Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 347 sampled Steam reviews (320 positive / 27 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Music & audio12% mention it
- Story & writing9% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing26% mention it
- Controls & UI19% mention it
- Combat15% mention it
- Grind & repetition15% mention it
- Music & audio11% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
87%
123 reviews
5-15h
94%
156 reviews
15-40h
98%
59 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 85 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 87 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 97% | 92 | 1107 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 90 | 38 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 95% | 90 | 429 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 1226 total reviews in window · weighted 189.7 up / 6.3 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (48)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 90
“If you're of age, buy Hotline Miami. It's a great, emotionally heavy game with superb mechanics. It's a bit expensive and offers only a few hour of fun, but it's worth the price for the opportunity to ponder on man's nature. I wouldn't mind, if it was longer. You could appreciate simple, old school graphics, an excellent soundtrack and unique gameplay more. Still - the game's great!”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Those looking for a challenge in planning, reflexes and dexterity, and those with the intestinal fortitude to witness the scads of gruesome deaths that result, will be well served by Hotline Miami.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“With its retro-style visuals and surreal story, Hotline Miami is a brutally challenging but engaging 2-D shooter that'll have you coming back for just one more mission.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“It only works as a whole, and it doesn't hit you like a flavour; it builds up in your system like an intravenous solution. If you took away the masks, or the blinking colours, or knocking over guys with doors, or the stuff about answerphone messages, or the DeLorean, or the wobble on the screen, or the super-fast movement, or walking back through what you've just done, you probably wouldn't understand why it stopped working, but it would definitely stop working.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“An intoxicating celebration of violence that will have you pounding the restart button for more.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Wonderfully strange, outrageously violent, and unexpectedly intelligent. Hotline Miami is indie video game design at its very best. ”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Lightning fast gameplay with an unexpected depth of subject matter. A surprise indie gem. [Dec 2012, p.76]”
- 86
“Transgressive like Grand Theft Auto hasn't been for years, Hotline is violent, quick and compulsive but lacking in depth.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“I found myself eager for Hotline Miami to end before it did (after about eight hours) and had little desire to return to improve my scores.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“I wonder if the developers themselves knew what exactly they were trying to create. Is it a stealth game? a tactical strategy? a top-down arcade? Kitschy, bold artwork is only there to cover up the lack of cohesive ideas, and crude execution.”
read full review ↗ - 88
- 87
“From the get-go, Miami’s presentation has a unique style, with vivid colors, generous amounts of post-process filtering and a stunning soundtrack (you will just let the game play on, only to hear the tracks). But at the same time, all notions of continuous fast-paced action gameplay disappear. Hotline Miami is essentially a top-down stealth game, that rewards the player with imaginative (and quite violent) kill animations. [January 2013]”
GRYOnline.pl
The Escapist
Eurogamer
GameSpot
Metro GameCentral
PC Gamer
IGN…and 36 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Game Update Patch Notes - October 5th - 2015Oct 5, 2015
- Game Update Patch Notes - October 5th - 2015Oct 5, 2015
- Update Patch Notes - September 9, 2013Sep 9, 2013
- Update Patch Notes - September 9, 2013Sep 9, 2013
- Major Game UpdateJun 28, 2013
- Major Game UpdateJun 28, 2013