In a 2015 interview with Dave Portner for Interview Magazine, John Carpenter, esteemed director of film classics like Halloween, The Thing, They Live, and In the Mouth of Madness, said “Horror is a reaction; it’s not a genre.” Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Hotline Miami eludes the horror classification in spite of its gruesome and horrific exploration of violence. 

Dennaton Games, the developers behind Hotline Miami, performed some sleight of hand when they released their game in 2012; the horror of it was masked behind a propelling soundtrack, tight controls, and easy-to-pick-up but difficult-to-master gameplay. Yes, the violence is there from the start, but its ludicrous excessiveness, for some, initially masks the creeping discomfort underneath. 

Jonatan Söderström, one half of the duo behind Hotline Miami, told PC Gamer UK in a 2012 interview, “The violence is a central theme to the game, the message behind the storyline is ultimately very related to it. In a sense it does matter to me if people aren’t disturbed.” Jonatan’s co-developer, Dennis Wedin added, “At Gamescom a lot of people’s first reaction was laughing at all the gore, but after a while they started to question themselves and why they reacted the way they did. I think that is what we are after.”

Dennaton’s success here is debatable, as even Söderström himself further noted “but at the same time I can understand if not everyone will get what we’re trying to say.” Hotline Miami is, after all, a game where the pursuit of a high score encourages players to repeatedly kill with speed, fluidity, and creativity. One can see where that could obscure any intended message about violence and society. 

Still, make no doubt about it, Hotline Miami is a horror game, no matter what the labels on its digital storefronts say.¹The top 20 user-defined tags on Steam for Hotline Miami are Great Soundtrack, Violent, Action, Indie, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics, 1980s, Fast-Paced, Gore, Retro, Psychedelic, Difficult, Singleplayer, Surreal, Shooter, 2D, Top-Down Shooter, Atmospheric, Addictive, and Music. ²GoG lists Hotline Miami‘s genres as Action, Arcade and Fighter while it’s tags are Indie, Atmospheric, Great Soundtrack, Pixel Graphics, Difficult, Violent, Gore, Top-Down, Fighting, and Surreal. But like most horror, it is going to land differently depending on the individual. Exposition Break co-founder Sean Gandert described the game’s earliest examples of violence as “the most horrific thing I’ve ever played,” bouncing off of Hotline Miami after just a few short levels. Those that stick with it, though, will potentially find more beyond the blood and viscera, as it effectively, and sometimes subtly, dabbles in a more psychological horror space. 

The protagonist, dubbed “Jacket” by fans, exists in a surreal, dreamlike world. The top-down levels slowly swim and wobble as you move through them to an almost, but not quite, nauseating effect. Jacket is interrogated by visions of his own masked self about the virtue of his blood soaked war against the Russian mob. In his down time, he comes across the same man working at the convenience store, pizza parlor, bar, and video store, and he always has just what Jacket needs, free of charge. It becomes abundantly clear that Jacket’s mental state is deteriorating as the game progresses, escalating to the point that corpses begin to speak to him. All of this is then contrasted to great effect by the evolving mundane squalor of Jacket’s home life as you visit his apartment between missions. In these moments, it’s hard not to pause and reflect on his life and choices as you see things change over time. 

Hotline Miami’s legacy is complicated. It may fail as much as it triumphs, but there really isn’t anything else quite like it. In many ways, it’s the violent video game specter mothers across the globe have feared for years as games like Doom, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto, and Manhunt make headlines. But it’s also not without something to say, even if it’s never quite sure how to say it.

Hotline Miami Screenshots

Screenshots captured from the Hotline Miami Collection on Nintendo Switch

Hotline Miami

Original Release: 2012
Developer(s): Dennaton Games
Publisher(s): Devolver Digital
Platforms(s): Windows, Linux, OS X, Android, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PlayStation 4, Playstion 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Footnotes

• 1
  The top 20 user-defined tags on Steam for Hotline Miami are Great Soundtrack, Violent, Action, Indie, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics, 1980s, Fast-Paced, Gore, Retro, Psychedelic, Difficult, Singleplayer, Surreal, Shooter, 2D, Top-Down Shooter, Atmospheric, Addictive, and Music.
• 2
  GoG lists Hotline Miami‘s genres as Action, Arcade and Fighter while it’s tags are Indie, Atmospheric, Great Soundtrack, Pixel Graphics, Difficult, Violent, Gore, Top-Down, Fighting, and Surreal.