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[nenjin]

I've always thought enemy gunfire needed to alert other enemies. It might end up causing everyone in the level to dog pile, but it's just another thing the AI is too stupid to deal with, so you can pull a lot of peek-a-boo shenanigans to lure ranged enemies out of position for an easy kill.

[Fniff]

I just assume that 99.9% of all Russian mafiya (The 00.1% percent is the Son and the Henchman) are deaf, dumb, and mostly blind. Hence why they can't yell for help, can't hear their comrades firing off shots, or notice the corpses of their comrades on the floor.
It's a shame, because the best part of Hotline Miami's combat is how movie-like it is. When you really succeed, it's like you're playing a Quentin Tarintino movie. So the little inconsistencies can be niggling. Maybe they'll update the AI someday.
I wonder if they'll ever release the gamemaker files for Hotline Miami. It'd be the ultimate conclusion to the level editor situation.

[TempAcc]

I think the enemies are dumb enough as they are now. If friendly fire was a thing the game would be too easy. Seriously, a shotgun blast should catch the attention of many more enemies then just the few closest ones, altough that would make the game a bit cheesy and prob even easier since they have a tendency to clump togheder instead of taking tactical approaches.

"A MASKED MANIAC IS KILLING EVERYONE AND HE JUST SHOT SOMEONE WITH A SHOTGUN OMGGGG LETS RUSH AT HIM WITH OUR MELEE WEAPONS"

[Cthulhu]

Honestly the sound thing isn't even that bad compared to stuff like blowing a guy across the room and his friends don't even notice because they didn't hear the gunshot.

[Virtz]

Making the AI smarter would shoot the concept of combos not so much in the foot but in the head. I don't think it'd work with HM's gameplay.


What I realize I find a bit jarring, though, is that now there's 10+ people who can clear out 3+ floors of mobsters like Jacket and Helmet could. Like when it was just 2 people out of many failures (all the guys you picked up masks from), it wasn't as weird. But now it's like "well, just about anyone can do it". Hell, they even

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

made Jake, one of the previous failures, a guy who murdered 2 buildings worth of people prior.

It just feels a bit stupid that they made the Hotline something that worked really well (and lead to a nuclear holocaust) rather than something that worked out only thanks to the fluke that was Jacket.

It's like that Assassin's Creed 1-2 problem, where the assassins being able to parkour all over the place is a bit weird but acceptable, but when everyone in the game can do it, it becomes really ridiculous.

[Stuebi]

So, I've finished the game yesterday evening. A few thoughts:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

- Storywise, I liked HM1 more. The swap between characters felt very shizophrenic. I had at least a BIT of a connection to Jacket at the end of the first game. The constant swapping in the second one feels a bit much. I think the only part that intrigued me somewhat was learning what happened to Jacket after the end of the first game.

- Big probs to the last level tough. That was probably one of the most disturbing, yet somehow beatiful things I've ever seen. It's presented really nicely, the music is eerie and it just descends into absolute madness. And it's fitting that the series ends with a literal trip.

- Gameplay was nice, which is no surprise as it's just more of the first game. Altough I gotta say some levels felt more annoying than thrilling. I dislike the early introduction of fatties and their constant rising numbers. They interrupt the flow I like to keep going and the fact that they can tank up to 5 shots and still punch you before going out just feels bullshit. I also didnt like the bulky prisoners they introduced, mostly because they tend to bug out and grab trough walls or over way to loong distances.

- The unlockables felt nice at first. It was cool to have stuff besides masks and some new stuff. But every character has basically around 4 to 5 unlocks, and since the game swaps the characters around so much, you barely have any time to experiment or try stuff out. The masks in HM1 felt like they had a much bigger impact.

- The scoring system feels very whack and arbitary. There are levels where I can double or even almost triple the base score, and still get a C or a B. Combine it with the the big amount of fatties, dogs and ninjas in later levels, and I feel really unmotivated to attempt highscores on this one.

All in all, I feel like they could've done a lot more with this than they did.

[ggamer]

Finished the game and S-ranked the bonus level

God trying to get the disk in Withdrawal has to be the biggest pain in the ass I've ever dealt with.

Also

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel like I would have liked the bonus missions more if they were Biker trying to murder his way up 50 blessings in the alternate timeline where he killed Jacket. I feel like with the level creation stuff this'll be a fan campaign that should be coming soon

On that note, is there a level creator? I don't think i've found it yet.

