It doesn’t seem all too long ago since I last played a Hotline Miami game. The abrupt flashes of anger that dissipate as quickly as they arrive, plumping for ‘just one last try’ despite how close my poor pad was coming to its unknowing demise. All such stress is rendered pointless however when, no matter how arduous the challenge, you’ll still not be happy with your achieved score. (Un)fortunately for me, it’s time to take the cyclical trip through the revolving doors of heartache and jubilation once more, as Devolver Digital and Dennation Games have released Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. I’d better buy another pad just in case…
Despite the intense feeling of familiarity you often get when playing a sequel, there’s hopefully enough new content to keep you interested. Hotline Miami 2, straddles this balance a little uncomfortably. There are indeed changes to the gameplay, subtle as they are, but that’s not why I kept playing. In fact, it was often the reason I turned it off. The beauty of the original was in its brutal simplicity, concise level designs and the mysterious story arch. Wrong Number changes all of these and it’s not always for the better.
The narrative of the first game was more of an enigma in my eyes; it was elusive without being intentionally vague for the sake of it. The story in Wrong Number builds on these ideals whilst also adding slightly more exposition. Characters from the previous game make a return, and are in some cases expanded on with much more detail than you might expect. Unfortunately meaning some of the cryptic elements are lost, but at the expense of more involving and revealing cutscenes at least. With all the jumping about between characters, it can often be difficult to keep track of who’s who; this could especially be problematic for those who’ve not experienced the first game.
The first Hotline Miami was expressly hard until you got your bearings and started to learn the ins and outs of the mechanics. Once you’d died a few dozen times however, it became more about how you want to complete the level instead of if you can. That doesn’t really happen here, this one can be much more punishing; not always in a fair way. Not only are the levels longer in playtime, but the actual physical size of the areas are much larger than the previous game. In theory this would encourage the creation of different sections of each floor; by producing small areas, the player would have to learn how to complete several sections in succession. Instead, it often boils down to someone off screen shooting you time and time again.
Wrong Number starts off incredibly easily for the first few levels, after that though, it assumes you’ve mastered the intricate nature of luring, knowing when to lock on and each characters abilities etc etc. What with the storyline dictating whom you must play as for the majority of the game, you never really end up developing your own playstyle either, you must instead use the strengths of the character provided; making some levels an absolute pig to complete if you’re not keen on how they play.
What makes the difficulty so aggravating in this one, surprisingly isn’t the cheap deaths or the exploitation of enemies and doorways, it’s that it comes close to ruining probably the best part of the game, the music. Some of the tracks in this game are absolutely brilliant, Carpenter Brut’s, Roller Mobster is exceptionally chosen and warranted an almost immediate purchase on its own. Yet when you’ve got such an aggressively pumping 80’s style anthem going on in the background, you tend to want to beat the level and think ‘that was awesome!’ Not die 50 times from an off screen enemy whilst your amazing music slowly deteriorates with its looping effect. The way the music is set up, is often in such a way that it expects you to complete each level on the first or so attempts to make it work; it ends up more frustrating than anything else.
On top of the, frankly exceptional music, the developers have also done a great job with varying the visual aesthetics of each level too. You’ll of course wander the decrepit apartments and stores, but also be a part of military style incursions and the like. Even if the levels are, in my opinion, a little on the long side, at least each one looks and sounds different. Admittedly, with an ‘old school’ style of graphics there’s often not a lot to praise, but the little things make a larger difference than you might well imagine.
If you enjoyed the previous outings of the masked companions of Hotline Miami, then you’ll undoubtedly get on well with this iteration too, the music and the extra visual details help a lot, as does the expanded narrative. The level sizes and constantly having to adapt to new playstyles should in theory keep it feeling fresh and challenging, but for me, it works against it. I embrace the high difficulty of a game, I just wish that it would feel challenging without instead being cheap in death.
