Hotline Miami

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1873 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,580 out of 1873
  2. Mixed: 208 out of 1873
  3. Negative: 85 out of 1873

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  1. zeig
    Jul 23, 2013
    3
    Gameplay is fun... for about 30 minutes. At that point it starts to become incredibly repetitive. I was glad that it was over after 3-4 hours, as the gameplay couldn't even support that much. It's also as eye-straining as it is ugly. It may be that way by design, but that doesn't make it any more appealing.

    Bottom line: There are plenty of great indie games out there. This isn't one of them.
  2. Stingray_
    Sep 2, 2013
    2
    I bought Hotline Miami on the Steam sale, tempted by good reviews. This game is just bad. Indie-retro-80`s style is only irritating( I`ve seen lesser pixels in HoMM 3). The controls reacts weird, and the game itself is ALL about killing. Maybe it has some plot, but it always follows the same template you are in your house, you pick up the phone, blah blah blah, you go to your car, loading,I bought Hotline Miami on the Steam sale, tempted by good reviews. This game is just bad. Indie-retro-80`s style is only irritating( I`ve seen lesser pixels in HoMM 3). The controls reacts weird, and the game itself is ALL about killing. Maybe it has some plot, but it always follows the same template you are in your house, you pick up the phone, blah blah blah, you go to your car, loading, you arrive and kill everyone, you take something "important", you go back to the car, you buy something in the shop, you go back to your house, answer the call, blah blah blah, repeat. A lot of unnecessary violence isn`t fun either. The AI is completely unpredictable sometimes you shoot and nothing happens, second time everyone is running at you. Quick summation A LOT OF killing, next "retro" style, unsatisfying gameplay. Enemies can kill you, being "outside" the screen, so you can`t see them at all. And I`m not complaining because of the difficulty. SMB is harder, but more in a challenging way. One more thing the game is bugged some way and music doesn`t play (all other sounds do). This is irritating turned off after 20 minutes. Don`t buy it.… Expand
  3. beene
    Jul 23, 2013
    3
    The game play is sub par at best. The controls are awful, the hit boxes odd and the NPCs have a penchant to sometimes be dead eyes and sometimes have worse aim than a storm trooper. This is besides the point of the horrible semi moving screen that makes anyone who thinks this game is skill based sadly mistaken. The point is this game just doesn't click on any levels. It isn't a fun topThe game play is sub par at best. The controls are awful, the hit boxes odd and the NPCs have a penchant to sometimes be dead eyes and sometimes have worse aim than a storm trooper. This is besides the point of the horrible semi moving screen that makes anyone who thinks this game is skill based sadly mistaken. The point is this game just doesn't click on any levels. It isn't a fun top down, it isn't a fun shooter and it makes little sense at all. Overall I have honestly played better quality flash game. I understand the concept of retro but polish your retro up. This game just fails on so many levels it makes me want to cry.… Expand
  4. soulburner
    Sep 1, 2013
    3
    I like retro games, but didn't like this particular one. You always die. Always. Any hit on you and you die. But the game is fast, so you replay every single mission for 50 times. 30 seconds and you're dead, and all over and over again. Completed 2 chapters and didn't like it at all.

    Music is quite annoying. Played on the gamepad and didn't like controls (aiming) also. The game is    I like retro games, but didn't like this particular one. You always die. Always. Any hit on you and you die. But the game is fast, so you replay every single mission for 50 times. 30 seconds and you're dead, and all over and over again. Completed 2 chapters and didn't like it at all.

    Music is quite annoying. Played on the gamepad and didn't like controls (aiming) also.

    The game is quite cheap, but don't worth it anyway.    … Expand
  5. VinceP
    Feb 3, 2013
    4
    Personally, I didn't enjoy this game at all. I won't begrudge the devs the $2.50 I spent on it given the obvious care and attention that's been put into the music and aesthetic, but the gameplay style just left me cold. It really requires an absurd level of repetition to get through any part of the game in order to just learn the mechanics, and that's just not my cup of tea.

