Deal | “Super-violent”: Indie hit with 96% positive reviews falls below $1 on Steam for the first time

Hotline Miami may not have invented the top-down shooter, but it clearly left its mark on the genre: short, brutal levels, one-hit kills, quick restarts, high-score pressure and an almost rhythmic flow of violence. Later games such as Redgar: The Space Viking picked up similar ideas, but rarely came close to the original’s ratings – and those are certainly impressive. On Steam, Hotline Miami has a 96% positive rating based on more than 123,000 user reviews. Metacritic lists a Metascore of 85 and a User Score of 8.5.

The top-down shooter from Dennaton Games takes players to a neon-lit, violence-filled version of Miami in 1989. As a mysterious antihero, they follow cryptic messages left on an answering machine and carry out brutal attacks on members of the criminal underworld. In most cases, a single hit is fatal – for both enemies and the player character. This creates short, frantic and often merciless levels in which every move has to be precise and every mistake must be corrected immediately. Unlockable animal masks noticeably change the gameplay. The tiger mask, for example, makes punches lethal, while the rabbit mask increases movement speed. On top of that, there are more than 20 maps, 35 weapons, boss battles and a driving electronic soundtrack featuring artists such as M.O.O.N., Perturbator, Jasper Byrne and El Huervo.

German gaming magazine GameStar awarded Hotline Miami 76 out of 100 points in its review, praising its gripping gameplay, interesting story and rewarding pursuit of high scores. The varied animal masks and strong soundtrack were also well received. However, the editorial team criticized the rather simple pixel graphics, the lack of enemy variety and the very high difficulty level. Hotline Miami demands a high tolerance for frustration, so it is not exactly the kind of game for a few relaxed sessions. Eurogamer even described the shooter as an “immaculate super-violent top-down action game.”

Available on Steam for under $1 for the first time

Hotline Miami normally costs $9.99 on Steam, but a 90% discount reduces the price to just $0.99 until June 25. According to SteamDB, the game is regularly on sale, though usually with discounts of up to 80%. The current deal therefore marks the first time the indie hit has dropped below the $1 mark. The deal may also appeal to handheld gamers: on the Steam Deck, Hotline Miami is rated “Verified” and should run without any problems.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.