|
Post by Ike on Mar 18, 2015 11:46:06 GMT -5
You've seen the movie Drive? No? Okay, go watch it.
I've only played most of the first chapter and so far this game pulls absolutely zero punches. By the 3rd stage you'll be getting brutally owned through windows and facing way, way more enemies than you would be about 2/3rds of the way through the first game, so if it's been a while since you played I would honestly recommend beating the first game and immediately going into the second so your skills are up to par. So far it seems to be virtually identical to the first game in terms of gameplay, just with a little more graphical polish. The masks overall seem to have much more dramatic effects than before (the first one gives you a dodge roll that I haven't found much use for, but I assume it gives you some invulnerability frames.)
It seems like it's going to be pretty good once I can adjust to its difficulty. A lot of people complained that there are a lot of windows (and there are absolutely a fuckton of them so far) but I think what people don't realize is that you can use the windows to your advantage just as much as the enemies can - they're great for luring mooks around a corner without having to actually enter a room.
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Mar 18, 2015 12:38:29 GMT -5
Thank you for making this thread, it took so long because I couldn't think of a snazzy topic subtitle. The differences between the original and the sequel become more apparent as you progress. In many stages, you have to play as a set character(s) with specific abilities (though some give you a choice between a few). Like the detective, who can only use melee weapons, and doesn't actually kill most enemies, just maims them. Or the guy with the fists of fury who can't use any other weapons at all. Or the chainsaw/pistol duo. The main difference between this and the original is that it forces you to adapt to these playstyles, where the original was more open ended in how you approach things. Also, I'm pretty sure enemy weapons aren't randomized in this game either. I think that's where some people are getting stuck with this game, but for the most part I like it, it feels more focused. However there are a bunch of areas where you need to exploit the game logic, which is rather arbitrary. This becomes a big issue for the characters that can't use guns, the only way to get anywhere is to lure enemies to you. But sometimes you can be a few feet in front of them and they won't move, then you inch forward and they start running/shooting. It's especially a pain to get the attention of patrolling enemies when they don't directly seem to be facing you. Also, why do certain enemies run at you when they hear gunshots but others don't? Things like that. It all seems be hard coded but it's inconsistent. It's one of those things that you can pick up with practice, at least. Also the soundtrack is amazing. Been listening to it more than playing the game honestly.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 18, 2015 12:50:18 GMT -5
I feel like guns in general are way more effective than the first game. I can't put my finger on quite how (maybe I'm just better at it than I was) but where in the first game I would use melee almost exclusively, this time I'm picking up pistols a lot more often, to greater success.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 19, 2015 13:32:32 GMT -5
I got to the goal door at the end of Final Cut and the SWAT guy shot me right as I was opening the door, crashing the game entirely. Damn that's brutal
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Mar 19, 2015 13:50:17 GMT -5
Ouch. Those SWAT guy executions are brutal.
A lot of people talked up the boat (which is I think scene 11) as being super hard, but I had a LOT more trouble with the following level, with the fans. Took me an hour to beat. Great music in that level in particular, but after hearing it on loop so many times...
|
|
|
Post by sotenga on Mar 19, 2015 17:23:06 GMT -5
Ouch. Those SWAT guy executions are brutal. A lot of people talked up the boat (which is I think scene 11) as being super hard, but I had a LOT more trouble with the following level, with the fans. Took me an hour to beat. Great music in that level in particular, but after hearing it on loop so many times... Roller Mobster, eh? Which of the four segments took you the most time? I can't even remember myself, heh. I think Hotline Miami 2 is on par with the first, though I admit it's sort of a simultaneous step forward and back. I agree that it feels more focused, where there's simultaneously more and less variety in gameplay. There's nothing like Corey's rolling dodge in the first game or Evan's technical pacifism, and that you aren't often the same character for two stages in a row keeps it interesting. Furthermore, I admire the attempt to justify the crazy crap that happened in the first game and I actually enjoyed the story, fragmented as it was with bouncing around through time and different characters. Some plot threads didn't quite go anywhere, but I felt that it made as much sense as cactus could make sense of... making sense of it. Yeah. My only major complaint is how the challenge feels more mechanical than natural at times, mostly in areas with wide open rooms where you'll get shotgun'd because you weren't religiously holding onto the shift key. I want to say the worst offenders were the stages in act 4 with the... not sure if I should spoil it, but there's a character who probably has the most unique gameplay mechanic out