The original Hotline Miami was something of a sleeper hit: a top-down, 16-bit, hyper-violent, 80s-themed twitch-massacre-simulator with an awesome electronic soundtrack. The game looked simple but was packed with a variety of actions and tactics, all of which were necessary to tackle its twenty punishingly challenging “chapters.” Coupled with an insta-restart upon death, there was rarely any downtime for the player, allowing for each level to be a constant adrenaline rush. It was not until every single enemy was a corpse that you were given a moment of rest: the music would die abruptly, and you were left to navigate your way out of the level with nothing but an unsettling hum for audio and a violence-fueled guilt hangover.
Category: Video Game Reviews
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Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Review
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Shadow of Mordor: All About the Execution
When choosing a property to adapt for a video game, it’s a good idea to select something with a large, well-realized universe in which to pull content. Given this, it’s somewhat surprising that we don’t see more Lord of the Rings themed games. The Lord of the Rings MMO is still going strong (apparently; I’ve never known anybody who actually plays it), the Lego Lord of the Rings game was plenty of fun, and there were some respectable hack and slash games that came out around the time of the LOTR movie trilogy, but most games that have come from the property have been shoddy-at-best. So it was something of a surprise this year when Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor released, and was one of the best games of the year. With solid and easy-to-pick-up combat and stealth mechanics, Shadow of Mordor is a game that should be enjoyable regardless of one’s familiarity with Tolkien.