Hotline Miami is quite violent.
Who are we kidding? It’s incredibly bloody violent. It’s like someone realised if they smashed together Reservoir Dogs and Machete Kills, then fed the resulting killing-spree through a lo-fi 8-bit filter, they could get away with so much more than a schlocky, pulpy movie ever could. And if they give the viewer – in Hotline Miami’s case, the player – the agency to do all the murdering? It has even more impact.
It’s with a mix of excitement, trepidation, and morbid curiosity then, that we greet the announcement of Hotline Miami: Wildlife, an eight-part comic series based on the retro crime-caper rampage. Here’s the skinny from publisher Dayjob Studio’s website:
Hotline Miami: Wildlife is an eight-issue monthly comic series and it presents an original spin-off story in the Hotline Miami universe told from the perspective of a new character, Chris, and his struggle to deal with a coming war, his tendency towards self-destruction, and the mysterious pseudo-patriots of 50 Blessings. The narrative will take fans of the Hotline Miami games to new locales and introduce new masked figures while exploring dark and disturbing themes reminiscent of the series namesake.
Hotline Miami: Wildlife is written by Federico Chemello and Maurizio Furini with art by Alberto Massaggia, Ludovica Ceregatti (with Giorgia Lanza), Andrea Dotta and Andrea Errico. The events in Hotline Miami: Wildlife aren’t canon, but Dennaton Games and Devolver Digital have given the project their blessing.
This is basically the only panel from the first issue of Hotline Miami: Wildlife we can realistically give you a preview of, and it’s still a bit bloody, includes the word ‘shit’, and has what looks like a child pointing a gun at a man’s head; take from that what you will.
