Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

[Alfons]

I stopped playing after a couple of levels. The first one was much better in terms of gameplay, and I don't really care about anything else. Huge floors, ton of enemies, and much more randomness results in a complete clusterfuck.
Can someone explain the plot? If I understand correctly the ending is world war 3 and everyone dies from a nuclear bomb.

 

[Sranchammer]

As usual, hype followed by dissapointment.

The Codex is Kotaku

 

[Ivan]

Finished it in 6 hours.
The soundtrack, for me, was good for what it was. Only 2 songs really stood out to me:



Fuck those who claim the levels are too big and thus make dying more of a chore. Checkpoints are still prevalent so I don't get this complaint. I liked the new "enemy types", the sniper rifle was pretty cool. This game really rewards planning ahead and rewards taking out enemies from a distance using careful aiming and positioning. Gonna start Hard mode now.

this fucking level

Spoiler

this fucking level

Spoiler

This fuckign moment

Spoiler

 

[Alfons]

Fuck those who claim the levels are too big and thus make dying more of a chore. Checkpoints are still prevalent so I don't get this complaint. I liked the new "enemy types", the sniper rifle was pretty cool. This game really rewards planning ahead and rewards taking out enemies from a distance using careful aiming and positioning.

Christ, what a load of shit. Yeah, I bought HM2 because I wanted to play a top down cover shooter. I imagine that by planning you mean standing near a corner popping out and shooting the horde that is running towards you, that's some amazing strategery. Checkpoints are prevalent? Well sure, you still get one every floor, only in the first game you had to kill around 10-20 people here it's usually 30-40. I see you didn't even touch on level design or the lack of it. How many levels are in this game which are basically open boxes with a few rooms?

 

[Ivan]

Alfons I wasn't responding to you. How far did you get into the game? The game hardly throws 30-40 enemies at you per room.

In terms of strategy, it reminds me a lot of Serious Sam in that you have to prioritize which enemies to take out first. Use guns to alert nearby enemies or throw melee weapons to stealthily take out enemies. I love some of the new enemy types, specifically the brute enemy who charges at you and can only be taken out if stunned, the samurai dude who dodges bullets. The prison chapter in particular is masterfully done. Keep at it man.

 

[Melan]

The swans are the best Fans by a long shot.

Except when shooty swan gets stuck on scenery or in doorways. Enemies can also go into a weird little infinite loop when they open doors, which didn't happen in part 1.

Difficulty ramps up very quickly. HM1 started by throwing the player into deep water; HM2 starts with sharks in the water and goes up from there.

The ratings also seem to be more strict. In HM1, I pulled As and Bs on my first successful attempts; here, I mostly get Cs and Ds. Or that embarrasing D-.

"Overrated" is a weasel word that means nothing except "poster is a self-important twit".

That's about it.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Surprised by how polarizing the game is. Personally, from what I've heard, I'm glad that I didn't pre-order the game. I like HLM1 for Jacket's gameplay but the Biker segments were so bad. When I heard that there are multiple characters in HLM2 I was afraid that only a part of them were going to have good gameplay and the rest would be crap. I was right.
The plot sounded pretty as well.

 

[Alfons]

Ivan, I'm pretty much done, the game bores the living fuck out of me. It's possible my complaints are rooted in nostalgia but after seeing some of my observations stated by other people I don't think they are. I also watched some dude play the later levels and it seems like the level of clusterfuck only get's higher with the solution being get a gun, lure enemies, shoot all the people running towards your location, get another gun, relocate, repeat.

 

[sser]

Well I for one quite like this game. I think it's a pretty big improvement over the original.

 

[Alfons]

Well I for one quite like this game. I think it's a pretty big improvement over the original.

In what way?

 

[sser]

Everything, pretty much. The level design is way, way better. The characters are interesting, especially the two-birds. Had a fucking blast with every segment they were in. The music is way better. The graphics are more focused, instead of the pure acid-trip that was the first game. The only level I've had an issue with thus far is the one where you gotta play the Tiger character. He's forced to melee which means ranged opponents fuck him up, so most of the level is spent 'baiting' characters to him. It really goes against the design of the game, IMO, and has so far been the weakest level.

Oh and,

Spoiler

The level where you're the reporter and can't use guns, but can disarm/unload them is fucking awesome. My favorite so far, along with the boat.

 

[Alfons]

Spoiler

The level where you're the reporter and can't use guns, but can disarm/unload them is fucking awesome. My favorite so far, along with the boat.

That guy has a mechanic that allows you to use lethal force. Knock someone down with a punch, spacebar, hit them until blood splatters everywhere, do this twice and he takes off his coat, after that he's pretty much like everybody else.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I had a look at the soundtrack given in the video on the last page (which has now been set to Private, good thing I saved it) and while the first track had a good thing going (Ms Minnie), the next 20 minutes afterwards felt like the bad kind of chiptune music, noisy and grainy.

That still leaves over 2 hours of music to go, though, so the jury is still out.

EDIT: I'll just a 'quick listen' track-by-track analysis here, but note that this is me listening to the tracks without context.

