Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

People are giving this game a lot of unnecessary hate. Most of their complaints are perfectly legitimate, but they're being a bit too harsh. This may simply be because they're angry that this game didn't live up to expectations. If Hotline Miami is a 5 out of 5 game, then Wrong Number is a solid 4 out of 5. The gore, brutality, and nihilistic messages from the first game are still there. The quality of the soundtrack is subjective, I think it's decent. Anyone who enjoyed the first game will like the fact that this game expands on some of the characters' stories, like Richter and Beard, and also introduces some new characters. The variety of playable characters is a mixed blessing, it's nice to be able to play as a bunch of completely different people throughout the game, but there are also significantly fewer masks to play with. The Story isn't terrible, but the ending is more than a bit underwhelming. However, HLM was never much of a story-driven game, so I can't be too angry at that. Wrong Number's single biggest downfall is in its level design. Hotline Miami was loved for being a tight, fast paced action game that rewarded recklessness. You could play the game cautiously, planning out each assault, but you could also charge in like a fucking maniac, slaughtering everyone in the building without pause. This was hard to pull off sometimes, but when you did, it felt so. fucking. good. However, if you want to do that in Wrong Number, I wish you good luck. There are too many long hallways, open spaces, and glass rooms full of guns. On several occasions, you are forced to play peek-a-boo with the enemies, and kill them from right around a corner, which was only used as a way to cheese your way through levels in the first one. You will still have some amazing moments in this game, ripping someone up with a chainsaw while your partner mows down the rest of the room is one of the best feelings ever. It's just that you might forget about it through all the frustration.

The level titled Dead End is just that, a dead end. The game crashes every time you go to leave the level (after you spend 30-45 minutes going through it mind you). I checked the forums, and it looks like people have been discussing this problem as early as March 2015. Still no fix. Why is it still for sale?

I love the original Hotline Miami. It played well. This one doesn't. Be prepared for enemies leaping through walls (dogs and crazy inmates) and getting shot from off screen. The base gameplay is pretty solid but more buggy than the original. Much higher reliance on firearms when compared to the original. There are more enemies armed with firearms, and they shoot when you are in their field of view, which unfortunately is bigger than yours, even when you shift your view... Be prepared for much more frustration than Hotline Miami 1, more often than from unfair deaths. Conclusion, play the first one, again, unless you really really really need more levels.

A lot of reviews have already highlighted the weaknesses of Hotline Miami 2 so I'll go through my gripes with it. While the story is engaging and entertaining, the inability to select your own mask and abilities makes for a more confined and less repeatable experience. Second, the game is completely unlike the first. The first was a mixture of both tactical planning and on the fly random decisions. It did not punish you for going in guns blazing because sometimes, through luck or skill, you could react dynamically enough. However, I find I have to methodically plow through Hotline Miami 2 because there are many scenarios that will get you killed unless you used the "peek ahead" button that centers your view around your mouse so you can see further around your character. However, this is not conducive to the break-neck pace the music, aesthetic, and frankly the nature of the game want you to go. To me, this just isn't fun. Rarely, if ever, have I been able to spontaneously murder an entire level of enemies between sheer luck because of traps or arbitrary elements I would not have seen without scoping around in HM2. The music, art, and gore are all gloriously equivalent to HM1, but the gameplay is not sadly.

To start with the positives: The game's asthetics are as good as ever. It's tone, music, art, etc. are just as good as the original. The game has improved variety over the first game. There was rarely a change in the playstyle in the first game, with it relying almost entirely on the core gameplay and varied level design, but that is not the case here. You have the fans whose masks greatly change how you approach a level. You have the Hawaii levels where you need to worry about conserving ammo. There's the all melee Evan Wright levels, and the more traditional Jake and Pardo levels. You never play many of each type of level in a row meaning it rarely ever feels old. Now on to the game's fatal flaw, level design. The levels in Hotline Miami 2 are way too open. There are a ridiculous number of large spaces so that you end up holding shift almost the entire game and have to constantly abuse the AI to pull enemies around corners if you want to have any hope in melee. That's not even to mention how rooms are often so large that you can't see if there are enemies on the other side of it. While these sort of things showed up occasionaly in the first Hotline Miami, it was no where near to the level that it is in this game. I will admit that it didn't ruin my experience at first, but as I got later into the game my experience soured more and more. If you see this game on sale and desperately want more Hotline Miami then I suggest getting this game, but I can't suggest it otherwise.