Hotline Miami

Today I finished Hotline Miami, a top down action game I picked up in the latest Humble Indie Bundle. I ended up spending 8 hours on the game and the whole time was an immensely enjoyable experience thanks to the game's challenge, music, and unique aesthetic feel.

Gamespot has a good video review up that's worth watching if you want more information. The challenging nature of the game reminded me of Super Meat Boy, and Gamespot makes the same exact comparison. A single blow kills you, so you have to plan carefully to surprise your enemies or lure them into traps. Any misstep results in death and forces you to restart the level. However, much like in Super Meat Boy, the constant replaying is less a frustration and more a challenge. You have to perfect the execution of every aspect of a level in order to beat it, and when all the pieces finally click, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is intense.

Besides fun gameplay, Hotline Miami offers an original feel that I think can best be described as neon grime. The story is (sort of) about Russian mob violence, so there's your grime, but the soundtrack is a throbbing techno dance mix heavily inspired by the 80s that creates the neon feel. The music, by the way, is excellent and won two awards in 2012. Vivid colors and surreal storytelling create a trance that fits perfectly with the frenzied repetition that's required to beat the game. Also, the game is gory. Really gory.

This is one of the least gory gameplay pictures I could find. 

A quick note about the Humble Indie Bundle: if you're not buying them, you're crazy. Each bundle comes with a handful of indie games for which you can pay whatever you want, even if that's only one cent. If you pay at least a dollar, you get codes to put the games on steam. If you pay more than the average, which is usual 5-8 dollars, you get a few extra games, soundtracks for the games, and other goodies. No matter what you pay, all the games are DRM free and your links to download them will be permanently stored on an account at the humble bundle website. It's often worth paying above the average when some truly excellent games appear, and it's always worth paying a dollar to get 5 or 6 new games on Steam. You can sign up at the link to learn when the next bundle comes out, and they constantly have weekly sales.