omg @hotlinemiami is $5 for the next [4 days] buy it you fools

injurai said:
this game looks so so... whats all the fuss
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The game's got a fantastic sense of style - like Miami Vice on acid, or a horror movie version of Vice City. It's got a soundtrack that's frankly second to none this year, and a dirtied/polluted/desaturated vision of the neon-and-pastels 80's look that lilts back and forth as you move. The result is really wonderfully offputting - it's simultaneously glitzy and gaudy but also unnerving and grungy. The entire aesthetic sets up the undertones of something being wrong that you can't put your finger on that's carried forward through the narrative.

Part of what makes that undercurrent of something being wrong work so well is that the gameplay goes out of its way to not have the same tones as the rest of the game. It's polished pretty tightly to be an addictive and highly lethal action game. I've heard it referred to as an action/puzzler, but that's not really fair to the game. It's not so much that there's one solution that works so much as there's lots of solutions that don't work. Figuring out which rooms to attack when with what weapons in ways that fit your playstyle is a lot of what drives this game. Combine that with crazy lethality (you die nearly instantly) and levels take on a bit of a Super Meat Boy quality to them. There's enough strategy in mask selection, weapon selection, and approach that it's less of a puzzler and more of a strategic action game.

The result is a game that makes the act of slicing, shooting, and pounding dudes into bloody piles of flesh feel super engaging and thrilling while presenting those murders in the context of a game that tries to make you uncomfortable with those actions. The whole thing culminates in
at least three individual endings (not three separate endings; the game literally has three different stopping points), each of which serves to inform the game's commentary on the role of narrative and whether the violence was justified.

Ultimately it's a really fun game with a slick style that has just enough vague metaphors, narrative gaps, and metacommentaries for art game folks to have taken an additional interest in it.
 
Zeliard said:
Heed the words of The Mighty Campster.
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Jokes.

My biggest (and really only) pet peeve is when people come into a thread for a game they don't immediately (and often don't want to) understand the appeal of and ask, "Why do people like this?" ... in a thread with answers littering every single page ... on the Internet.
 
Bought it. Been wanting to try this for awhile, I'm a sucker for that 80's Miami vibe this game has. The style and music is awesome.
 
Any way to force vsync. mother fucker tears like a bitch on my 4890.

So i blasted into a room, grabbed his crowbar. let it fly at a guy running into the room with a shotgun. HIts him right in the face, blood running down his face as he falls to the floor. I dash around the corner and a poor guard shits himself as he trys to pull up his pants on the toilet as my foot meets his face. a shotgun slides off of his lap as he fades to black, i pick it up and feel its cold death. I see the silhouette of man getting up off the ground through the fogged bathroom walls. The shot rings off as pellets rip through his skull. I keep pushing through the apartment, i hear footsteps on the other side of a door. The wood cracks, as it meets the man on the other side. My gun sings. All is well with this house as i stroll out to my delorean. All is well.

Thats what playing this game feels like. Buy it. Now.
 
Zia said:
So what makes this game good?
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It's a top down action-puzzler-murder simulator with instant deaths and reloads. When you get a room right it feels like a Michael Mann movie

The soundtrack is great and there's enough iteration between deaths for it not to feel entirely samey
 
Tearing/sync stutter is pretty common in GameMaker. I didn't get tearing on the display I played through this on, but I was getting the occasional stuttery bits.
 
I asked this in the Steam sale thread, but this is a better place for it. Does the game have a lot of replay value?
 
It will vary, but I think it takes most people something like 3.5 hours.

If you like those hours enough to play for score, there's that.
 
GK86 said:
Does the game have a lot of replay value?
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It's designed to be replayed a LOT. There are hidden unlocks to be found on every level, several endings, missable plot things, each level has a ranking system and points are awarded based on a combo system and for using different weapons and general behaviour. It's very arcade like in design and can be played in bit sized chunks or something more substantial if you want. Potentially you could probably complete the game in the most basic way in an hour if you're good, but it's not really designed as a "one and done" kind of game.
 
GK86 said:
I asked this in the Steam sale thread, but this is a better place for it. Does the game have a lot of replay value?
Click to expand...
There's a hi-score aspect, a grading system (tied to achievements), also secret puzzle bits hidden in every level and masks that change up the gameplay as unlockables.