    The    Personally, I didn't enjoy this game at all. I won't begrudge the devs the $2.50 I spent on it given the obvious care and attention that's been put into the music and aesthetic, but the gameplay style just left me cold. It really requires an absurd level of repetition to get through any part of the game in order to just learn the mechanics, and that's just not my cup of tea.

    The in-game brutality is matched only by how brutally the game treats the player. If that sort of gaming masochism is your thing, then have at it.

    For reference sake, I think Super Meat Boys is hard too. But this is harder a LOT harder. I enjoyed SMB up to a point. This, not so much.    … Expand
  6. Pampl
    Mar 9, 2013
    4
    Like others have said, it would have been a very good Flash game. If you're willing to pay for that, and have a very strong stomach for relentless and pointless gore, then this may be the game for you. I was willing to pay for it and I liked the few hours I played, but even as someone who's played and enjoyed FPS and fighting games (not to mention the GTA games) for twenty years theLike others have said, it would have been a very good Flash game. If you're willing to pay for that, and have a very strong stomach for relentless and pointless gore, then this may be the game for you. I was willing to pay for it and I liked the few hours I played, but even as someone who's played and enjoyed FPS and fighting games (not to mention the GTA games) for twenty years the unpleasantness of this game makes me unwilling to keep playing it.… Expand
  7. Jimbro84
    Jan 27, 2014
    4
    This game is so frustrating and empty. It's beyond me that it got such a high score.

    - To begin with, Hotline Miami has no customization beyond ''masks'' that give special abilities, no cinematics and no story whatsoever. I know it's not a 60$ game but it looks cooler than it is. - Devoid of a godmode, the game requires to start over a zillion times. It sucks. There is no    This game is so frustrating and empty. It's beyond me that it got such a high score.

    - To begin with, Hotline Miami has no customization beyond ''masks'' that give special abilities, no cinematics and no story whatsoever. I know it's not a 60$ game but it looks cooler than it is.

    - Devoid of a godmode, the game requires to start over a zillion times. It sucks. There is no justification to this.

    - Excluding the restart annoyance, the game is very short.

    Really beyond cool sounds and soundtrack, you will not find much in this one.    … Expand
  8. Indrigis
    Jan 7, 2015
    4
    The game looks like a bad acid trip, sounds like a bad acid trip and aims to appeal to the hipster crowd.

    Horrible mouse/keyboard controls which kill any good dynamics because the enemies can see you from way off-screen, so you have to carefully look and target before moving, because, obviously, you can see through walls. This does NOT add to immersion. And one more thing... You    The game looks like a bad acid trip, sounds like a bad acid trip and aims to appeal to the hipster crowd.

    Horrible mouse/keyboard controls which kill any good dynamics because the enemies can see you from way off-screen, so you have to carefully look and target before moving, because, obviously, you can see through walls. This does NOT add to immersion.

    And one more thing...

    You can not shoot knocked down enemies. If you shoot the door, it swings open, stunning anyone on the other side, but not killing. From there you have to either wait for the enemy to come to their senses or engage in bwutaw mewee finishews, which get you killed by a dude with a shotgun conveniently placed outside your vision range.    … Expand
  9. MostlyHarmless
    Oct 27, 2012
    1
    This belongs on Newgrounds, not Steam. This would've been average at best 10 years ago, now it's just sort of pointless, nostalgia will only take a game so far. There's a ton of free game websites full of this stuff.
  10. distracted
    Jan 4, 2013
    0
    This game is not retro, although it tries very hard to be so. The controls do not feel like an 8-bit or 16-bit console. The music is something out of Pink Floyd and sounds nothing like the chip tunes of the era. Overall it feels like a retro game from someone that has only heard about them second hand. I only paid $4.99 yet I feel cheated.
  11. VoxPaladin
    Apr 9, 2014
    0
    Hotline Miami is a poor game that suffers from a long drag of trial and error approach. This game presents itself as a gritty, top down, action arcade game, but the game forces players to play exactly the way the game was supposed to be designed and leaves no room for spontaneity, experimentation or replay value.

