Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a second installment in a brutal, independent series of top-down action games, which debuted on the market during the fall of 2012. The game was developed by Dennaton Games, the same team which created the prequel – Hotline Miami, also including the main designer of the game – Johnatan “Cactus” Söderström. Hotline Miami 2 was released on PC, PlayStation consoles and mobile Android devices. As was the case with the predecessor, a controller and devices from Nvidia Shield series are required to play the mobile version of the game.

Plot

When it comes to the plot, Wrong Number is a continuation of the story from Hotline Miami, and in order to uphold the tradition, the atmosphere of the game has become even more grim and depressing, although the script does not shun the black humour, known from its predecessor. During the campaign, we are able to play as thirteen characters, and every one of them is immeasurably different than the rest. The plot continues after the events from the previous game, whose protagonist (Jacket) had been arrested, and his murders are the stuff of legends. The story is narrated from the perspective of many characters, and treats, among others, about the shooting of a film based on the history known from the previous game, the followers continuing the work of the jailed Jacket, or the journalist who investigates the whole story. All the plot lines, albeit loosely connected at the beginning, start to link and join into one coherent entity as the game progresses.

Mechanics

The basic systems of the gameplay on PC, PS4 and etc. weren’t subject to any major changes. Once again, we control the action from the top-down view, while the task of the controlled psychopath is to undertake a series of dangerous missions. Most of them boils down to killing every enemy in the vicinity. During a mission, we can use a wide range of weapons, and various elements of the environment. Some tasks require a bit more subtle approach, more in a style of stealth games. Similarly to the predecessor, there is no leniency for our “heroes”, and a very hard difficulty mode has been implemented for the biggest fans of the game. Most of the time, one well-aimed blow or shot is enough to kill our character, forcing us to repeat the level. The mechanic of masks, known from the previous game, is here as well. Wearing them, our hero receives additional bonuses, but also limitations, beefing up the gameplay.

Technical aspects

The developers from Dennation Games decided not to tamper with the audiovisual layer too much, which has become a trademark of the predecessor. Because of that, visually Hotline Miami 2 on PC, PS4 and etc. is almost exactly like the previous game, with the characteristic, pixelated visual style. In comparison with the predecessor, Hotline Miami 2 improves the control system. The soundtrack includes over 40 “aggressive” musical tracks, including the independent performers, like M|O|O|N, Perturbator, Jasper Byrne, Scattle and El Huervo.

Last updated on 21 November 2014