4.5/5 ★ – Kalle_Deimos's review of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.

TLDR: Look carefully at the "I really wish I was playing Hotline Miami 2 right now" button! Gameplay: I was playing Hotline Miami and was thinking "damn i don't remember this being so finnicky" and was worried I misremebered my time with both games. And then I played 2 and remembered that this is where I spent all my time. Compared to the first game, Hotline Miami 2 is under such a different scope. It's MASSIVE. Hotline Miami had one setting and not a bunch of variety. 2 has so much variety it's staggering. Every character / character level changes the gameplay. The Fans have 4 choices. Corey can roll, Tony has killing fists but can't equip weapons, Mark starts with dual submachine guns and 128 rounds of ammo, and Alex & Ash have an ice-climbers style mechanic where you control Ash with a chainsaw and Alex with ranged weapons. This is amazing and I can't understate how cool it is. And that's just the fans. Jake has 3 snake masks with different abilities, most notably lethal throws. Beard has 5 guns that become your permanent loadout for the level. The Son's abilities mirror The Fans, Manny Pardo starts the level with a shotgun and he can do this weird one-handed gun stance with unique gun executions. Richter actually doesn't get anything but The Henchman starts with a silent pistol and Evan Wright has a "non-lethal" gimmick to him that is interesting. You can only used blunt weapons and any guns Even picks up will be unloaded and made useless for anyone to use. OR, you can go lethal on your executions, go into a rage, take off your jacket and start killing mfers and that's sick. Basically what I'm saying is that this is nuts. You're fighting new enemies, in new settings instead of the same gang hideout. Even the most inconspicuous levels have something interesting happening. And I love it all. Even the levels I don't like, I now like. The level design is so good, the gameplay feels so good. I don't know if they even changed anything about that, the level design might just better suite the gameplay now because I was rarely ever frustrated with Hotline Miami 2. And the story is even better. Story: I liked the story a lot 10 years ago, but now I truly love it as I believe it's something real special. We see the stories of all these characters during our journey and how they pass each other by and collectively make the world much much worse. An aspect of the story I enjoyed as an adult is how all of the characters are all bad people on different levels of the spectrum. Except Beard. The Fans are thrill-seekers who look to kill people for any reason, shallow or not. Pardo is a classic (almost stereotypical) crooked cop. Jake is an ultra-nationalist who uses his "patriotism" as a reason to slaughter Russians. My personal favorite character is Richter, the rat masked man from the first game, who we see as a sympathetic character who just wants to look after his mother but is co-erced into helping the 50 Blessings. Every character feels significant, every plot point and small detail is important to the end. It's glorious. You may need some help due to how the narrative jumps around but it's worth understanding. And of course the ending, the most conclusive of an ending you can get. The setting was always interesting in Hotline Miami, but now the plot matches it and it puts in the WORK. I do believe as far as the story is concerned, it's a masterpiece. Graphics: The first game but much better. So many more sprites and beautiful animations. Once again, I can't believe how legible the game is from a top-down sprite perspective. I was able to see EGGS grilling on the fucking STOVE which were represented by a total of maybe 6 pixels MAX. Sound: Absolutely baller soundtrack. Each level has it's own theme and helps with it's vibe tremedously. Just play the game man honestly. My personal favorite is Beard's second level. Extra: Plenty of secret achievements to find. And also a HARD MODE. And I do believe it's the perfect challenge for a player who can't get enough. Favorite Thing: That one goon that tries to talk to you after you flood the sink while on drugs in the final mission cuz he goes fhirierhdhjsiwjehrdhdhdh Close second goes to the goon who gives you the shotgun later in the level and worms his way through the hallway. Not My Favorite Thing: Some starts to Hard Mode levels were blatently unfair...yet I can't be too mad because when I accomplished it. I was a god.