    It's only a matter of minutes before you understand the A.I. pathways and    Hotline Miami is a poor game that suffers from a long drag of trial and error approach. This game presents itself as a gritty, top down, action arcade game, but the game forces players to play exactly the way the game was supposed to be designed and leaves no room for spontaneity, experimentation or replay value.

    It's only a matter of minutes before you understand the A.I. pathways and exploit it to reach the objective. Every level is exactly the same with no variation.

    The story is juvenile at best. The music is mundane. And the trippy art style that constantly flashes colors at you and swerves the screen is literally sickening.

    So much for a game made using 'Game Maker'... *sigh*    … Expand
  12. PloppySon
    Feb 17, 2014
    0
    I had this game gifted to me on Steam and I thought it would keep me amused for a while, it didn't though it's the most overrated game I have played in a while.

    The graphics style and music are good but it stops there. At first glance looking at the steam page you might think this is an action game like Smash TV or Zombie Shooter, it's nowhere near as good as those and nowhere near    I had this game gifted to me on Steam and I thought it would keep me amused for a while, it didn't though it's the most overrated game I have played in a while.

    The graphics style and music are good but it stops there.

    At first glance looking at the steam page you might think this is an action game like Smash TV or Zombie Shooter, it's nowhere near as good as those and nowhere near as much fun, you basically have limited ways to kill the enemy who rush and one hit kill you all the time.

    The aim of the game is to die non stop and keep trying until you win and feel rewarded - just a shame the devs and all the fanboys forgot that games are supposed to be fun to play.

    In short - an overhyped game with a high difficulty to hide a shallow game underneath.    … Expand
  13. UnbiasedOne
    Oct 24, 2012
    1
    I can handle top-down shooters. I can handle terrible eye-straining graphics, I can even handle trial and error gameplay, but one thing I will never understand is when everyone in the game has a life meter but you. For the life of me you will die, no less then 300 times, in ONE-SINGLE-HIT with anything even a door. Yet enemies take two, three, sometimes five hits to die. The screen rotatesI can handle top-down shooters. I can handle terrible eye-straining graphics, I can even handle trial and error gameplay, but one thing I will never understand is when everyone in the game has a life meter but you. For the life of me you will die, no less then 300 times, in ONE-SINGLE-HIT with anything even a door. Yet enemies take two, three, sometimes five hits to die. The screen rotates as you move, it shakes constantly and the controls are completely broken. It would have been a hit in the year it's taking place in (1989) but for 2012, the eye strain, the aggravation and the urge to drive to the developers and beat them within two inches of their lives is not worth it, and $9.99 is defiantly not worth it. Again yet another pile of trash that will go straight to the top of the charts.… Expand
  14. snacky
    Feb 26, 2013
    0
    This game is absolutely god awful. I played 5 minutes of it, rage quit, and broke my keyboard. I hate this game and I hate the people who made it. I was so enraged by this game I felt the need to create a metacritic account just to express to everyone just how bad of a game this is. DON'T PLAY IT
  15. dannyharrington
    Mar 23, 2015
    4
    A good game crippled by game breaking bugs. I know this isn't as massive an issue with most, but I have to go from my personal experience. There was probably 10+ crashes in this short game, and a similar number of graphical bugs which made the game unplayable and forced me to quit. The graphical bugs also appear to be a fairly frequent problem among users as well, with it never beingA good game crippled by game breaking bugs. I know this isn't as massive an issue with most, but I have to go from my personal experience. There was probably 10+ crashes in this short game, and a similar number of graphical bugs which made the game unplayable and forced me to quit. The graphical bugs also appear to be a fairly frequent problem among users as well, with it never being fixed. The problem with this is that the game is separated into chapters, with multiple stages each chapter and the game only saves after a chapter is finished. So, if your game crashes or the graphics bug out, you have to redo the entire chapter even if you're on the last stage, and this is a tough game, so it often takes a LOT to get to the end of some chapters.

