Took me a while to finish this because I was busy with other games and Take Over gave me a migraine, so, here we go.
The sequel more or less ditched the subtle storytelling for a more direct and melancholic experience. Starting with the title screen, you are greeted by what appears to be the charred and desolate remains of Miami with a sad tune that further accentuates the feeling of melancholy and helplessness.
There is no hope for salvation in the world of Hotline Miami for any of the characters.
Beginning with the Fans, who are a bunch of stupid lunatics who revel in the act of killing for killing sake to attain infamy in seeming admiration for the acts of Jacket in the first game. In one level, they take an odd job not in line with their motives, where they go "rescue" Ash's friend's sister from a bunch of hooligans. Ash thinks of this job as righteous, which is further established in the name of the song that plays in that level, "In the Face of Evil." (This is my favorite song in both games)
In their final level, they are brutally murdered one by one by two of the most reprehensible characters in the game, The Son and Pardo, even after Tony pleads for his life and was ready to accept his due punishment.
Next, we have Pardo. A corrupt cop with no morals, be it enjoying the act of killing and kills indiscriminately or divulging secret police information. In his final level, he is met with a strange dream where it is revealed that he was the Miami Mutilator, which was characteristically appropriate.
The Son is a reckless psychopath who doesn't fear going into enemy territory alone and doesn't think of anything other than expanding his reign. He meets a tragic end where he, quite literally, gets drunk on his own power and massacres his men, he is then plagued by monstrous visions of the Fans. At the end, he commits suicide by jumping from atop of his kingdom.
The Henchman tries to leave the life of crime behind and live a peaceful life with his girlfriend, but after doing his final job and taking the money back home, his girlfriend takes his money and leaves him behind. He then dies a meaningless death by the hands of the Fans. It seems ironic that The Son is the one who then kills them.
Jake is a stupid idiot who gets caught up by 50 Blessing's scheme and gets shot after he proved to be a liability to them.
Richter is also another character who tried to do right, the song that plays at the beginning of his levels are sad and quiet (another of my favorites), in contrast to the one that plays in Jacket's levels.
Don't have anything to say really about Evan or Beard, as they are both the only characters who were genuinely good people.
At the end of the game, after all the madness and misery, all the characters who were not killed, the ones who just wanted to spend their final days with their loved ones, the ones who wanted to open a convenience store after witnessing the horrors of war, the ones who already have no hope for themselves, are all vaporized by a nuclear bomb.
Richard: Looks like you've gotten yourself quite comfortable over here. You know what they say about good times, don't you?
Richter: Yeah. [...] Good times never last.
Richard: That's right. Soon this will all be over.
Richter: I had a feeling things would catch up with me. [...] Are they onto me?
Richard: Oh, no. This... This is much worse.
Richter: How long do I have?
Richard: You? You don't have much time. No one does.
Richter: There's nothing I can do about it, right?
Richard: No. By now there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Richter: Okay. No need to fight it then.
Richard: I'm glad you understand. [...] Leaving this world is not as scary as it sounds.
As for the gameplay, the levels were more open than the previous game which made it much more harder, and sometimes downright impossible, to play recklessly, which the game seemingly encourages.
I liked the variety of the different characters, especially the Fans. Ash & Alex were my favorite characters to play as.
The music is much better than the previous game with so many bangers.
Aside from some segments that gave me a stroke (the guy in Release, Take Over, Casualties), the game is pretty damn good.
The sequel more or less ditched the subtle storytelling for a more direct and melancholic experience. Starting with the title screen, you are greeted by what appears to be the charred and desolate remains of Miami with a sad tune that further accentuates the feeling of melancholy and helplessness.
There is no hope for salvation in the world of Hotline Miami for any of the characters.
Beginning with the Fans, who are a bunch of stupid lunatics who revel in the act of killing for killing sake to attain infamy in seeming admiration for the acts of Jacket in the first game. In one level, they take an odd job not in line with their motives, where they go "rescue" Ash's friend's sister from a bunch of hooligans. Ash thinks of this job as righteous, which is further established in the name of the song that plays in that level, "In the Face of Evil." (This is my favorite song in both games)
In their final level, they are brutally murdered one by one by two of the most reprehensible characters in the game, The Son and Pardo, even after Tony pleads for his life and was ready to accept his due punishment.
Next, we have Pardo. A corrupt cop with no morals, be it enjoying the act of killing and kills indiscriminately or divulging secret police information. In his final level, he is met with a strange dream where it is revealed that he was the Miami Mutilator, which was characteristically appropriate.
The Son is a reckless psychopath who doesn't fear going into enemy territory alone and doesn't think of anything other than expanding his reign. He meets a tragic end where he, quite literally, gets drunk on his own power and massacres his men, he is then plagued by monstrous visions of the Fans. At the end, he commits suicide by jumping from atop of his kingdom.
The Henchman tries to leave the life of crime behind and live a peaceful life with his girlfriend, but after doing his final job and taking the money back home, his girlfriend takes his money and leaves him behind. He then dies a meaningless death by the hands of the Fans. It seems ironic that The Son is the one who then kills them.
Jake is a stupid idiot who gets caught up by 50 Blessing's scheme and gets shot after he proved to be a liability to them.
Richter is also another character who tried to do right, the song that plays at the beginning of his levels are sad and quiet (another of my favorites), in contrast to the one that plays in Jacket's levels.
Don't have anything to say really about Evan or Beard, as they are both the only characters who were genuinely good people.
At the end of the game, after all the madness and misery, all the characters who were not killed, the ones who just wanted to spend their final days with their loved ones, the ones who wanted to open a convenience store after witnessing the horrors of war, the ones who already have no hope for themselves, are all vaporized by a nuclear bomb.
Richard: Looks like you've gotten yourself quite comfortable over here. You know what they say about good times, don't you?
Richter: Yeah. [...] Good times never last.
Richard: That's right. Soon this will all be over.
Richter: I had a feeling things would catch up with me. [...] Are they onto me?
Richard: Oh, no. This... This is much worse.
Richter: How long do I have?
Richard: You? You don't have much time. No one does.
Richter: There's nothing I can do about it, right?
Richard: No. By now there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Richter: Okay. No need to fight it then.
Richard: I'm glad you understand. [...] Leaving this world is not as scary as it sounds.
As for the gameplay, the levels were more open than the previous game which made it much more harder, and sometimes downright impossible, to play recklessly, which the game seemingly encourages.
I liked the variety of the different characters, especially the Fans. Ash & Alex were my favorite characters to play as.
The music is much better than the previous game with so many bangers.
Aside from some segments that gave me a stroke (the guy in Release, Take Over, Casualties), the game is pretty damn good.