Good Game, Bad Sequel | Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Review
The Sequel That Takes Steps Backwards and Plays Like A Prequel
The Sequel That Takes Steps Backwards and Plays Like A Prequel
A good game, filled with banging music tracks, hardcore violence, and that delicious trademark breach and clear gameplay. While ultimately a disappointing sequel, it still makes for an easy recommend to fans of the original looking for more Hotline Miami.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a great video game. The soundtrack pulses, as you optimize your killing routes through well-designed levels, using fun weapons and tactics that never get boring in the duration of its run time. Despite the ire I’ve read online about it, Hotline Miami 2 is overall a fun game that I ultimately recommend. But like many others, I am disappointed with some of the directions the sequel takes, and have much to say about it on that front.
‘Dennaton Games’ doubles down on two things for this sequel… Narrative, and game length. The narrative is serviceable enough, you have some interesting character beats, and from what I understand, it’s supposed to give context to some, if not all, of the happenings in the first game. This is done quite well, even though there is about double the exposition as compared to the original Hotline Miami, there’s still plenty of mystery to keep it interesting. The timeline being a bit difficult to track is probably something some YouTuber has covered in an hour-long video that I feel I’d have to go out and watch to understand anything, and I see that as a positive aspect about the game.
That being said, while intriguing overall, when you’re in the middle of playing the game getting these narrative pieces first hand, it’s hard to interpret it any further than its introductory sequences that explain why a character is where they’re at, because it is too confusing to keep track of. This is compounded with the longer the game goes on, which resulted in me becoming less and less interested in reading the dialogue, and more interested in skipping to the parts of the game I could actually play. Take from that what you will. Several storylines with an air of mystery, is a novel concept, and playing back to back against the first game certainly explains some things, but it’s just a bit too convoluted to consume and digest if that’s not the primary reason you’re playing.
The game will have you playing intermittently as a few different characters. Each character has around four different play styles to choose from, which all play as different masks, akin to the first game. Four per character doesn’t read like a lot on paper, but because of how many times they have you switching characters, you’ll never feel like you’re always playing the same one for every encounter. I personally enjoy the full bore approach of the original over this new system, which lets you pick ANY play style you want at the beginning of each mission. But understandably, restricting player choice in play styles here in Hotline Miami 2 makes certain segments feel much more ‘tailor made’. Meaning that the environments, enemy placements, and weapons, have been designed to synergize more specifically with the restricted play styles, as compared to making a game, where every play style is accessible.
You’d think this would unanimously lead to a better gameplay experience. For some segments, it certainly is. But this decision's biggest cascading change is that Hotline Miami 2 doesn’t feel like an ‘arcade’ style game anymore, hurting its replayability value. If given the option, I would pick the old way every time. Even if I gravitate towards the same two to four masks. Had the developers not been committed to such a cinematic approach for this sequel, or changed the method of their story-telling, it could have been different. But unfortunately, the game's narrative structure is married to how the game is played from moment to moment, all the way up through the end credits. I find that decision a bit detrimental, not enough to dislike the game, but to where I definitely prefer the original. Your opinion may vary.
While we’re on the topic of nitpicks, here’s my last one. Some of these enemies have eagle eyes. I was constantly using the ‘look’ feature to peer into the distance to see if I would be taken out by some dude with a pistol or even a shotgun. I could see how a sniper type enemy off-screen could perhaps see me from so far away, but the vision cones of your basic enemies I feel has been tweaked to be too high. What ends up happening because of this, is you will get into a fire fight from opposing edges of the entire stage. I found myself blind firing back into the distance just to see if I could get some cheap kills and somewhat benefit from being seen so quickly.
To a degree, I feel like long range gun play is the antithesis of the entire game design around Hotline Miami, where it shines brightest when you’re fighting in tight spaces. It wouldn’t surprise me if the developer didn’t want to be restricted to the tight spaces niche, as some stages are so open that a melee only approach is practically impossible. You could try, but the enemies that will spot you from across the room and off-screen, will have the leg up on you, and you will unfairly die. There’s no way to counter their range. You might have a handful of different play styles to pick through masks in this game, but unfortunately, your primary strategic option is to bait enemies through sound or sight around walls and corners, and kill them one by one. This makes the entire experience, even across different characters, with different skills, feel very similar.
Hotline Miami 2 took me about 6.5 hours to roll credits, which is a substantial jump in length as compared to the 2 hours it takes to do the same in the original. Of those, if I had to break it down, 5 hours is true gameplay, and 1.5 hours are scripted sequences, cutscenes, and reading dialogue. There’s a part of me that loves how much there is to play, and every level feels like it belongs in the Hotline Miami franchise for one reason or another. But for whatever reason, even thought it’s only 6.5 hours, it feels long and tedious… Not really a surprise because of how many negative things I have to say about the game, but despite it all, almost paradoxically I have really enjoyed playing Hotline Miami 2. If I had to guess why, it would be that I’m simply happy to play more of this type of game, despite the nitpicks.
Ultimately, am I glad I played Hotline Miami 2? You bet. Am I glad it exists? Yes sir. Will I be obsessing over the soundtrack and incorporating it into my personality for the next 10 years? Absolutely. The bottom line is that Hotline Miami 2 does just about everything its predecessor did, which is the core of what makes it a great game. It’s unfortunate that as a sequel, it takes some steps back through some failed experimental changes. But I’m still glad it exists. While very mixed about it, I did have fun, which is why I recommend it. It’s hard to dislike that signature, addicting, “breach and clear” formula, but it’s so disappointing to play what feels like a step-down from the original game, and see the potential of what could have been through the seams of its mistakes.
Originally published at https://backloggd.com.