Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Reviews

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is ranked in the 60th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Eurogamer
Top Critic
Recommended
Mar 9, 2015

Hotline Miami 2 leaves me conflicted. There's lots to love here, but the structure makes it difficult to explore and exploit. It's still an absolute riot to play, and the urge to press on remains compulsive, despite the narrative hi-jinx. Its failings are never enough to truly spoil things - Hotline Miami 2 is definitely to be recommended. It's the sequel that everyone expected, perhaps. But I'm not sure it's the sequel the original truly deserved.

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9 / 10
Mar 9, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a challenging and stylish game which entertains throughout, and delights in forcing you out of your comfort zone.

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8.5 / 10.0
Mar 9, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is unapologetic, and unforgettable

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7 / 10
Mar 9, 2015
Mar 9, 2015

For those of us who sit our backsides firmly in that camp, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is bloody - very bloody - good fun.

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Unscored
Mar 10, 2015
► WTF Is... - Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ? video thumbnail
Andy Kelly
Top Critic
Mar 10, 2015

Hotline Miami 2 is a messy, aimless sequel and a step back from the original. Many of its levels feel like crafted set-pieces rather than playgrounds for violent expression, and your scope for creativity is stifled as a result. When you're deep in the moment, chaining kills as that remarkable soundtrack vibrates through your headphones, it feels fantastic. But it struggles to hold onto that feeling as firmly as the first game, diluting the purity of its compelling core loop with an endless parade of under-developed ideas.

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8 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2015

Even though Hotline Miami 2 asks much of what the original title asked of players, specifically if they "liked hurting people," the tough questions and even harsher consequences made me want to keep looking, even if it was unbearable and uncomfortable to do so at times.

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7 / 10
Mar 10, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is an entertaining game, at least for the majority of its play time. It takes what made Hotline Miami great and made it greater, these being the weapons and level design. It is a much longer experience too, though personal playthrough times will be dependant on your skill. However, Wrong Number also tries to do too much too quickly, and its multiple character paths don't work as well as hoped. Add in the fact there are fewer masks and it feels like a major part of the game has been stripped out. Overall it doesn't quite reach the same heights as its streamlined, bizarre predecessor.

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6 / 10
Mar 10, 2015

I wanted to like Hotline Miami 2. I adored the first game, and everything the trailers promised - new weapons, enemies, mechanics, and violence, oodles of violence - looked excellent. However, it's just not as enjoyable. The first game felt like a focussed blast of adrenaline. Hotline Miami 2's always stopping and starting, its new characters feel rough and buggy, and the new reliance on guns restricts how you can approach combat.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2015

Twitch-based gameplay at its finest, with some of the best music ever featured in a game. Wrong Number ramps everything up to varying degrees of success.

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8.5 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2015

Frustration gives way to fun and fulfillment as failure turns to success

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57 / 100
Mar 10, 2015

Restrictive design decisions sap the energy from a series that revels in it, and technical issues deal the killing blow.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is more of the same, but that's not a bad thing if that's all you want out of it. After beating the sequel I was immediately inspired to go back and play the original, which in turn inspired me to start playing Wrong Number again. Between the level editor and the iron-clad gameplay, I'll be enjoying this franchise for years to come.

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IGN
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a relentless, rhythmic, and brutal game of killing fast, and often dying even faster.

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Mar 10, 2015

Not as good as the original, Hotline Miami 2 delivers a flawed dose of the high speed ultra violence that's fun but not essential.

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Mar 10, 2015

Adding good new ideas to the formula, but unable to implement them without diluting the overall experience, Hotline Miami 2 isn't a disaster, but certainly lacks the original's fiery vitality.

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GameSkinny
Vrothgarr
Top Critic
Mar 10, 2015

Brutally violent, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a perfect sequel that delivers a viciously pixelated action gameplay experience.

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Mar 11, 2015

However, these added touches and wonderful, momentary glimpses of what Hotline Miami 2 could have been only stand to make the game more disappointing. Dennaton have claimed that this will be their last Hotline Miami, but I hope we'll see a third entry in the series as this isn't the fitting finale that it deserves.

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6 / 10
Mar 11, 2015

Hotline Miami 2 is certainly worth a purchase from anybody who played the original over and over, but don't expect it to hit the same heights. Wrong Number? If only.

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