So yeah, I'd say while the initial playthrough will probably be relatively short (couple hours tops), there's some replay value to be had here.

edit: ^
^ what he said
 
Strummerjones said:
It's designed to be replayed a LOT. There are hidden unlocks to be found on every level, several endings, missable plot things, each level has a ranking system and points are awarded based on a combo system and for using different weapons and general behaviour. It's very arcade like in design and can be played in bit sized chunks or something more substantial if you want. Potentially you could probably complete the game in the most basic way in an hour if you're good, but it's not really designed as a "one and done" kind of game.
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Haunted said:
There's a hi-score aspect, a grading system (tied to achievements), also secret puzzle bits hidden in every level and masks that change up the gameplay as unlockables.

So yeah, I'd say while the initial playthrough will probably be relatively short (couple hours tops), there's some replay value to be had here.

edit: ^
^ what he said
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Sweet. Thanks guys. The soundtrack alone was going to push me, but the replay factor has sealed the deal.
 
Games rules. Hard as hell but so euphoric once you crack an area, and each hit feels so meaty and satisfying. Best soundtrack this year too.
 
Not having a lot of fun with this game. I really don't like the frequent insta-deaths or the way you aim weapons or the way enemies come immediately flooding to you as soon as you fire a gun.

I'm also starting to get tired of clearing an area, then getting murdered by one straggler enemy, then having to clear the whole area again.

I'm going to keep trying for a little while, but it just isn't any fun to play.
 
border said:
Not having a lot of fun with this game. I really don't like the frequent insta-deaths or the way you aim weapons or the way enemies come immediately flooding to you as soon as you fire a gun.

I'm also starting to get tired of clearing an area, then getting murdered by one straggler enemy, then having to clear the whole area again.

I'm going to keep trying for a little while, but it just isn't any fun to play.
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This is what I fear my reaction will be - I'm sure it's amazing, but even at $5 I'm hesitant. Games loaded with instadeaths, where one will typically have to play the same level over and over and over to master the technique just aren't my cup of tea (see Super Meat Boy et al.)
 
Bought into the hype and got it today. Got hit with the "No Music" bug after firing it up for the second time, but I was able to fix it for now. Game itself is fantastic so far. Love how it isn't just about fast, frantic, gruesome violence, but also requires you to do some strategic planning before tackling a floor. Can't just charge into a room with a gun every time and hope to succeed. Some light stealth elements are thrown in and everything as a whole just works so well together.

Maybe best of all is this soundtrack. God damn it's terrific. Really nice to see individual OGG files in the game folder so you can listen to them whenever you want. Miami Disco might be my favorite track.
 
I bought it.... but I also bought eight other games (Chivalry, Borderlands, McPixel, Mark of the Ninja, etc) Which one should I play first? Hmmm..
 
Brilliant game, best I've played this year. Soundtrack is awesome, and the gameplay is so wonderfully simplistic and focused. It's trials meets gta vice city meets zombies ate my neighbors meets rainbow six...

Fantastic!
 
SmashN'Grab said:
Brilliant game, best I've played this year. Soundtrack is awesome, and the gameplay is so wonderfully simplistic and focused. It's trials meets gta vice city meets zombies ate my neighbors meets rainbow six...

Fantastic!
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WHAT?!?!??!? Why didn't I heard this before? This is the best comment I've read about the game. 3 awesome games combined into one? How could I pass now after knowing this?
 
Do the unlocked weapons just randomly appear or do you need to do something to get them? I thought I'd found a katana on the ground in the 4th or 5th chapter, but it turned out to be a pipe wrench or something.
 
The soundtrack is amazing, even if you're slightly drunk and lying in bed with a laptop. Doing that right now. Buy the game right now if you want to experience it!
 
Good game, but people spouting GOTY are overrating the shit out of it, imo.

The gameplay is very simple, and beating the game is honestly pretty easy to do in a short amount of time, but scoring high takes some serious skill.

The story, though cliched was heading in an interesting direction before they tried to do too much and the whole fucking thing falls apart.
Yes I did both endings, getting the letters actually was even a dumber ending

Yet, value to dollar it's a great pickup.

I just didn't think I'd be done with it so quickly, and have no wanting to revisit, even though did enjoy my time I spent with it.
 
Clearing a floor quickly using all the weapons provided for you feels so good. Just got my first A+ and damn was it satisfying
 
this game is more important than mario. any attempt to mechanically de-construct the game in to a sum of its parts misses the point entirely. it's a pulp experience, an acrid leather jacked with dried puke down the sleeve and a gram of coke in the pocket. a hazy recollection of the night before with only a black eye and a bout of herpes to show for it.

i've never wanted to wear mario.
 
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