Hotline Miami

2012 video game

Hotline Miami is a violent 2D top-down shooter indie video game developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. The game was inspired by the 2011 film Drive and the 2006 film Cocaine Cowboys.[1] [2]

Hotline Miami
Developer(s)Dennaton Games
Publisher(s)Devolver Digital
Designer(s)Jonatan Söderström Edit this on Wikidata
Programmer(s)Jonatan Söderström Edit this on Wikidata
SeriesHotline Miami Edit this on Wikidata
EnginePhyreEngine
Game Maker Edit this on Wikidata
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • WW: October 23, 2012
OS X
  • WW: March 19, 2013
Linux
  • WW: May 28, 2013
PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
  • NA: June 25, 2013
  • EU: June 26, 2013
PlayStation 4
  • WW: August 19, 2014
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player Edit this on Wikidata

Development

change

The developers said that they "wanted it to be disturbing and we wanted people to feel the violence". They made the graphics pixel art to make sure the game was not controversial. A developer, Jonatan Söderström started making a game called Super Carnage, which was very similar to Hotline Miami. The aim of the game was to kill as many people as possible. The game was left unfinished because of difficulties coding the AI. [3]

Before starting development, the developers wanted inspiration, so they watched some movies like Kick-Ass, Drive and Cocaine Cowboys. They wanted to raise questions about what it meant to kill a virtual person in a video game. Mid-way through development, Söderström worried that he was running out of money, so he started Hotline Miami. They spent 9 months in an apartment coding the game. Dennis Wedin said this about the development of the game: It was fucking hard.... [3]

Söderström said that he created Hotline Miami with Games Maker, because it let him make the game fast. He also said that it doesn't need that much programming knowledge to use. He said it was a lot slower than other engines, and is quite limited. They had some problems with Games Maker, because they were using an old version. Weldin claimed he liked games that were just games, but Söderström wanted the player to think about the game's meaning. [3]

The developers said that the AI was the hardest thing to create in the game.[3]

Story and Gameplay

change

The player controls an un-named hero (who fans call Jacket), who's gradually losing his mind. The objective of each level is to kill all enemies in the room, and go to the next one. After every job, the player goes to the same store to order a pizza. The player then return to your safehouse.

Characters

change
  • Jacket - The game's first playable character
  • Biker - The game's second playable character
  • Richter
  • Richard
  • Rasmus
  • Don Juan
  • Hooker
  • Beard

There are unlockable masks in Hotline Miami, each have their own abilities.

Soundtrack

change
No. TitleArtist Length
1. "Hydrogen"  M.O.O.N 4:49
2. "Paris"  M.O.O.N 4:31
3. "Crystals"  M.O.O.N 4:49
4. "Vengeance"  Perturbator 2:53
5. "Miami"  Jasper Byrne 3:19
6. "Hotline"  Jasper Byrne 3:12
7. "Knock Knock"  Scattle 4:04
8. "Musikk per automatikk"  Elliot Berlin 3:05
9. "Miami Disco"  Perturbator 4:31
10. "Release"  M.O.O.N 6:02
11. "A New Morning"  Eirik Suhrke 2:28
12. "Flatline"  Scattle 2:28
13. "Coconuts"  Silver Lights 6:36
14. "Daisuke"  El Huervo feat. Shelby Cinca 2:42
15. "Turf"  El Huervo 5:04
16. "Crush"  El Huervo 2:40
17. "ElectricDreams"  Perturbator 4:45
18. "Inner Animal"  Scattle 3:40
19. "It's Safe Now"  Scattle 2:43
20. "To The Top"  Scattle 1:58

Sequel

change

A sequel to Hotline Miami, called Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number was released on March 10, 2015. It was originally going to be DLC for the main game, but this was changed. [1]

Reviews

change
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic85/100 [4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge9/10 [5]
Eurogamer10/10 [6]
GameTrailers8.7/10 [7]
IGN8.8/10 [8]

The game got very good reviews, with IGN praising its "striking blend of fast ultraviolence, a dense, challenging story and brilliant presentation". They given the game a final score of 8.8/10. [8]

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 Matulef, Jeffrey (October 16, 2012). "The creators of Hotline Miami on inspiration, storytelling and upcoming DLC". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  2. Saraintaris, Nico (July 3, 2014). "We Ask Indies: Cactus, creator of Hotline Miami and tons of other weird titles". Gamasultra. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The Making Of: Hotline Miami". Eurogamer.net. June 30, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-10-26. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  4. "Hotline Miami". Metacritic. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  5. "Hotline Miami review". EDGE. November 2, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  6. Bramwell, Tom (October 23, 2012). "Hotline Miami review". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  7. "Hotline Miami Review". GameTrailers. November 8, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Onyett, Charles (October 26, 2012). "Hotline Miami Review". IGN. Retrieved October 25, 2014.