Hotline Miami only works as a whole, and it doesn't hit you like a flavour; it builds up in your system like an intravenous solution.
Key events
19th June 2013
31st January 2013
Amazing crossover trailer imagines if all games were Hotline Miami
11th December 2012
26th November 2012
5th November 2012
23rd October 2012
8th October 2012
20th September 2012
30th August 2012
VideoWatch: Chris plays Hotline Miami for the first time, gets quite into violence
In this week's Late to the Party.
I've listened to the Hotline Miami soundtrack so many times I've only just started to love it again, having temporarily ruined almost every track through countless replays. As a result, I was pretty confident I knew what this game was all about. I've seen people play it before! It's vibrant and violent and the slightest mistake usually results in an abrupt death.
Half-Line Miami, a free fan-made crossover, is out now
Do you like hurting people, Mr. Freeman?
Half-Line Miami is exactly what you think it is: a combination of Half-Life and Hotline Miami. Developer Thomas Kole combines the gravity gun and setting of the former with the top-down gameplay of the latter.
Gamer Network launches crowdfunded collector's editions of cult games
Hotline Miami! Papers, Please! Hotline Miami 2!
Eurogamer owner Gamer Network has launched crowdfunded collector's editions of cult video games.
Gamer's Editions are premium collector's editions of previously digital releases, produced with their developers and special edition specialist Idea Planet.
Two Gamer's Editions have been announced: one for a Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2 double-pack, and another for Lucas Pope's dystopian document game Papers, Please. They will be made to order in one-off production runs fuelled by a crowdfunded pre-order system. Production begins only when there are enough orders to cover manufacturing costs.
Payday 2 is getting Hotline Miami crossover DLC this month
"Because we at Overkill f****** love Hotline Miami."
Payday 2 developer Overkill has announced that it's making Hotline Miami-themed crossover DLC for its heist shooter due on 30th September.
Hotline Miami action figures are selling like gangbusters on Kickstarter
From the company behind the Don't Starve plushies.
Last year toy company ESC-Toy launched a Kickstarter campaign to make plushies based on Don't Starve's adorable monster Chester. That campaign made more than 10 times its $15K goal. Now, ESC-Toy has teamed up with Hotline Miami developer Dennaton Games and publisher Devolver Digital to make a 1/6 scale 12 inch replicas of the first game's animal mask wearing protagonist, Jacket.
Hotline Miami hits PS4 next week
Let's you use the DualShock 4 touchpad for looking around.
Hotline Miami will arrive on PS4 on 20th August, publisher Devolver Digital has announced.
Sony has announced the games set to launch in April as part of the PlayStation Plus program over on the PlayStation Blog.
Hotline Miami 1 heading to PS4 as Cross-Buy
Heato gang.
The brilliantly brutal Hotline Miami 1 is heading to PlayStation 4, publisher Devolver told Destructoid at GDC.
There's a new indie game documentary
And it's called Super Game Jam.
Publisher Devolver Digital has announced a new indie game documentary that will come out alongside the release of the games it focuses on.
Get $50 GameMaker: Studio for free!
And make your own Hotline Miami.
Usually you have to pay $50 for it, but for a while the Standard Edition of GameMaker: Studio - a game making tool would you believe - is currently free.
Steam's Summer Sale is now live
75 per cent off Hotline Miami, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and Left 4 Dead 2.
Another year, another ridonkulous Steam Summer Sale. Between now and 22nd July a slew of games will have their prices dramatically slashed on a rotating basis.
FeatureHow Hotline Miami is like BDSM
Exploring the strange cruel world of Dennaton's hit.
"Let's start with preparation," says Miss Constance, a lifestyle dominatrix with 16 years experience who's asked to be credited with that pseudonym. "This means preparing your submissive psychologically for BDSM play, whatever that may constitute. It usually involves getting to a place of deep relaxation which makes the submissive docile and receptive to instruction, both verbal and physical.
How Hotline Miami plays on PS3 and Vita
More mind control madness with arguably better controls.
