiction, and therefore comes highly recommended.
VideoGamer
Oct 24, 2012
Hotline Miami is a fair game, as much as it is hard, and you always know why you're dead, even if it was a fickle turn of the controls.
Vandal Online
Oct 25, 2012
A weird experience, short, unique and disturbing. A mix of action and strategy that will absorb you and won't let you stop until you finish it. Not for everyone, but absolutely recommended for those players looking for something new.
Games Master UK
Dec 18, 2012
A stylish slice of retro carnage. This is the bloodiest, least forgiving game of the year. [Jan 2013, p.85]
PC Master (Greece)
Feb 6, 2013
From the get-go, Miami’s presentation has a unique style, with vivid colors, generous amounts of post-process filtering and a stunning soundtrack (you will just let the game play on, only to hear the tracks). But at the same time, all notions of continuous fast-paced action gameplay disappear. Hotline Miami is essentially a top-down stealth game, that rewards the player with imaginative (and quite violent) kill animations. [January 2013]
GameTrailers
Nov 9, 2012
For all the careful planning that might go in a stickup, it all usually comes down to clutching out impromptu, split second shootouts. Sometimes these quirks manifest as incompetent A.I. behavior or exploitative gameplay, but for the most part, it all congeals in a remarkably tense and satisfying experience with depth to go with its style.
Meristation
Nov 2, 2012
Hotline Miami is a gift for those who are willing to enjoy the old-arcade essence of the 8 and 16 bits era. Furthermore, the gameplay mechanics are superb and the strong 80ish atmosphere adds to a really twisted travel.
PC Gamer
Nov 1, 2012
Transgressive like Grand Theft Auto hasn't been for years, Hotline is violent, quick and compulsive but lacking in depth.
XGN
Nov 8, 2012
Hotline Miami is addictive, has a good story and perfect ambiance. It's violent, hard but everything is for a reason. With that said, this indie game deserves to be played.
Multiplayer.it
Oct 30, 2012
Hotline Miami is a visionary piece of work, with so much personality and a brilliant, bloody and satisfying gameplay.
GameSpot
Oct 29, 2012
An intoxicating celebration of violence that will have you pounding the restart button for more.
Gamer.nl
Oct 28, 2012
Let's just say it: Hotline Miami isn't for everyone. It's brutal, bloody and extraordinarily unforgiving. Thanks to Hotline Miami, the 8-bit top-down shooter genre gets put in the spotlight again after Retro City Rampage. It deserves the attention. Well, if you can stomach countless retries and a dozen smashed skulls.
Polygon
Oct 25, 2012
Hotline Miami is exceptional not because it's violent, but because it's violent for a reason.
3DJuegos
Oct 31, 2012
Hotline Miami is pure gameplay, a videogame with personality and bloody heart.
CD-Action
Nov 29, 2012
Huge pixels, old school top-down perspective, 8-bit animation and choice of colours convincingly recreate the mood of 1989 – the year Hotline Miami's story takes place in. Fortunately there's also plenty of excellent, unconventional and engaging fun for mature gamers. [CD-Action 13/2012, p.76]
Eurogamer Sweden
Nov 19, 2012
Despite a few bugs the game plays so intense it at times feels like it's playing in your mind and not on your screen. It will make you feel really badass one second, only to disgust you with its over-the-top violence in the next. A few strange design choices interrupt the flow but all in all, Hotline Miami is a special experience not to be missed.
Gamereactor Sweden
Nov 13, 2012
Hotline Miami is a prime example of how awesome indie game can be. It's creative, it's free spirited and it's cool as hell. This really is a must to buy for fans of highly original games.
Joystiq
Nov 6, 2012
Those looking for a challenge in planning, reflexes and dexterity – and those with the intestinal fortitude to witness the scads of gruesome deaths that result – will be well served by Hotline Miami.
GamesRadar
Oct 31, 2012
While it may lack a certain technical finesse, Hotline Miami manages to take players down a road not many games do. It's as much fun to play through the game as it is edifying to reflect on what we've done, and for that, it is quite powerful.
The Escapist
Oct 31, 2012
With its retro-style visuals and surreal story, Hotline Miami is a brutally challenging but engaging 2-D shooter that'll have you coming back for just one more mission.
Digital Spy
Oct 31, 2012
Hotline Miami is an odd experience. Missions flow between stealth and combat with split-second tactical choices reinforced through trial-and-error. The context for that gameplay is brutal beyond measure, though the game also provides a rare opportunity for reflection.
Eurogamer Germany
Oct 25, 2012
Sometimes, videogames are thought of as a means of escapism into worlds and universes you always wanted to immerse yourself and spend your time in, but in reality never could. I truly hope I never encounter someone who thinks this way about Hotline Miami.
AtomicGamer
Oct 25, 2012
Hotline Miami is difficult and violent, but it's not aggravating when you lose, and it's very rewarding when you win.
Hardcore Gamer
Oct 23, 2012
Hotline Miami is an outstanding title that manages to stand out despite both retro-styled games and overhead shooters being crowded genres.
Game Informer
Nov 5, 2012
Despite all of my frustrations, after extended breaks, I found myself coming back for more. Hotline Miami's uneasy ambiance and frenetic action have an odd allure.
4Players.de
Nov 2, 2012
Lunacy, anarchy, drastic violence and stealth tactics wrapped in absurd amounts of pixelblood and psychedelic electro. You can love this game. You can damn it into the deepest hell. But you can't ignore it.
GameStar
Dec 13, 2012
Hotline Miami has managed to captivate me from the beginning to the end.
Destructoid
Oct 23, 2012
The game may tease you, exhaust you, and possibly destroy you with its boss encounters and awful forced stealth level, but it all builds toward a focused, dark vision unlike much else in the medium.
GameSpy
Oct 30, 2012
I found myself eager for Hotline Miami to end before it did (after about eight hours) and had little desire to return to improve my scores.
Absolute Games
Nov 23, 2012
I wonder if the developers themselves knew what exactly they were trying to create. Is it a stealth game? a tactical strategy? a top-down arcade? Kitschy, bold artwork is only there to cover up the lack of cohesive ideas, and crude execution.