#jonatan soderstrom

Two major mechanical changes occur in the Hawaii levels of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number that require the player to completely rethink their approach; A) the limitation of their weapon, which they choose at the start of the mission and must keep throughout the whole encounter, and B) the open surroundings of the areas they are entering, allowing the player to approach different closed buildings from multiple directions. The weapon limitation allows the placement of ammo caches and high-health enemies to take on a much more intense importance, with the latter making the baiting and attack-retreat approach of some areas absolutely necessary for these ones.

During the First Trial section of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, the player controls a character who is generally averse to death and killing, and early on, they are shown resuscitating an enemy they had beaten down. Throughout this section, the player is unable to quickly performing killing blows or use ranged weaponry- they can only use their fists, doors, or blunt weapons to incapacitate enemies. This is incredibly effectively reinforced by one additional aspect- rather than providing a 1000 point bonus for performing excessive violence, the game instead gives this to the player when they pick up guns, which they quickly disassemble or empty of their ammunition, making them useless to enemies.

It takes very little to kill or be killed in Hotline Miami- one or two bullets, a knife, even a well-slammed door can get the job done. This applies to the player and their enemies, but what makes this engaging is that it matches the extreme speed that everyone is able to move at. With no resistance, the player can run from one side of the largest map to the other very quickly- and closing the gap between themselves and any given enemy is a small feat. This speed, coupled with the brittleness of every character, means that the player is constantly playing the odds, trying their hardest to not be taken out while also rushing to take out any enemies in their way as fast as possible. 

The masks that the player can unlock throughout Hotline Miami are vastly different in terms of of their usefulness for different kinds of players. While masks like George will let the new players see more of their given surroundings at any one time, Charlie or Zack, who give more melee weapons and extend your score multiplier respectively, may be more useful for more experienced players. But ultimately, the masks are meant to augment the player, with the acknowledgement that some are blatantly more useful than others. Thus, it’s up to the players to determine how they want their experience to go.

Gods among mere mortals

Hotline Miami | Dennaton Games | 2012