Hotline Miami is a violent top-down action game set in Miami, Florida in 1989. The protagonist is a hitman, nicknamed Jacket by the fans, who receives messages on his answering machine from mysterious employers. Most of the game consists of various missions that always start in the killer's own apartment. He receives a new task through his phone and then hops in his DeLorean to drive to the location and do the job. After each mission there is a short story sequence where he stops by a shop. Missions are always set in buildings with one or more storeys. Jacket has to enter and kill everyone inside. This can either be done in a silent way, taking out opponents one by one, or as a hectic sequence where everyone is attacked at once. When alarmed, usually all opponents on a single level will be drawn to Jacket. There are various ways to approach opponents. Enemies can be taken out with melee weapons or guns. They can also be knocked out by punching them or slamming a door in their face, but they will get up.
Enemies include regular guards but also dogs. Usually there is no starting weapon and they have to be taken from the environment or from opponents. Some of these are specific to the location, such as a boiling pot in a kitchen environment. Other melee weapons are baseball bats, knives, crowbars and more. Guns usually have a limited amount of ammo. When taking out enemies silently, the field of vision and sound need to be taken into account.
After each mission a rating is handed out based on various parameters. Gathered points unlock new weapons (which have a chance to appear randomly during a mission), and new masks are unlocked after each mission and can sometimes be found and picked up during missions. Before each mission Jacket can choose a mask to wear. It provides a perk such as a starting weapon, faster speed, doors that kill, friendly dogs and more.
Control is done through a gamepad or the combination of the mouse and the keyboard. There are separate actions for movement and Jacket can also aim in any direction. Actions include shooting, throwing a weapon and dropping it. He also has the ability to lock his aim onto a single character. Missions are unlocked one by one and the apartment always has small changes tied to the story.
The game's soundtrack consists of a collection of electro and synthesizer artists, from eerie soundscapes to a booming rhythm. Optionally players can collect letters hidden inside the environment. These open up the Puzzle section in a menu where the letters can be ordered into a phrase.