of all of them. It's technically cool, but the stages he's thrown into have lots of big fields where he can easily be ambushed from any angle. So you have to really be aware of that one gunner who marches in from the north when you head down this slim corridor where staying out for a split-second too long will get you shot. HM2 suffers from what I call "R-Type Memorization Syndrome" in some stages that makes it feel you have to really choreograph your movements in an exact same way to survive, let alone bag a high score. The first game had this to an extent, but some of the later stages of HM2 are brutish in this regard and it gets exhausting to have to play them for more than ten minutes. Not to be too critical, though. I'm willing to overlook some of the more brutal stages on the grounds that, end of the day, it's more Hotline Miami and that's all I really wanted. This game really doesn't NEED to exist, but I'm glad it does just to revisit the trippy ultraviolent blood haze of Dennaton's biggest success. And yes, the soundtrack is great. Can't decide if "Sexualizer," "Run," or "Le Perv" is my favorite at the moment. Consider this a bit of a mini-review, because I would like to write the full one sometime for this here site. And yeah, probably the longest post I've made in ages... or any post, really. :V
|
|
|
Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 20, 2015 0:27:42 GMT -5
I didn't love the first and don't with this sequel as well. The controls are less slippery but the biggest problems weren't corrected, the plot in being expanded ends up mostly nowhere (I could have done without the alternate history elements) and, as noted, the few new features like the multiple characters are not for the best. It's much longer but that does only expose its weaknesses more, like the erratic enemy AI, which often is not even predictable - some patrol on predefined paths, but after a restart they may have changed it, so even if you devised a "perfect" killing sequence, it may be broken. This forces an unusually "prudent" playstyle, especially in larger levels.
Bottom line: bigger doesn't make better. The soundtrack is fantastic, it's still solid at the core and when it works, it does greatly (I liked the "pacifist" levels, and the last one is almost worth the whole game). With me, however, it worked fewer times than with the first episode.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 25, 2015 21:06:28 GMT -5
Having played this a little more and getting into the groove a bit, I appreciate that this game forces you to think a little more. I feel like most of the complaints about the difficulty are from people who haven't played the game for a year and expect to walk into the second game being just as good as they were.
|
|
|
Post by Kyrael Seraphine on Mar 28, 2015 1:37:25 GMT -5
And we didn't even get it. Meh.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2015 3:48:35 GMT -5
And we didn't even get it. Meh. We have to deal with Iggy Azalea now. The debt has been more than repaid.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 28, 2015 20:29:20 GMT -5
I cannot for the life of me follow the story in this game.
And what's up with the pacifist guy? It seems like you can kill people, you just have to keep mashing A while you have them locked down. Does it do anything different?
|
|
|
Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 29, 2015 2:42:16 GMT -5
If you kill two people as Evan, he goes into sort of a rage mode and you can play "normally", but it awards less points (he also gets points for unloading dropped firearms). There are a bonus level and a bonus scene with him, but from what I'm reading around they are unlocked by actions not related to playing violently as him. About the story, I think that the background given to "Jacket" makes little sense in context and is even detrimental to the character. Explanation follows. Also thanks to one of the prequel comics, we learn that he was an highly trained soldier who used to single-handedly kill dozens of enemies. So, okay, he was a one-man-army because he actually was one. Problem is, apparently everyone can be like him in HL2, with sufficient motivation and/or insanity. (Evan may not kill anyone, but a single man who can render entire gangs inoffensive is still quite badass.) So Jacket may have been insane "only" because of his experience in war, and loses all the "Average Joe" aura that made the character less defined but strangely more relatable than the "crazed war veteran" cliche.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 29, 2015 11:22:03 GMT -5
I'm only on the second round of military missions right now. Speaking of, was there a war going on in Hawaii with the Russians in 1985 that I just wasn't aware of or is HM supposed to be some kind of alternative history timeline?
edit: I think it's also worth nothing that unloading a gun as Evan not only gives you points, it extends your combo meter.
|
|
|
Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 29, 2015 13:36:38 GMT -5
Alternate history, definitely. There was only a little hint of it in the original and it's another thing that's expanded upon.
|
|
|
Post by Ike on Mar 29, 2015 14:16:24 GMT -5
How the hell are you supposed to beat Demolition? It's just an open + shaped hallway and there's a fat man roaming the center of it, but the only gun is carried by a guy walking alongside him who will shoot you way before you can do anything.
edit: Nevermind I figured it out right as I was typing that. This game feels way more puzzle-y than the first.
|
|