The music ranges from great to forgettable, the visual -- though strange-- are perfectly fine, and the narrative themes are disturbing and compelling. Combine all that with the brutal, fast-paced combat and it *should* add up to a really nice experience, but sadly it doesn't. Ultimately, the combat feels more reliant on luck than skill. Beating a mission feels like it's less about learning the layout and enemy placement, and moreso merely hoping everything happens to work out in your favor. AI behavior is erratic, and runs the gambit between sometimes being unstoppable homing missiles heading straight for you and other times not even noticing you're killing their friends right in front of them. Controls & hit detection seems rather unreliable too. I also suffered from it crashing to desktop every hour or so. Hotline Miami is not a *bad* game, but it's far more beloved than I can possibly understand. The price isn't terrible, but I'd suggest waiting for a sale. Not bad, but falls far short of its potential.