[scrdest]

Finished the game and S-ranked the bonus level

God trying to get the disk in Withdrawal has to be the biggest pain in the ass I've ever dealt with.

Also

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel like I would have liked the bonus missions more if they were Biker trying to murder his way up 50 blessings in the alternate timeline where he killed Jacket. I feel like with the level creation stuff this'll be a fan campaign that should be coming soon

On that note, is there a level creator? I don't think i've found it yet.

Not yet, it's currently too alpha to be released apparently.

[Teneb]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel like I would have liked the bonus missions more if they were Biker trying to murder his way up 50 blessings in the alternate timeline where he killed Jacket. I feel like with the level creation stuff this'll be a fan campaign that should be coming soon

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Both Biker and Jacket actually survived the encounter. Biker is standing outside the courthouse where Jacket is being judged. Apparently he went out of the city afterwards, so he probably survived.

[Virtz]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel like I would have liked the bonus missions more if they were Biker trying to murder his way up 50 blessings in the alternate timeline where he killed Jacket. I feel like with the level creation stuff this'll be a fan campaign that should be coming soon

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Both Biker and Jacket actually survived the encounter. Biker is standing outside the courthouse where Jacket is being judged. Apparently he went out of the city afterwards, so he probably survived.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's also possible to have a direct talk with Biker in the Subway chapter (as the Writer). If you answer your phone (there's no prompt, but there's a red light on it) prior to the mission, then you'll have a talk with him at a bar after the mission (the bar also features the Fans unmasked at a table, as well as the Son and Henchman drinking at another table).

Turns out he's still alive, has grown a beard, and is sporting a huge scar on his cheek.

The way he says it, he never did unravel the conspiracy in the canonical timeline, but he lived, lost the will to fight, and left to live in the desert. Although he mentions encountering whatever made him lose the will to fight in the desert, suggesting he's either misremembering, it wasn't Jacket, or what was presented in HM1 wasn't actually the way it happened regardless of scenario (although a confrontation in the desert doesn't seem likely).

[Catastrophic lolcats]

I think I'm done with Hotline Miami 2. I can't push myself to get through the last few bullshit levels with A+ nor can I get past the boat level on hard (it's so fucking bad, that third level is impossible).
Maybe I'll come back to it when the editor rolls around.

[nenjin]

I think I'm done with Hotline Miami 2. I can't push myself to get through the last few bullshit levels with A+ nor can I get past the boat level on hard (it's so fucking bad, that third level is impossible).
Maybe I'll come back to it when the editor rolls around.

Even on Normal that 3rd screen took me probably an hour to finish. You have to execute that first group of kills perfectly or you're screwed, and there's just the hint of random weapons, reactions and movement to make it unpredictable to boot. No running away, no hiding, and the mix of shotguns, dogs and fat guys means you can't just easily corner camp them. You can barely even back up.

I really do not enjoy starting levels when you're boxed in like that, and that seems to kind of be a dominant design theme in this one, whereas it was saved for the last few levels in HLM1. It starts feeling like there's only one right way to do things.

[ggamer]

I think I'm done with Hotline Miami 2. I can't push myself to get through the last few bullshit levels with A+ nor can I get past the boat level on hard (it's so fucking bad, that third level is impossible).
Maybe I'll come back to it when the editor rolls around.

Even on Normal that 3rd screen took me probably an hour to finish. You have to execute that first group of kills perfectly or you're screwed, and there's just the hint of random weapons, reactions and movement to make it unpredictable to boot. No running away, no hiding, and the mix of shotguns, dogs and fat guys means you can't just easily corner camp them. You can barely even back up.

I really do not enjoy starting levels when you're boxed in like that, and that seems to kind of be a dominant design theme in this one, whereas it was saved for the last few levels in HLM1. It starts feeling like there's only one right way to do things.

For me it was the boat level (did anyone not get to the third screen and go "are you kidding me"), and the final screen as Jake (The only way I could beat it was by bringing a machine gun and tapping the door so I could gun them down in the doorway).

I'm not quite burned out on it yet, so next i'll try to get through the game on hardmode.

[Cthulhu]

I'm starting to like the Swans.  I think the best way to play them is the classic shoot in the air and wait for them to come to you.  That or just play like it's Tony and ignore Ash.

[ThtblovesDF]

To easy, flow is broken, hotline 1 was more fun, sadly disapointing on many levels, but hey it's not horrible afterall.