With a visual look and politically incorrect storyline of the original “Grand Theft Auto” and dual analog controls reminiscent to “Super Smash TV,” ” Miami Hotline” is a treat. Although the learning curve is steep, the wacky storyline and bloodthirsty gameplay make up for it in spades.
That’s not to say the game is perfect. The visuals are dated and the writing is somewhat lazy. It’s hard to establish a relationship with the characters, but in a “Fight Club” meets “Saw” kind of way, everything eventually comes together. When it finally does, that’s when it’s all worth it. But long before the storyline begins to gel and you find out the intention of it all, the gameplay demands your attention. For that reason alone, “Miami Hotline” is arguably one of the best games on the Vita this year.
To call the gameplay “old school” is a gross understatement. The dual stick controls are an ode to classic arcade shooters of the ’80s and are extremely sensitive to the touch. Much like those old arcade games, precision is necessary- one wrong move and you’re dead and it’s time to start all over again.
If you thought the controls turned back time, the same thing can be said about the pixelated sprites. More often than not, it’s hard to tell which direction characters are facing, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. This is a bloody, disgusting, destructive good time. Add in the fact that you’ll often die, the retro difficulty and pattern-like movements of the enemies adds addition value to the salt and peppered gamer looking to rekindle the thrills of yesteryear.
But behind the nostalgia lies a deliciously fun game. The story, tried and true gameplay and sheer depth of the title, from the amount of weapons to the almost unfair difficulty make “Miami Hotline” a dirty sexy shooter you’ll want to play for hours.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
With a visual look and politically incorrect storyline of the original “Grand Theft Auto” and dual analog controls reminiscent to “Super Smash TV,” ” Miami Hotline” is a treat. Although the learning curve is steep, the wacky storyline and bloodthirsty gameplay make up for it in spades.
Leave a Reply