”Plot Analysis” # 1. Hotline Miami is an American history of violence. Part one (Topic)

There are many great games out there whose developers love non-linear, metaphorical, or unusual storytelling. It often happens that players in such cases find it difficult to collate all the facts to see the full picture. Also, the ending of the game often remains incomprehensible to them. Starting today, we are opening a new section "Plot Analysis", where we will chronologically and completely explain the events of some games, removing the "fog of war" from their plot and endings. And yes, there will be a lot of spoilers.

Today we have a breakdown of the plot of Hotline Miami, a beautiful 2D Topdown action game that tells the story of the 50 Blessings nationalist movement and how it brought the world to apocalypse. The events of the first game tell us about a member of this organization, nicknamed Jacket, showing only his story. The second part, Wrong Number, reveals the entire lore of the universe and not only complements the world, but introduces dozens of playable characters (some of them have only nicknames instead of names, so don't be surprised), and shows everything from start to finish. The second part jumps from hero to hero, from flashback to present and future, which is why it is so difficult to understand. We combined her events with the first part and the official comics. Play back and get into history.

Hawaiian War

The events of the game begin long before the start of the original Hotline Miami. It is not known when it began, but a war for Hawaii is going on between the USSR and America. The Americans are defeated in it and in order to turn the tide of the war, the government creates a special squad "Ghost Wolves". Who acts in secret, performing the most dangerous and difficult tasks. It includes only four people, the first of whom is Beard, a lieutenant of the detachment who dreams of opening a shop or video salon after the war, the second member of the "wolves" is his best friend Jacket (the hero of the first part). The third is African American Barnes, and the fourth is Daniels.

Hotline Miami's plot kicks off on April 17, 1981

"Ghost Wolves" leave the bar (there are also several characters that will appear in the future as "fans"). At the exit, Beard and Jacket meet journalist Evan Wright, who takes a photo of them with a polaroid camera and gives it to them as a keepsake.

Wolves have been successfully completing assignments for several years, killing USAs, but in general America is losing. On October 5, 1985, the "wolves" colonel announces that at the end of the month they will have their last assignment. On the night before him, on October 31st, the colonel bursts into the barracks to the detachment drunk and dejected by America's position in the war, on his face is the cut face of a panther, on whose head we first see the sign of 50 blessings. In the future, he will become their founder. He makes a speech about how all people are just animals that kill each other.

October 31, morning. The task of the squad is to capture a nuclear power plant. It is suicidal, but the "wolves" do it. However, an explosion occurs during the operation. Barnes is killed and Jacket is injured. The station is on the verge of explosion, and Beard pulls out the wounded Jacket on himself, violating secrecy, he requests an evacuation. After he saved a friend from death, Beard tells him: "You shouldn't thank the dude, it's at the expense of the house." The squad is disbanded.

The beginning of a new era.

The USA-American Coalition and the Emergence of 50 Blessings 1986. Beard returns home to San Francisco and opens a store. Alas, the situation in the world is heating up to such an extent that the USSR drops a nuclear warhead on the city on April 3, 1986. All residents, including Beard, die. This is the outcome of the Hawaiian conflict. A new order begins in the world and the USA-American coalition is being founded. Many Soviet citizens migrate to America, and the USA mafia with its center in Miami is also actively beginning to operate in America. In America, massive protests of American nationalists begin, who do not want to see on their land those whose country destroyed San Francisco. In Miami (no exact date), 50 Blessings Organization appears and begins to recruit people.

March 27, 1989. Jake is a patriot who, like many other patriots like him, receives a letter from an organization that offers to join it and fight the USAs. Without hesitation, he fills out the entry form. On April 2, on the eve of the third anniversary of the nuclear strike, Jake participates in a nationalist rally. During it, the protesters attack the USAs. Arriving home after the rally, Jake discovers a box with a snake mask, which indicates that he has been accepted into 50 blessings.

Members of 50 Blessings begin to receive strange phone calls through which they receive certain instructions. From the outside, the call looks as if someone made a wrong number. Initially, the tasks were small, from delivering letters with offers to join the organization or drawing an organization sign on the walls. On the eve of the destruction of San Francisco, on orders from phone calls, people in animal masks begin to kill members of the USA mafia in different parts of Miami.

In March 1989, a man named Richter was also one of the first to join the ranks of the organization, receiving a rat mask. However, his mother is ill, so he looks after her and ignores the organization's harmless assignments. Then he starts receiving threats and eventually other members of the 50 burn his car, and threaten that his mother will be next if he does not take up his mind. From April 2, 1989, he began to actively work for them.

Best performer. The beginning of the story of Jacket and Richard

Jacket, who returned home to Miami after the war, develops post-traumatic stress disorder, and the death of Beard's best friend worsens the situation and instills hatred in his heart. Jacket enters 50 blessings and, having received the rooster mask (named Richard) on April 3, 1989, completes the first task.

Jacket often hallucinates. He stands in a room where three people are sitting in animal masks - a horse, a rooster and an owl. Each of them has its own relation to the hero. The Man in the Rooster Mask, aka Richard, is Jacket himself, or rather a part of his consciousness, which understands what is happening. He voices a phrase that reveals the truth to yet another motive of the hero "Do you like to hurt others?" Richard also predicts a bad fate for him.

April 25, 1989. Jacket raids the mansion of a producer bound by the mafia and kills everyone in the building. There he finds a raped and drugged girl (many believe that this is a prostitute, but there is no evidence). She remains to live with him and as a result they become closer.

Jacket continues to carry out tasks. Most of the members of the organization are ordinary people, so many of them die. Or if they screw up, the organization itself removes them, which happens at one of the levels where a man in a tiger mask dies (it is not known how, but this mask falls into the hands of one of the fans named Tony). However, thanks to military training, Jacket becomes the most famous and best performer of the organization. After each cleanup, Jacket visits a store / video rental / pizzeria / bar, where Beard is always behind the counter and gives him everything for free, repeating his phrase from the war, "Don't thank dude, it's at the expense of the house." Each time, these hallucinations of Jacket grow stronger.

He is also the most wanted member of the organization. At this time, he has a fan club.

The continuation of the Hotline Miami storyline will be discussed in the second part.

The Topic of Article: ”Plot Analysis” # 1. Hotline Miami is an American history of violence. Part one.
Author: Jake Pinkman