I have a confession to make: I loathe playing games on a PC. I know there are plenty who swear by it, but I'd take a gamepad or even Wii controller over a mouse and keyboard any day of the week. My index fingers and thumbs were made for gaming. My other six digits? Well, they'll do in a pinch, but generally don't like to be bothered to do more than keep a controller in my hand and help me carry groceries. So it was with a bit of sadness and resignation that I had to play Hotline Miami with a mouse and keyboard upon its initial launch on PC last autumn.
Hotline Miami hits PS3 and Vita next week
Priced at £7.29 / €8.99 / $9.99.
Everyone's favourite top-down f***-'em-up Hotline Miami is due on PS3 and Vita as early as next week for £7.29 / €8.99 / $9.99, developer Dennaton Games has announced.
FeatureThe party's over: Hotline Miami 2 preview
How Dennaton Games comes down from the hallucinogenic drug-fueled rage.
If Hotline Miami is like the electric throbbing nighttime cruise that opens Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, then Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number will be the melancholy, silhouetted knife fight montage that closes it. The first game from eccentric Swedish developer Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin at Dennaton Games was an exploration of neon rage whereas Wrong Number will be fuelled by an extra layer of sadness.
"We want to work with other emotions than just being disturbed or feeling awesome," says Dennaton Game's Dennis Wedin as he shows me the sequel in a nondescript trailer parked across from the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3. "We want to add a bit of sadness to the game, because this is the finale - this is the end for Hotline Miami."
"We want to work with that emotion: that all things end. How do you cope with that? It's also [the end] for the characters within the game. They will meet the end. Either of their lives, or their dreams, or their mission. We want to tell different stories about how you cope with that feeling."
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number surfaces at E3
Who's mask king?
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has surfaced at E3.
Humble Indie Bundle 8 might be the hottest one yet
Hotline Miami, Little Inferno, Proteus, Capsized, Dear Esther and more.
The eighth official Humble Indie Bundle is among us and it's a doozy.
Sony on Vita: "Sometimes you've had slow starts which have suddenly sprung into life"
Plus: "We've got more developer engagement on PS4 than for any previous console."
Has Sony given up on Vita? The big spend on big games appears to be over, save Killzone: Mercenary, and last week Sony predicted just 5 million Vita and PSP sales - combined - for the financial year ahead, which is significantly fewer than it managed during the year just ended. In other words, Sony expects things to get worse.
FeatureInside Sony's indie initiative: How the hardware giant is courting small-team talent
"It's not just about our policies, it's about our people."
The two-man developer Vlambeer knew it was on to something with its 2D dogfighting retro throwback Luftrausers. Its snappy pace and minimalist visuals seemed well suited for on-the-go gaming, but Vlambeer worried its control scheme would be compromised on mobile. Instead, the Netherlands-based developer decided it would be a perfect fit for the PlayStation Vita's widescreen and button input. So it did what any small studio would do - it worked on a pitch.
Hotline Miami unleashes its psychedelic rage on Mac
How do you like them apples?
Dennaton Games' cult classic top-down f***-'em-up Hotline Miami has finally emerged on Mac via Steam and GamersGate. Now all those times you've recommended it to Mac user friends will no longer fall on deaf ears.
Hotline Miami for Vita and PS3 this spring
Thank you.
Bloody glorious indie game Hotline Miami is coming to Vita and PS3 this spring, publisher Devolver and developer Dennaton have announced.
Amazing crossover trailer imagines if all games were Hotline Miami
Wreck it Richard or Hotline Miami vs. Your Childhood.
Youtube user PulpitPower has created one of the most clever, cohesive comedic crossovers of our time with Wreck it Richard (Hotline Miami VS. Your Childhood), a "what if?" scenario that imagines Dennaton Games' masked psychopathic protagonist co-existing with several of our most beloved retro (or at least retro-looking) properties.
Amazingly, the look of the made up hodgepodge of franchises looks remarkably consistent. Pac-Man's blue nemesis Inky looks rather suspicious on the other end of that phone, Link's health meter of hearts depletes with every thrashing, a car-chase/game of chicken through Frogger's highway fits comfortably with the fiction, and the massacre of Super Meat Boys set against the backdrop of Super Hexagon is such a psychedelic assault on the senses that it wouldn't have looked out of place in the actual Hotline Miami.
