Quick Look: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

LET'S GO

Aw yeah, 45 minutes. Perfect length video I needed!

HELL YA! The original is one of my favorite indie games of all time.

Damn, that was fast! Uhh tss uhh tss uhh tss uhh tss uhh tss uhh tss

Pretty disappointed by the game myself, interested to hear the crew's opinions.

Looks like a bloody good time..

MURDER? MURDER!

Loved the first one in so many ways.

I'm in Act 3 of this new one and I like it a lot so far, seems way harder way earlier though? I hope the story ends well, it's seems alright!

320p and 30fps?

I'm at 'buy a ps4' level of excitement for this

The sequel to one of the best quick looks! <3 Patrick & Ryan.

i miss ryan :(

D: Yep, that's where my mind went too when I saw this QL.

Shouts outs to Ryan & Patrick, their QL of the 1st game was so good and introduced me to Hotline Miami. "THAT'S YOUR ASS!"

really liking this one. I don't get the people upset by the changes to design. If you want to play Hotline Miami 1 its still a great game. I like how they play with the way your character has to tackle each game in 2.

Also instead of complaining about how the levels are designed, he should be going all out trying to get the speed runs and learning the levels. The police mission i tacked with a 10 combo from 1st guy to 10th guy and it happened in 25 seconds. Its about learning the lay out their is clearly a reason Alex is getting D/C ratings.

Agree with Alex's criticisms, although I think the music isn't as good this time.

I'm at act 3 (Have no idea how far that is). I loved and played the hell out of the first one. And I absolutely love this as well. I was really worried that this would disappoint, feel too much like the first one, go for shock value, and not understand what made the first one great.

I think some of the level design could have been sharper. Especially the levels where you just exit the screen, and the transition between one level and the next is nothing but a screen change and a camera jump. (Not an elevator or staircase etc.)

But besides that, I think it's hitting it out of the park. The story is so engaging, mysterious and fun. If Hotline Miami 1 was Drive the game. Then this might be David Lynch's Inland Empire the game. I can't wait to replay this a billion times, take notes, and really get to the core of this colorful dark violent mess.

Rarely have I been so captured by a video game narrative.

I also think it dose a really good job of mixing up the gameplay, and telling it's story though the mechanics in some really interesting ways. You get a sense for the characters, through the way they put a personal touch on brutally killing faceless mobsters, cops, dogs and Viet Congs(?).

This game really is a "complete package". One of those games where you have to take it all. So if HM1 didn't do it for you, I'll doubt you'll like this one. This is not any eiaser, a lot more difficult to be honest. But If you did like the original, or was on the fence about it, maybe thought it a bit repppetetiv. This one should be it.

Love this game. Then again I'm biased. I loved HLM1 and HLM2:WN is a bit slower paced but its more of what I want.

love you Ryan

@patchcoat: I like it. I made a song in anticipation of this game too. If the soundtrack of this game is truly better then the first, as Alex claims, I'll be blown away.

Yeah, the response to this game seems to be divided between people just wanting identical design to HM1 and people enjoying how the character stuff forces you to play differently. Playing on PC, this game is fuuucking difficult. It's easy to see how on a controller, people are more or less restricted to the murder room technique which is a shame. Man, some of the levels in this one had me doing some of the absolute crazy improvised 12 kill combos from the first game. I couldn't even imagine recreating that stuff with analog sticks.

So from what I can gather, this game is to the first Hotline Miami what Prime 2: Echoes was to the original Metroid Prime.

I don't think I've ever heard an Alice in Chains song, but Steal My Sunshine just reminds me of that Len song.

Regarding pieces from the soundtrack that thump:

Listen to that fucking thing, jesus christ. It also underscores the best level I've played so far. If anyone is playing and having some doubts, at least get to scene 12. So fucking awesome.

@indridcipher: One of the things I most enjoyed about the original Hotline Miami was how stripped down it was. It had a core concept that worked exceptionally well, and it was extremely efficient at getting you into it without a lot of bullshit.

Hotline Miami 2 (so far, I'm only about halfway through it, I think) doesn't have that same nimble quality to it. I do not doubt in any way that you can still pull off incredible combos and deft feats of murder if you learn the level layouts, but the core design just doesn't feel as tight to me. I don't mind the idea of multiple characters and changing up play styles accordingly, but I don't think the way it's implemented in Hotline Miami 2 completely works. Some of the character restrictions, alongside the occasionally oppressive difficulty level, suck a lot of the fun out of the process. Especially when it flat-out doesn't work right, like the two-character section, where the second guy keeps getting stuck on parts of the scenery. Again, it's not the concept, it's the execution.

It's possible I may come around on it. I'm still having fun, just not as consistently as I did with the first game. I've heard the ending's amazing, so I'm looking forward to finishing it.

