Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is the direct follow-up to the
first game, serving as both a sequel and a prequel. This time the gameplay is
centered around a bigger cast of characters who each have their own point of
view regarding the events. Dennis Wedin, the game's co-creator has stated that
most of the gameplay mechanics are intact and that players will get to
experiment with new weapons, new and more gory finishing moves and a complete
story arc that will end the series. The gameplay is mostly identical to that of the first game.
Two of the original masks make a return, while new masks will offer new and
exciting abilities and playstyles. New tweaks to normal gameplay have been added, including
executing with guns.
The difficulty has increased as well, along with two levels
implemented (Normal and Hard) for people
who believed the first game was either too hard or easy.
Hotline Miami 2 has a Hard difficulty mode, which can only
be unlocked when the player beats the game. In Extreme, enemies are more
difficult to take down, and some abilities may be taken away from the player,
such as enemy-locking.
Hotline Miami 2 has a lot more weapons than Hotline Miami:
with returning weapons from Hotline Miami, cut weapons, and entirely new
weapons. The developers are planning on releasing a level editor later in the Spring
Hotline Miami 2 takes place before and after the events of
the original, focusing more on the latter, between October and December 1991.
The game suggests that Jacket's interpretation is the canonical ending of the
first game. In this version of events, Jacket is unwittingly manipulated into
killing off the leadership of the Russian Mob by a neo-nationalist organization
known as 50 Blessings.
After the previous game's ending, Jacket was captured by the
authorities and put on trial, and his exploits have achieved national infamy.
The persona of "Richard", a mysterious figure in a rooster mask that
occasionally appeared to Jacket in the original game, has been appearing to
certain individuals who are involved with 50 Blessings and Jacket's murder
spree
The game received generally positive reviews from critics.
It received an aggregated score of 86.25% on GameRankings based on 12 reviews
and 81/100 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews.