Sure it's no Hotline Miami 2, but some of these crossover ideas actually look pretty fun and one can't help but wonder if the actual sequel will take any inspiration from them. Check out Wreck it Richard below.
Hypnotic Hotline Miami soundtrack on sale, proceeds go to artists
Ain't, no, "Horse Steppin'". Oh there actually is.
Hotline Miami is all about its soundtrack, that stylish "sort of hazy neon electronica", as Tom Bramwell nailed it in his 10/10 review of the game.
The Hotline Miami sales story, and more
"I don't know what the f***'s going on in there but it's just amazing."
Exceptional top-down f***-'em-up Hotline Miami has sold 130,000 copies since launch seven weeks ago, publisher Devolver Digital told me today.
Project manager Graeme Struthers - "distinguished gentleman" to use his business card title - is "chuffed to bits" for the game's creators Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström and Dennis Wedin. "Those are some talented boys," he said.
But Struthers sighed windily about PC piracy, which ravaged Hotline Miami. "It has been torrented to such a staggering level, and given the file size of it, I mean, you can't really be surprised, right? You could pass this thing around on the world's smallest memory stick," he noted. "So it has been torrented to extraordinary levels."
Hotline Miami sequel announced
DLC gets expanded into a standalone game.
Hotline Miami creator Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström has officially revealed a sequel to his award winning colourful killing spree simulator.
The announcement came over Twitter where Söderström said, "Working while listening to the sweet tunes of a preliminary Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack that we've put together during the weekend."
When asked if by "we" he meant himself and Hotline Miami guest composer/indie game developer Jasper Byrne, Söderström clarified that he was simply referring to the studio, Dennaton Games.
The creators of Hotline Miami on inspiration, storytelling and upcoming DLC
Cactus was "afraid of the story not being confusing enough".
We here at Eurogamer are quite fond of a little game called Hotline Miami. Once described as a "top-down f***-'em-up," it follows the exploits of an animal mask-wearing man cruising the neon streets of Miami with a thirst for blood.
Hotline Miami update allows gamepad support
New level! More gore!
Hotline Miami has been updated to add gamepad support.
The developer noted that you'll need the newest drivers for an Xbox 360 controller to enable this feature. These can be downloaded here.
Unfortunately, to disable gamepad support you'll need to switch the controller to "off" in the options menu and restart your computer. "Otherwise the game might run with a small but constant slowdown until you do so," said the developer on its Steam page.
Hotline Miami creator helps pirates play his game
Gamepad support could be coming today.
Hisorically speaking game developers haven't been happy with people pirating the fruits of their labour, but that's starting to change. Last month McPixel creator Mikolaj "Sos" Kaminski supported those who sought to pirate his game and now Hotline Miami developer Jonatan Söderström is following suit.
FeatureSaturday Soapbox: Hard times are here again
And that's a very, very good thing argues Jon Denton.
It's been said in the past that Gears Of War is the most referenced game in all of videogames journalism, thanks to its tenets of cover, carnage and meat-headed chunkiness. I've been scouring the four corners of the globe's games writing in the past year, though, and I'd wager it's been replaced. Barely an article slides through a printing press or CMS back-end without the words Dark and Souls appearing next to each other at some point during the body copy.
UPDATE: Full soundtrack now available to listen to, but not buy.
Update: The full soundtrack is now available to listen to on Soundcloud.
Call now to avoid disappointment.
I've been trying to figure out what it is about Hotline Miami that really works on me, because something clearly does. Something made me play through it all in one go, which took about two hours, and then go into the kitchen for a glass of water, return to my desk, and play through it all over again.