This made me feel a bit better about my grades. God, this game is hard.

@alex: Kinda like a Portal 2 situation?

Violent videogames yaaaaaay!

this one is real good too

I was sort of thinking that. I was also thinking the simple fun of Audiosurf, compared to the beast that they want Audiosurf 2 to be.

Oh man, I'd probably really not enjoy my time with this game if I were playing it with a controller. Not saying that would solve Alex's problems, but for me it would sure sour the whole experience. I played it with a mouse and keyboard and it felt just like I remember Hotline Miami 1 playing, except maybe a little bit slower.

I spent many a mission playing with the camera focused ahead though. You really gotta be aware of your surroundings, moreso than I recall was necessary in Hotline Miami 1, where I could sorta play it room-by-room. I still get that same sort of awesome improvisation moments though. Shoot a gun, throw the gun at the next guy and grab his gun, shoot the dog that's charging at me before finishing off the downed guy. Shit like that that keeps the heat going like it did in the first game.

I could totally see how people might be inclined to take it slow, but I dunno. There's a point in Hotline Miami 1 where you just say "fuck it" and run in swinging without worrying about dying, and it's the same here except there are more situations where you'd run in guns blazing without worrying about dying. The larger levels aren't much of a deterrent to that because the game still has that puzzle-like element to it. You're learning the levels and sussing out the most efficient way through them, then trying again and again to execute on that strategy, adapting to the circumstances of the particular run as need be.

Man, I know that these come up in a lot of comments, but Alex would like this game a lot more if he used all of the mechanics they give you. Looking ahead is crucial, and so is locking on. Alex and Ash (The Swans) are my favorite to use, if you get the hang of it you can wipe the floor with people- it seemed like for half of it, lock on wasn't even being used.

Hopefully Alex will stick with it, this is the sequel I wanted at least.

Yeah I agree with Alex for the most part. I'm starting to switch over to the different head space needed for this game and it's made it a lot more fun. That being said I got more enjoyment for the balls to the wall throw everything to the window improv you could pull off in the first.

I can't imagine playing this game with the imprecise aiming of a controller, but then I wouldn't have chosen a controller on the first one either.

I can't even verbalize how much I am loving this goddamn game. So good. Ungh. UNGH!

I agree. I'm not great at playing HM, I always had problems with improvising under pressure. When the first teasers introduced The Swans I was already dreading my future frustration. But it somehow came easy to me. Apart from occasional getting stuck on furniture and in doorways, it's a great mechanic. It's basically like having a ranged and a melee weapon at the same time. You can lure wave upon wave of enemies with strategically placed shots and quickly dispose of them with the chainsaw. It's the first time I was able to blow through a level in a manner somewhat resembling a speedrun. They might be a bit OP actually.

I totally hear you brah, I played through many times with kb/m on PC and while it felt weird initially, it became second nature and by the end I was pretty good. When it came to PS+ and I got it for my Vita, my first thought was, "No way this can be played with analog sticks, it's too precise!" and then I realized how stupid that sounded considering the way I had been playing it was pretty shitty to begin with - digital 4-way movement and mouse for look, something an analog stick would be perfect for. Once again there was a learning curve but it became way easy to use way fast. I just got HM2 for PC and played a few levels with kb/m, but am tempted to hook up a controller to see how it feels. The only thing kb/m excels at is aiming, at least compared to the finicky nature of the tiny Vita sticks; on a full-size controller it should be better.

Should only be played on a Vita.

Hmm, rather poor timing considering the events tonight in Ferguson... cop killing in games always makes me feel a bit queasy. I know, I know, they're not real, blah blah. Still, makes me queasy.

@chunnnnnnnn said:

You people not playing this on PC with a mouse are craaaaa-zy.

The game is really much faster paced and precise on PC, not to say there's anything wrong with the console versions.

While I enjoyed playing on the vita as well, the frenetic play style a keyboard and mouse allows is the ideal way to play this kind of game. With greater precision, combat feels more freeform.

I don't think the "you use guns too much" criticism is too valid. it's more that guns are actually viable given the larger levels. It seems far more balanced this time around. I used 50/50 guns/melee throughout the game. Granted there are a few guns only levels, but the variety here is far greater than the first game.

The idea of playing "twin-stick shooter" style games with anything other than Mouse and Keyboard when you have the choice seems crazy to me. These games are essentially made for M&K. It's objectively superior.

On another note. Not sure how I feel about the AI still being braindead.

this game is fantastic, i'm digging what it's putting down the same as the first one.

Couldn't agree more man. Seeing people complain about this game has me scratching my head a little because so far i'm having a tooooooooon of fun!

Also, I freaking love Alex & Ash. The clunkiness of them makes it so much fun to play.