What started off as a glorious stress-reliever turned into something much more.
The game is set in 80's Miami and you play as an ambiguous individual who receives phone calls from his apartment every now and then by a mysterious caller to basically raid a territory belonging to groups of gangsters, a lot of the time being the Russian Mafia, and liquidate the residents there. You are then given the choice of what animal mask to wear, each which has its own unique abilities. As an old-school GTA-Style tribute, the gameplay is 16-bit and top-down, albeit a lack of sandbox-style world. Each level requires you to annihilate all your enemies there as quickly as you can with fast stealth and attacks, which makes the game a downright challenge; allowing you to die with the same amount of hits as your foes, which is only 1 or 2 bullets/smashes to be exact. Weapon placements are randomised and allow you to blast or strike your enemies in an endless variety of nastily graphic ways (there is even an ability to repeatedly smash an enemy's head if they're lying on the ground). By the time your mission is complete, you leave the area and are shown your level high score.
Despite the gratuitously violent nature of the game, it is very remarkable in the story-telling department. A number of surreal sequences come into play as you progress through, and the dialogue is nicely written with a great deal of characterisation. Once you complete the game, you unlock an additional few levels for a new storyline where you play as one of the villains you previously fought, and his perspective of the events. There you get answers to what this story was really all about (assuming you also unlock the puzzle in the 'pause' menu). I won't spoil them, but it offers a striking twist to the reasons behind your assignments and fit really well in the context of your past violent actions.
The fact that the graphics are 16-bit basically says it all; that the visuals are old-school, but acceptable. However, the real technical strength lies in the soundtrack. Filled with 80's electronic style, the music has such a strong contribution to the game's experience, whether it's setting the atmosphere of Miami or just the theme songs for each of the levels. The tunes are always catchy and are a great tribute to what was a great era in Western music. The atmosphere is only made more effective when once you defeat all enemies in a level, the music completely vanishes to a slow ambience that gives an eerie feel as you stare at the aftermath of the gory carnage you enjoyed inflicting while the catchy beats were playing.
It's unfortunate that this is otherwise excellent game still fell victim to the common criticism that we have "too many 8/16-bit games, so developers are just getting lazy". There is nothing wrong with technical tribute to old-school; in fact, it's more refreshing than yet another brown FPS that offers nothing new whatsoever. Not to mention the fact that were the graphics fully 3D, this would garner a lot more controversy for its violence. Hotline Miami is an extremely fun action/stealth experience that not only makes for great stress relief, but succeeds in telling a smart story throughout. Undoubtedly there is replay value to be had. If you like fast-paced shooting games with good challenge, atmosphere, and can stomach a bit of excessive violence, then this is the game for you.