Ah man, this one’s pretty good. A while back the producers at ComplexTV flew out to London to interview the reclusive developers of Hotline Miami [official site]. You can watch the results below: A just-about 30 minute-long documentary telling the tale of how two Swedish hipsters created one of the greatest indie games of all time. One of the guys cries in it, so you know it’s good.

… [visit site to read more]

Adam’s already run his review of Dennaton’s sequel to neon-hued tactical murder party Hotline Miami, but while he’s a big fan, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number hasn’t been met with universal praise. Alec, more cautious about the game, joins Adam to discuss what may and may not be deliberate about its design choices, its bewildering story and its bugs.

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Live. Die. Repeat.

Live. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Die. Repeat.

Hotline Miami 2 [official site] is wonderful.>

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I’ve been a fan of lovely game-related tat in oversized boxes for some time, so here’s a thing that’s cool to me. RPS allies Gamer Network have announced a service for helping independent developers to create AAA-tier collector’s editions called Gamer’s Edition [official website]. They’re partnering up with Idea Planet Collectibles to allow devs and their fans to set the specifications and then crowdfund a one-off production load through pre-orders. The first games to get the GE treatment will be Papers, Please and a double pack of Hotline Miami and its sequel.

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It’s difficult to accept that Hotline Miami – the sound of the future – was three long years ago. It’s more difficult still to accept that there might not have been anything which put quite such a fire under me since. This foul-mouthed ‘guide‘ is one of my favourite things I’ve ever published here, and I’d love to know how to commune again with the part of me which made it. I can’t see Hotline Miami 2 [official site] doing it, because despite controversial content the surprise factor probably isn’t going to be there. I’m sure it will be an interesting evolution of HLM’s rhythmic brutality, but can it manage OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS again?

Anyway, there’s a free prequel comic out on Steam. I probably should said that to start with instead of picking fluff from my navel. … [visit site to read more]

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

The second game in this hyper-kinectic retro-violence series keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and I’m not at all willing to make any sort of judgement about all that until I’ve played the thing. What I do want to do is flashback to when Hotline Miami, Dennaton’s hallucinogenic Drive-like stealth-murder game came out of nowhere rather than was any sort of known quantity. I’d so love to be able to play it again with knowledge or association, to be back in that ‘what the hell is this / this is incredible’ mindset. … [visit site to read more]

This makes sense. Co-operative bank robbery manshoot Payday 2 is getting a new piece of DLC which is themed around the propulsive, topdown, ultra-violent manbeat Hotline Miami. It’s called Payday 2: Hotline Miami, and there’s a live-action trailer below which contains little detail, followed by some further sentences which contain similarly little detail.

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I’m not sure if Mother Russia Bleeds will set the world on fire, but it sure looks cool. It’s a beat-’em-up that I can verify with utmost certainty contains Russia and sloshing, spattering gallons of blood. Maybe there are mothers as well, but I can’t say for sure just yet. What I do know is that this one looks stylish as all get-out and violent as all something else, because they already used up every last drop of get-out on the style. The Hotline Miami influence is pretty overt, what with all the drug usage, psychedelic imagery, and adoration of the color pink. Impressive (and frighteningly violent) trailer below.

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Sometimes all you need is a headline.

A headline, and a death wish>.

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Oh my god, it’s a mirage, I’m telling you all it’s sabotage. Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” is apparently a big inspiration for LA Cops‘ overall attitude/look, but I’m even more pleased that it describes the top-down shooter strategy’s moment-to-moment gameplay. Inspired by Hotline Miami‘s gore-spattered thrills and (classic) Syndicate‘s cold strategizing, this one puts you in control of two hard-boiled eggs law enforcement professionals at any given moment. Positioning is key, but so are split-second smarts and reflexes. So you might, for instance, use one cop as bait and then run them right into a bullet firehose – aka, your partner. SABOTAGE. This looks like one to watch, and watch it you shall in a pair of videos below.

… [visit site to read more]