Half-Line Miami

It doesn’t take much to make a hugely successful video game, at least if you have an awesome gameplay idea, an engaging storyline and an epic soundtrack to go along with it. Actually, it does take quite a bit, so it’s no wonder that such games are quite rare. Hotline Miami is one of the most successful indie productions out there, and it still enjoys a lot of recognition even a few years after its release.

Half-Line Miami is not original, since it borrows its ideas from two separate video games and mashes them together into a rather interesting combination. Hence, it’s a mixture of Hotline Miami and Valve’s legendary Half-Life 2, sporting Gordon Freeman and his trusty gravity gun in the main role. The goal is the same as in Hotline Miami, on the other hand: kill every enemy in the level and get to the exit in one piece.

The story is more or less absent, but the levels follow the same denomination as in Half-Life 2. Thus, you start at the train station and make your way further, which means that you get to visit Highway 17 and various other famous locations patrolled by Combine soldiers. Speaking of which, the enemies are the same you might be familiar with from Valve’s creation, albeit lacking one entire dimension.

Whether it’s soldiers or zombies, your task is to neutralize every enemy on the map before you are allowed to leave the level. To do so, you have to use the gravity gun, so you’ll be pulling and pushing objects around just like in Half-Life 2. On the other hand, you have to move a lot faster in this case, which is a trait inherited from Hotline Miami. Some enemies have guns, which means that you need to act fast or die before you get to make a move.

Visually, the graphics are extremely similar to Hotline Miami, but the levels are reminiscent of Half-Life 2 as well. In fact, the designers did a very good job at mixing the two together, and the level design is quite exquisite for an indie production. The same goes for the soundtrack, which although may not be as brilliant as it was in the two games mentioned above, it’s still very good.

When it’s all said and done, Half-Line Miami makes it work somehow, even if you know what to expect even before you start the game. However, the fast-paced gameplay and the pleasing visual quality are enough to take your mind off everything else and compel you to enjoy the experience.