Hit hard, hit fast, question everything
Where bad decisions meet worse intentions, all to a killer soundtrack!
Where the only thing quicker than your reflexes is your descent into madness
I’m not entirely sure when Vaporwave buried itself into my subconscious. The neon-soaked aesthetic came to fruition around the early 2010s while I was in Highschool. I still listen to that hypnotic Macintosh Plus soundtrack to this date. The style evokes a nostalgic longing for an era that’s both real and fictional. A time that was very real and also not real. The genre usually portrays retro-tech of the past that existed while romanticizing an optimistic future. Today in 2025, we ARE living in the future that the 80s/90s era was so hopeful about. Somewhere in between now and then, the ultra-violent Hotline Miami was released- a fast-paced top-down shooter where you play as a mask-wearing hitman carrying out brutal missions backed with catchy tunes and a mind-bending narrative that spirals through a world of surreal insanity.
Set in Miami during the 1980s, you take control of a mysterious protagonist, Jacket, who receives a message on his answering machine telling him to go to a specified location and slaughter everyone there. That’s essentially what you do the entire game; Answer your phone, go to a place filled with Russian mobsters, kill kill kill! While playing through this acid-trip of a game you’re also going to be violently killed over and over again. You’re just as vulnerable as your opponents; one shot, stab, whack in the head by a bat, or getting mauled by a dog and you’re toast. Part of the addictive gameplay is just how quickly you can restart after having your entrails turned into wallpaper. When you die, and you will die a lot, you can instantly respawn with the push of a button. There is no one way to go about winning; you have to decide for yourself based on trial and many, many errors, a better strategy. The game isn’t easy. It’s designed to be challenging, but not so much that clearing out a room seems impossible. Soon enough the room is going to look like the aftermath of a food fight in a butcher shop.
The main character isn’t just some drug-fueled maniac. He’s more like a conductor of a violent orchestra that uses crowbars and baseball bats instead of violins. When I first started playing, my instincts were to be as cautious and methodical as possible. After dying more times than a liberal chick dyes their hair, I identified with Jacket through caution-of-the-wind, and started making the perfect blood-spattered crime scene for Dexter. I began to learn the deadly dance of death that this game was trying to teach me.
With the long lineup of animal masks that aid you throughout the game – your demented little accessories that do way more than just make you look stylish- Each one’s a twisted personality wrapped around your face, giving you special powers that either help you murder faster or just make you wonder if you’re even human anymore. On my first playthrough, I almost always opted to use the dog (Richard) mask which allows every punch I throw to pulverize enemies into vile, steaming paste of ruptured organs and marrow, dripping from the walls like a Jackson Pollock nightmare. If you don’t use this mask, then you’re going to have to keep repeatedly running up on crawling enemies and cave their heads into borscht soup like that elevator scene in Drive. This is fine, but I recommend going with Richard for your first run and then do as your sadistic self pleases for your next. You will play this game again eventually. It’s so fun and addicting that I’ve played through it at least 5x since it came out while I was in High School; back when I was just getting into this game’s kind of music…
Which brings me to the soundtrack. Now we’re talking! I’ve played a lot of video games in my life and the music in Hotline Miami is one of the best I’ve heard in a game. Full stop. Without exaggeration, it’s one of the most iconic and perfectly-crafted game soundtracks ever. It’s a big reason why the game feels so electric, so kinetic, and why it sticks with you long after you put down the controller and clean the blood off your knuckles. It’s like if a neon-submerged nightclub had a violent, heart-pounding alter ego. The beats are relentless, driving you forward and matching the chaotic pace of the game itself. The music amplifies the atrocious killing frenzies you’re committing. Every beat is an invitation to get better. There’s this satisfying rhythm to the way you play, as if the game itself is saying: “Alright, you’ve got the rhythm. Now own it.” This game has a pulse. Even the quieter moments, where the music slows down, there’s always this underlying sense of anticipation, like you’re getting ready for the next wave of intensity. A brief moment to catch your breath before diving back into your bloodthirsty rampage you sick fuck.
Everyone talks about how great the soundtrack is. It’s lauded for a reason. I sometimes throw it on during a cool night-drive. But there’s more to appreciate to this game. Another aspect that I adore is once you’ve cleared out a level; the game will suddenly switch tempo, and walking back to your car past the vicious mess you’ve made feels equal parts horrifying and oddly satisfying. You’re half proud and half disgusted, like a dog that just got finished chewing up the sofa and knows what it did but can’t help wagging its tail. The blood splattered walls, limbs arranged in abstract positions and occasional twitching corpse add a nice touch to the modern art massacre exhibit you’ve painted. You walk through and wonder, “Wow, I did all that?” And even more disturbingly so, “I’m getting pretty damn good at this!”
The only thing I’m not the biggest fan of are some of the boss fights. It’s like the developers decided to throw an eccentric character as an endurance test rather than a well designed boss fight. Instead of epic climatic battles, they’re just random, overpowered enemies that throw off the flow. Instead of using tight strategy like you do for the rest of the game, you’re dodging cheap hits and waiting for a short lucky opening window. It feels like they threw in some of the bosses last minute because they felt boss fights were an obligation when making a game like this. They just don’t vibe with the rest of the game. They aren’t awful, but they do feel like a speed bump in an otherwise very fluid game. Still, they can be memorable in their own right…
The game is fucking brutal. It’s like a fever dream where every punchline is a bloodbath. You’re not just playing a game; you’re starring in a snuff film directed by your own chaotic twisted brain. The game combines savage, one-hit-kill combat with a pulse-pounding 80s synthwave soundtrack, delivering a visceral and badass experience. Hotline Miami is pure fucking adrenaline-fueled mayhem where you’ll be causing incalculable harm to others all the while questioning your own sanity. It’s one of my personal favorite indie games ever. A visual and auditory trip that you will not forget. You’re going to die 50+ times on one level (that fucking police station) and wonder why you even signed up in the first place , then you’ll conquer it and feel like a total lunatic, but one with a really great taste in music! So pickup that phone cuz I’m fucking dialing!
Keep the synths alive, neon dreamer,
Mikhail
Jason Klee
Awesome review!