Thought I’d write a quick post on this most standout indie game. I’m planning on writing a bit more in the coming months about other games, some critiques, some reviews, some gushing “omg that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen” type of blabber. So here comes the first one:
I have to admit, I didn’t always think this looked all that hot – I saw some gameplay at Rezzed and wrote it off as ‘yet another pixel art shooter’. Then I saw it got best at show. “Judges are so easily pleased I guess” I mused to my superior taste wielding self(?) But my interest was piqued and I started to learn a little more. I still wasn’t too sold, the gameplay looked cool but still, it looked like just another violent top down shooter of some kind, and these days I grow ever more tired of the same old stuff (or so I tell myself).
Then I played it at Eurogamer, finally. I actually played it twice – first time I didn’t even bother putting on headphones, and I picked up where someone else left off. I think they were a ways through and I had no tutorial to help me out, so I was killed so, many, times. I had only just got to Eurogamer so I got up and played some other games.
I returned again after seeing everything else, determined to give it one last “proper chance”, with head phones on, from the beginning. This made all the difference – I was quickly transported into Hotline’s psychadelic, dream-like world. I wanted to know who I was, who was I talking to, and the story sucked me in. The music, the sound, the graphical style and the writing is all art, and of course the face-stomping violence sets it all off. And then there’s the masks, each one its own lovingly crafted, horror-weird item seamlessly blending Hotline’s style with some great gameplay choices.
One of the things I admire the most about Miami is the way it almost naturally markets itself. It’s not just another pixel art game with the same old look – the colours, effects, character/mask styling all put it into its own category. The 80’s/hotline/miami words conjure up that place in time, describes the story and at the same time creates its own droolworthy little marketing angles that Devolver/Dennaton (they seem like old childhood friends?) have polished to a shine. 1800 numbers on its website, glorious 80’s colours, and lately even some live action trailers. How can you go wrong? The game and theme both do sell themselves, but then they are pushed so much farther! It even feels a little like the developers and the game itself have some mystery surrounding them. You don’t just get a feature list on the website, they give you a splattering of weird game themed stuff and a trailer, and even their blog is a little that way, its all… very strange.
I highly recommend you pick this game up, install, turn off the lights and stick on your headphones, loud! It’s currently on Steam right hither: http://store.steampowered.com/app/219150/
Thanks Hotline Miami, for teaching me I’m not yet above “generic top down shooters” or games with violence (lots and lots of it). But then, that’s not all the game is :)