History YMMV / HotlineMiami

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[TheDogWasTheMastermind The Janitors--real names Dennis and Jonatan]]--are a duo of terrorists and members of the ultranationalist group [[WesternTerrorists 50 Blessings]], who are responsible for many events [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber in]] the [[ComicBook/HotlineMiamiWildlife series]]. Attempting to make America more powerful in their own vision, the Janitors manipulate the citizens of Miami to slaughter members of [[TheMafiya the Russian Mafia]] by sending out cryptic and threatening phone calls, and either take action against those who do not comply, leave them to die at the hands of the Russians if [[YouHaveFailedMe they fail]] their mission, or simply eliminate them once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they outlive their usefulness]]. When one of their victims, Richter, dismisses the phone calls, the Janitors torch his car and threaten to have his sickly mother murdered. The Janitors then send Richter to kill Jacket, costing the life of Jacket's girlfriend and putting Jacket into a coma. When Richter is sent to prison for his botched assassination attempt, the Janitors hire an inmate to kill Richter to tie up loose ends and orchestrate a prison riot to make sure Richter dies, causing countless deaths. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Despite their claims]], the Janitors are simply a pair of sadistic hypocrites who are no better than the Russians they resent.]]

** The [[spoiler:nukes going off at the end of Wrong Number, cutting to each character that was still alive after Apocalypse, all minding their own business and going about their lives before being wiped off the face of the earth.]]

** Plain Luck. You need to kill (not just hit) three enemies with one thrown brick.

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Fighting Jacket as the Biker; he runs right at you, so all you have to do is whack him with your cleaver.]]

** The game owes a massive debt of influence to ''Film/Drive2011'', so much so that director Nicolas Winding Refn is specifically thanked in the credits. Accordingly, the two works share a retro 1980s-themed neon- and synth-heavy aesthetic (with ''Hotline'' actually being set in the 1980s); a mysterious, nameless protagonist who talks very little, if at all, and is known primarily by an [[IconicOutfit instantly recognizable jacket]]; and graphic depictions of shockingly brutal violence (one of the game's finishing moves even looks very similar to the infamous head-stomping scene from ''Drive'').

* CatharsisFactor: Oh boy! Basically the entire game revolves around this. Committing mass murders as never felt so good.

** The game owes a massive debt of influence to ''{{Film/Drive}}'', so much so that director Nicolas Winding Refn is specifically thanked in the credits. Accordingly, the two works share a retro 1980s-themed neon- and synth-heavy aesthetic (with ''Hotline'' actually being set in the 1980s); a mysterious, nameless protagonist who talks very little, if at all, and is known primarily by an [[IconicOutfit instantly recognizable jacket]]; and graphic depictions of shockingly brutal violence (one of the game's finishing moves even looks very similar to the infamous head-stomping scene from ''Drive'').

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The game (as well as it's sequel) send some very mixed signals in the regard that for a game with a heavy underlying message of self-destructive nature of violence as well as amorality of enjoying such violence, it sure makes that violence look, feel and play very good.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/HotlineMiami The whole soundtrack]].

* EarWorm: [[http://soundcloud.com/devolverdigital/sets/hotline-miami-official "Hydrogen"; "Crystals"; "Flatline"... Really, any song on the soundtrack.]]
* FashionVictimVillain: Biker and Ninja Girl both arguably qualify.

** Justified, maybe even FridgeBrilliance, [[spoiler: since Jacket is a OneHitPointWonder like any other character and that you, as Jacket, would die from any attack Biker hits you with.]]
** [[spoiler: Not to mention Jacket simply charges the Biker, much like many a player would on their first round fighting him. [[EpicFail Remember how well that went?]]]]

* GameBreaker: Big Balls, that is, throwing a dart at an enemy holding a gun. Kill everyone on the screen except one guy, get him to hold a gun with depleted ammo, get a dart, throw it at him repeatedly, and watch the points go up.

* HarsherInHindsight: Richter [[spoiler: being revealed to have also received the same phone calls as Jacket is one thing. The sequel reveals that he is even more of a nice guy than Jacket is (he doesn't seem to hate anyone, even Russians), has a sick mother to take care of, and seems to have been a mere civilian before being dragged into killing people.]]
* JumpScare: The van that screeches straight through the entrance at the end of Deadline.
** As well as walking into the hostage room in Tension [[FailedASpotCheck without knowing there's a bomb in there]].
* MemeticMutation: [[YouBastard "Do you like hurting other people?"]]

* ThatOneLevel: Trauma. Not only is it a sudden unarmed stealth mission in the middle of a game as frantic as ''Hotline Miami'', but it's also a massive InterfaceScrew too.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The whole soundtrack.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Often compared to being on a terrifying crack cocaine trip (which, seeing as the game is set during the big crack epidemic in the 80's, is pretty appropriate). Not helping is that the majority of the game is [[spoiler:the main character's coma dream. He got shot in the head and the police are waiting for him to wake up at the hospital, you see]].

** It also shares a lot of its structure and themes with ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' - specifically the shadowy organization calling up the protagonist at the beginning of each chapter to instruct them on where to go to do their next round of killing, and using these killings as a metaphor for video game violence and making fun of video game narratives in general. The main difference is that ''Hotline Miami''[='=]s tone is markedly more serious - that, the technicolor environments, and the geopolitics background story (made more prominent in the sequel) are somewhat similar to ''VideoGame/{{killer7}}'' instead. Both of those games also share ''Hotline Miami''[='=]s mask motif, among other shared themes. Naturally, the developers are both huge fans of eachother.

** It also shares a lot of its structure and themes with ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' - specifically the shadowy organization calling up the protagonist at the beginning of each chapter to instruct them on where to go to do their next round of killing, and using these killings as a metaphor for video game violence and making fun of video game narratives in general. The main difference is that ''Hotline Miami''[='=]s tone is markedly more serious - that, the technicolor environments, and the geopolitics background story (made more prominent in the sequel) are somewhat similar to ''VideoGame/{{killer7}}'' instead. Both of those games also share ''Hotline Miami''[='=]s mask motif, among other shared themes.

** It also shares a lot of its structure and themes with ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' - specifically the shadowy organization calling up the protagonist at the beginning of each chapter to instruct them on where to go to do their next round of killing, and using these killings as a metaphor for video game violence and making fun of video game narratives in general. The main difference is that ''Hotline Miami'''s tone is markedly more serious - that, the technicolor environments, and the geopolitics background story (made more prominent in the sequel) are somewhat similar to ''VideoGame/{{killer7}}'' instead. Both of those games also share ''Hotline Miami'''s mask motif, among other shared themes.

* SpiritualLicensee: The game owes a massive debt of influence to ''{{Film/Drive}}'', so much so that director Nicolas Winding Refn is specifically thanked in the credits. Accordingly, the two works share a retro 1980s-themed neon- and synth-heavy aesthetic (with ''Hotline'' actually being set in the 1980s); a mysterious, nameless protagonist who talks very little, if at all, and is known primarily by an [[IconicOutfit instantly recognizable jacket]]; and graphic depictions of shockingly brutal violence (one of the game's finishing moves even looks very similar to the infamous head-stomping scene from ''Drive'').