    In terms of the gameplay, it's very entertaining if a little trial and error-ish. Your enemies die in one hit and so do you. So you have to find the perfect path in each stage to take out the enemies without getting hit, essentially making it a puzzle top-down shooter. It's very punishing but for the most part fair and requires multiple split-second decision making to pass a stage.

    The story is intriguing at the start but goes nowhere and no questions are actually answered until the sequel, so don't expect much there. However, not much emphasis is put on the story anyway so it doesn't really affect the game that much, the sequel focuses on it much more. The soundtrack is also stellar and arguably the best part of the game. However, the gameplay is so intense and adrenaline inducing that I often didn't particularly notice the soundtrack despite it being so good.

    Overall, this is clearly a decent game at least, with the pure game probably getting a 7 or even 8, but my version (being the most up to date version) was riddled with bugs that made it very difficult to play and highly rage-inducing due to it being already difficult and having no saves between stages. This was barely playable for me.    … Expand
  16. Elizondo
    Sep 26, 2015
    3
    Good idea, very poor implementation.

    Horrible controls, you have to aim with the mouse but frequently is difficult to distinguish the crosshair from the background. When there is a lot of movement and enemies, everything is a mess and you end up attacking at random directions. Enemies are immune to friendly fire. They have zero AI. If they see the floor full of corpses they don´t    Good idea, very poor implementation.

    Horrible controls, you have to aim with the mouse but frequently is difficult to distinguish the crosshair from the background. When there is a lot of movement and enemies, everything is a mess and you end up attacking at random directions.

    Enemies are immune to friendly fire. They have zero AI. If they see the floor full of corpses they don´t care. If they hear other enemies gunshots they don´t care. If they get hit but don´t see you they don´t care. They just react sometimes at player gunshots, in that moment they flock to the player as if there was no tomorrow.

    Gameplay is ruined by the bad controls and a lot of glitches.

    Graphics are a joke. Game plot is ridiculous.

    Game is very short, with very small levels. Very poor level design. No replayability. Levels are always with the same enemies at the same places, with just 2 or 3 kind of enemies in the entire game. The game relays just on high difficulty to offer longer game time.

    No strategy or tactics to follow in this game. It´s just try again and again and again until you complete the level or you get the achievement you were looking for just by pure luck.

