Hotline Miami

At a time when violence in America seems to be reaching fever pitch, it seems video games are going to get a lot of bad press. Hotline Miami is the kind of game that seems like the press is looking for as a scapegoat; before the killings, the games champions would describe it as a "murder simulator".

This is incredibly misleading; the game play feels far more like a puzzle game- it constantly feels like you're on a roll in a game of Tetris, and its only after you realise the blocks are made of severed limbs.

The points after the gameplay sections set the tone; they constantly seem to be making you question if what your character is doing is real and if so, why they are doing it. There's a section late in the game where I realised that I was killing characters I may not even needed to have killed to complete the level. I still slaughtered everything that moved.

Even though you will likely die hundreds of times during the game, it doesn't feel hard, or at least not unfair. Levels are generally short when you've got the feel of them and checkpoints are on each floor of the level.

I got hooked to HM, and am still playing it after completion to try and get more of the secrets. The music, aesthetics and gameplay compliment each other, making on of this years best games and one deserving of the hype and accolades it has received.

10/10.