Do you like your ultraviolence to have that personal touch? Chris was enraged by Hotline Miami 2's propensity to shoot him from off-screen, but now the tools are here to fix that—or make it much worse.

In a blog post, Dennaton announced that the long-awaited level editor has finally made in into a beta state and can be downloaded now by opting into 'editor_beta' in your Steam Hotline Miami 2 beta preferences. Tutorials, helpfully, are already in place for your perusal. The downside to this beta build is that it doesn't include Steam workshop support, so sharing your creations is less than straightforward. Dennaton has recommended "any other way you can think of", but the Reddit level-sharing megathread might be a good place to start.

There wasn't originally any plan to include support for custom sprites, but modders have stepped up with rudimentary tools to plug the gap. The process is a little more involved than building the levels themselves, however, so you'll want to study the instructions yourself before wading in.

Most of us have finished Hotline Miami 2 (unless you're a law abiding Australian), so it's good news that the game's level editor is entering beta on December 10. It'll roll out on Steam exclusively, but it won't have Steam Workshop support from the beginning. In a blogpost announcing the rollout, a Dennaton spokesperson said Steam was preferable as it's an easier platform to debug for.

You won't need to pull any strings to get access to the beta: it's available to everyone without an invite, and all content is available from the start (though more features will roll out with time). On the otherhand, there's no guarantee levels made during the beta period will carry over to the final version, which is expected to roll out some time in January.

The studio did confirm that no custom music or sprite editors will feature in the editor. "If we let people get free music when they download levels we are viewed as a illegal file sharing tool," the spokesperson said. On the topic of sprite editors, apparently modders are already on the job. 

Fingers crossed the level editor can improve on what our reviewer Chris Thursten found to be a disappointing main game. "Restrictive design decisions sap the energy from a series that revels in it, and technical issues deal the killing blow," he wrote.