While Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number adds a great deal of depth to the storyline of the franchise, its combat and playability are decidedly lacking. Wrong Number definitely believes in quantity over quality. The storyline will easily take double the amount of hours to complete that of the first installment and truly does add some interesting characters and plot developments. It's a shame they are tied to such poor gameplay and level design.

The controls are finicky and and designed for the small levels with relatively few enemies seen in the first installment. Wrong Number features much larger levels which cripple the player by limiting the scope of view. The number of enemies demands that one be able to switch targets in rapid succession but with the controls being mostly unchanged since Hotline Miami 1, it's always a crapshoot trying to lock on to a specific enemy closing in on you among several.

I enjoyed many of the new play mechanics involved with each character but some of them are more gimmicky than useful. The ability to combat roll is offered with such little frequency that most players won't have the chance to become proficient with it and the ability to dual wield is a joke. On the other hand, playing as a character who is limited to blunt weapons and nonlethal means of dispatching enemies adds an edge to an otherwise bland experience. Unfortunately, Wrong Number never manages to achieve the same intensity of the first installment.

Fans of Hotline Miami will be dissapointed to find that the frantic, reckless combat has been supplanted by much more strategic and stealthy mechanics. Given some of the characters' motives, this does make sense in a few levels but it often turns into a game of trying to figure out a way to exploit the nature of enemies rather than truly engaging them. This is especially true when playing as Alex and Ash with combined melee and ranged attacks. Their combat style has potential to be frantic and relentless but the large levels with multiple open spaces and firearm wielding enemies put an end to any hopes of an intense experience.

Many of the levels will become frustrating after a time and players will start to look for ways to trick the system and progress tediously through each level. Many levels even demand techniques like this. I'm not sure if this was intentional or if dreams of a bigger badder sequel got in the way of practicality. Overall, Hotline Miami 2 feels like a hyper-violent puzzle game with some glaring loopholes.