Ms. Minnie - Good
Le Perv - Good
Roller Mobster - Bad
The Rumble - Bad
Interlude - Meh
She Swallowed Burning Coals - Bad
Rust - Meh
Disturbance - Meh
Keep Calm - Meh
Run - Interesting
Hotline Theme - Good
Decade Dance - Feels like one of those tracks that's great but 'off' somehow.
Voyager - Aww yeah, this is HM1 stuff!
Blizzard - Good
Fahkeet - Bad
She Meditates - Meh
Mandalas is My Coffee - Meh
In the Face of Evil - Good
The Way Home - Short but sweet
Divide - More awesome HM1-level stuff!
Acid Spit - Has good parts, but not enough to save it, IMO
Slum Lord - Again, has some really awesome parts but still kinda meh
NARC - Good
Hollywood Heights - Reminds me of "Fletch" for some reason - which is good
Walking Around Aimlessly - Meh
Delay - Interesting
Dust - Meh
Quixotic - Interesting
Black Tar - Meh
Don't Cry For Me - Meh
Java - Meh
Future Club - Good
Sexualizer - Interesting
Technoir - Interesting
Bloodline - Meh
Remorse - Meh
Detection - Meh
New Wave Hookers - Good
Untitled (Life Companions) - Bad
Untitled (The Green Kingdom) - Bad

Going off this, the only 'band' that interested me was Perturbator.

EDIT: Also, this is not the entire soundtrack, will maybe hunt down the rest and give them a go later.

 

[sser]

Spoiler

The level where you're the reporter and can't use guns, but can disarm/unload them is fucking awesome. My favorite so far, along with the boat.

That guy has a mechanic that allows you to use lethal force. Knock someone down with a punch, spacebar, hit them until blood splatters everywhere, do this twice and he takes off his coat, after that he's pretty much like everybody else.

Sounds cool, though I think you got extra points for unloading the weapons. I can imagine some pretty cool score/speedruns on that level.

 

[Alfons]

Sounds cool, though I think you got extra points for unloading the weapons. I can imagine some pretty cool score/speedruns on that level.

I believe sticking with the non-lethal approach nets you more points in general.

 

[Jick Magger]

Mixed feelings on this one so far. Feels like it's taken everything I loved and everything I hated about the first Hotline Miami and multiplied them by ten. A new cast of characters, each with their own unique playstyle, but then forcing you to use some of them even when they're shit. The Writers' missions are a pretty neat and interesting approach to the normally ultra-violent gameplay, but the Hawaii missions take all of the worst gun-reliant levels of the first game and dial them up to eleven. Big, sprawling environments...that more often than not'll lead to you fucking up because an enemy with a gun whom you had no reasonable chance of seeing ran at you from outside the screen and filled you with holes. Lots of enemies...most of whom use guns and/or are supplemented by fat bastards, killing the pace of the combat and forcing you to resort to baiting tactics.

At least there aren't any goddamn bosses.

 

[Alfons]

At least there aren't any goddamn bosses.

Oh really?

 

[Jick Magger]

At least there aren't any goddamn bosses.

Oh really?

I'm only 4 or so hours in thus far, so far haven't encountered anyone I'd consider a boss. One or two unique enemies, maybe, but they didn't really require much more effort than the usual enemies.

Also forgot to mention: whoever in the design team thought that adding actual popamole sections to this game was a good idea needs a good hard slap around the fucking ear.

 

[Destroid]

If you want to know more about this genre of music, look no further than our very own newly made 80s music thread.

 

[Fronzel Neekburm]

This pretty much sums it up. Haven't finished it yet, but from what I've played to far, this deserves to have its Incline-tag removed. Soundtrack, art and atmosphere are everything I hoped for from this game. But the level design crosses the line from "challenging" right into "pain in the ass"-territory.

 

[Ulminati]

Still haven't played the first.

I think it's sitting in my steam from some bundle too. I just never got around to it. And with the amount of praise it has gotten by now, I'd probably end up dissapointed by anything short of Emma Watson showing up at my door to fellate me while I was playing.

 

[Ivan]

Looking at those maps, it makes it seem like, I don't know, the sequel was made with the knowledge that people beat the first one. I like how it takes off the training wheels and tosses you in challenging levels. Also, I like how the Hard mode is like those in Akrham, i.e. they remix the enemies you face.


also, gonna leave this here. boost yo speakers. call me old fashioned, but I enjoy the more subdued tracks

 

[Gulnar]

I guess someone took 'non linear plot' a bit too literally.
BTW: the last level is, at the same time, horrible and fantastic. At first i couldn't get what the fuck was happening, but then i related that each 'boss' has a striking similiarity to something else that was presente in the game before. Or rather... someone else.
The only thing that confused me was

Spoiler

the tiger. I mean, if each 'animal' in the final level trip are the fans, then shouldn't have tony the tiger survived? Wasn't he killed by the investigator? So why the fuck there's a giant tiger that's leaping in a corridor and that you must shoot? What the fuck?

 

[Phage]

I guess someone took 'non linear plot' a bit too literally.
BTW: the last level is, at the same time, horrible and fantastic. At first i couldn't get what the fuck was happening, but then i related that each 'boss' has a striking similiarity to something else that was presente in the game before. Or rather... someone else.
The only thing that confused me was

Spoiler

the tiger. I mean, if each 'animal' in the final level trip are the fans, then shouldn't have tony the tiger survived? Wasn't he killed by the investigator? So why the fuck there's a giant tiger that's leaping in a corridor and that you must shoot? What the fuck?

Your spoiler raises a good point, although it is important to remember that

Spoiler

the son was so fucking fucked out of his mind that he envisioned a giant rainbow bridge and jumped off the building... so there's a good chance that he just imagined the tiger, or saw another fan as the tiger

 

[Phage]

New patch fixed the shift look already just a little over 24 hours from launch. Now the babbies can't cry about that