    Don´t spend more than $1 on this.    … Expand
  17. Broyax
    Mar 27, 2017
    0
    Encore une petite merde indé avec ses graphismes hideux, sa jouabilité bancale et son opportunisme néo-rétro pour appâter les rétrons refoulés. C'est l'un des ambassadeurs -rien de nouveau ici- de la lutte des classes : d'un côté les méchantes multinationales impérialistes et leurs Triple A, de l'autre les sous-merdes indés écologogoles roulées sous les aisselles dans une étable. TropEncore une petite merde indé avec ses graphismes hideux, sa jouabilité bancale et son opportunisme néo-rétro pour appâter les rétrons refoulés. C'est l'un des ambassadeurs -rien de nouveau ici- de la lutte des classes : d'un côté les méchantes multinationales impérialistes et leurs Triple A, de l'autre les sous-merdes indés écologogoles roulées sous les aisselles dans une étable. Trop rebelles que vous êtes à jouer -ou tenter de jouer pour suivre le troupeau gauchobobo- à un sous-produit qui pollue les yeux et les oreilles !… Expand
  18. zerzerzerze
    Nov 7, 2021
    0
    the game means that it is constantly replayed due to specially added bugs, for example, non-registration of hits / hits, instant death of enemies and the like that makes the player freeze in the game and spend all his nerves, unplayable and nasty sight
  19. DinoBeam
    Mar 30, 2021
    4
    Insanley overhyped. hoping for a cool tripped out 80's Miami semi pulp fiction vibe? Get ready to hear the same trashy modern edm song pumped at you over and over as you try to fight your way though clunky controls and cheap levels that then start to randomize as you start to figure them out.
  20. mjodomew
    Aug 23, 2023
    0
    Yes, I love hurting other people. Hello to the losers of this game who are jealous of a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate 3. On the release day of Hotline Miami, we will give this trash game a 1-day temporary game of the year award.
  21. Crimert
    Nov 11, 2020
    4
    This game makes me feel bored because of trying out the same levels over and over and over again... 3hrs on record.
  22. RecebiSpam
    Mar 19, 2021
    0
    Me arrependo de ter conhecido Hotline Miami apenas em 2020, no começo do ano, mas não me arrependo também de depois me aprofundar muito nesse jogo, eu amo pixel art, e estilos retros, esse jogo é perfeito pra mim, adoro coisas desafiantes, a soundtrack desse jogo te vicia que nem cocaína, você se sente um sociopata igualmente ao Jacket, eu fico com um sorriso no rosto enquanto explodo aMe arrependo de ter conhecido Hotline Miami apenas em 2020, no começo do ano, mas não me arrependo também de depois me aprofundar muito nesse jogo, eu amo pixel art, e estilos retros, esse jogo é perfeito pra mim, adoro coisas desafiantes, a soundtrack desse jogo te vicia que nem cocaína, você se sente um sociopata igualmente ao Jacket, eu fico com um sorriso no rosto enquanto explodo a cabeça dos mafiosos (meio psicopata da minha parte mesmo). Mas não importa, Hotline Miami tem uma história íncrivel, muito confusa e que vai ter deixar super curioso, ambientação do caralho, gráficos lindos que combinam com as cores fortes e o sangue fluído na tela, sem dúvidas, é um jogo que marcou a minha vida, é um dos únicos jogos que me deixa melhor enquanto estou jogando, eu entro no personagem, me sinto como o Jacket, gasto toda a minha raiva nos mafiosos, me sinto melhor, esse jogo acaba virando a minha salvação de anti estresse, foi uma experiencia única para mim, eu fiquei em choque quando não podia comprar o jogo, jogava a versão pirata todo dia, e hoje me orgulho de poder ter comprado, Hotline Miami pode mudar a sua mente, talvez até a sua vida.… Expand
  23. efebabapro
    Nov 28, 2021
    0
    My psychology is broken, don't buy it, you can replace this game, but you can never replace your psychology
  24. StarkAgentos
    Feb 25, 2022
    4
    Тупо хардкорная флэш игра, но только не в браузере. Первый же уровень уже непроходимый.
  25. ponsho174
    Feb 10, 2023
    0
    New PC Game Releases by DateBest Recent Releases for PCUpcoming PC Game Release CalendarVideo Game Awards2023 High Scores - PCAll-Time High Scores - PCAll PC Games: A-Z Index
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  26. MaxiAccess
    Dec 26, 2022
    0
    This game is the best example of an excellent indie game, the soundtrack is magnificent, the gunplay is satisfactory but with its difficulty and the art of the game is beautiful
  27. TruthSeaker
    Aug 23, 2023
    0
    Delusional fanboys(or bots) of this game review-bombed numerous games with 0
    Get what you asked for

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PC Game of 2012
23
#23 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
24
#24 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 51
  3. Negative: 1 out of 51
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    87
    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]
  2. Games Master UK
    Dec 18, 2012
    88
    A stylish slice of retro carnage. This is the bloodiest, least forgiving game of the year. [Jan 2013, p.85]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 17, 2012
    90
    A drug-induced coma of violence, strategy, death and rebirth. [Jan 2013, p.67]
See all critic reviews »