izigame.me

Cathartic, pixelated violence with a thumping beat and the moreish-ness of a rogue-like. It's not perfect by any means, the ai is occasionally dense and your perfect, balletic violence often devolves into panicked flailing as you fight the imperfect aim controls and try to stay alive. But those moments are often the most exciting part of playing hotline Miami.
Difficulty wise HM is quite forgiving. Whilst it does increase as you progress and there are a few annoying spikes (bosses especially), HM is extremely doable and doesn't require perfect reflexes (unless you want an A grade on each level). Even the unlockable masks that give you a passive boost of some kind don't require you to score too highly on each level. This is all despite the fact that you die in one hit. On death you're only one button press away from restarting that section and the levels aren't large enough to make your many deaths frustrating. Dying is also the way you learn the levels and enemy movements, plus the locations of weapons.
Speaking of weapons, there are loads; both melee and ranged. Melee are better for the silent approach, but you have to be quick on the kill and careful where you aim. Guns are for drawing guys towards you, to then mow down, but miss, and you're pretty much fucked. Both are incredibly satisfying to use when you manage to chain some kills together. Plus it looks cool.
The story isn't anything to write home about but it breaks the frantic action up beautifully, giving you a breather despite being in game. There's a bit of visual storytelling going on too, which I liked. Basically think the film Drive with a little bit of Leaving Las Vegas weirdness.
I'm not overly keen on the warped pixelated graphical style but it fits the theme I guess, and there's an obnoxious bob effect that might put some people off. There's a little repetition at times too, but that's mainly down to me having to redo the levels again, and in a game as quick as this that's not necessarily a bad thing. Overall then I'd thoroughly recommend HM for those of you wishing to murder in style.