Maybe it's the fact that I love super-violent top-down action games, because Hotline Miami is an immaculate super-violent top-down action game. You move through colourful buildings full of angry little guys, and each room is like that bit at the end of a Mexican standoff when someone pulls the trigger and everyone dies in a split second: you crash through a door, which knocks a guy to the ground, then sprint six feet to cut a guy's throat before he can raise his weapon, quickly throw the knife backwards as someone bursts through the doorway to investigate the commotion, and then straddle the guy you knocked out and smash his head to mush on the concrete floor. There is no time to think. There is no 'think'.
Or maybe it's because the controls and difficulty are so unforgiving that nine times out of ten you get killed instead, at which point you tap 'R' to restart the floor of the building you're on. The controls are just WASD, spacebar to straddle downed enemies, and the mouse buttons to pick up, use and throw weapons. But you and your enemies move so fast that even the best-planned encounters - the ones where you've lurked outside a door for half a minute and plotted everyone's downfall - often fall apart because you aren't Neo from The Matrix. But it's not frustrating; it's amazing slapstick fun. Stop thinking. Try again.
Hotline Miami release date 23rd October priced £6.99
This year's hot indie tip.
Indie darling Hotline Miami will be released 23rd October on Get Games for £6.29. (That's with 10 per cent off - the usual price is £6.99.)
Pre-order it at Get Games for the exclusive EXPOsed mission that was playable at the Eurogamer Expo.
Hotline Miami is the neon-coloured top-down f***-'em-up that scooped Rezzed Game of the Show this summer.
Hotline Miami debuts exclusive level at EG Expo
EXPOsed mission lets you wreak havoc across Earl's court.
Award-winning top-down f***-'em-up Hotline Miami is debuting an all-new exclusive mission at the Eurogamer Expo in London from 27th-30th September.
"The Eurogamer readers and staff have been big supporters of Hotline Miami since we first revealed it and we thought it would be pretty rad to make a custom level for the Expo," said developer Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström.
"Working outside the main storyline allows us to do whatever we want so I think attendees are in for something awesome."
EGXEurogamer Expo to host Rezzed PC and Indie Games Zone
Play Hotline Miami, Prison Architect, Natural Selection 2 and many others.
One of the things people said to us when we did Rezzed in Brighton in July was, "This is cool! Why don't you have something like this at the Eurogamer Expo?" And so, as part of our grand plan to make the Expo all things to all people, we're taking that on board and bringing Rezzed to the Expo show floor!
FeatureHotline Miami Preview: Beneath the Neon
We ring up the developers behind Rezzed's Game of Show on their own personal hotline.
If you haven't seen any of the trailers for PC indie action game (or "top down f***-'em-up", as EG's own Jeffrey Matulef described it) Hotline: Miami, you're in for a treat. Go take a peek.
What you're looking at is one part puzzle to two parts twitch combat and two parts hyperviolence. Shake over ice, strain into a highball glass, and watch as a bullet enters the drink from off-camera, shredding your hand. You are dead. Restart level, try again.
Each chapter in Hotline: Miami is a building packed with bad people and attack dogs. They're carrying knives, bats and many, many guns. That is to say, the people are carrying these things, not the dogs. Though that wouldn't be totally out of place in Hotline: Miami's world.
Top down f***-'em-up Hotline Miami will be coming to Steam, a new trailer has revealed.
EGXRezzed: Eurogamer's filmed walkabout of the show
Can you see you?
The inaugural Rezzed game show, organised by the people behind the Eurogamer Expo (you know, us), happened in Brighton earlier this month.
EGXEurogamer.net Podcast #119: Rezzed Erected
B-B-B-B-Bramwell, Bertie, Bom Bampion!
Today, on the Eurogamer podcast number 119, we have Bramwell, we have Bertie and we have Tom Champion.
Hotline Miami: brutal, bizarre, retro - a bit like the original GTA
Reality depends on the rubber mask you wear.
Hotline Miami is a top-down, retro inspired game that looks immediately similar to the old and original Grand Theft Auto games.
A top-down romp a bit like Grand Theft Auto was.
A top-down romp a bit like Grand Theft Auto was.
VideoHotline Miami video reveal: imagine the original GTA
Top-down, violent, cool.
Top-down, violent, cool.
