Hotline Miami Review (PS4)

With the stylish murder simulator Hotline Miami first hitting the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2013, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the darling indie title has already achieved critical acclaim and a cult following of devout 80s obsessed adrenaline junkies. Just over a year later, the gory title sees a re-release on the PlayStation 4 – with a few new weapons in its arsenal to boot.

The game itself hasn't changed at all: you'll still find yourself in apartments and nightclubs full of Russian gangsters to stab, shoot, and pummel as you see fit. As such, if you missed the original, feel free to read our more detailed impressions of the initial release by clicking through here. However, the controls have seen an interesting tweak in that the DualShock 4's gyroscope now enhances the aforementioned pummelling of your opposition.

For example, when performing execution attacks on downed foes, you can shake the pad up and down to imitate the manner in which protagonist Jacket brutally assaults his foes. In addition to this, you can now enjoy the sounds of your carnage as it's thrown from the controller's speaker in front of you – a simplistic, if somewhat gimmicky feature, that definitely bears a macabre charm.

Furthermore, the touch pad now acts as a new way to check your surroundings and target specific enemies. The function is a nice plus, especially in the heat of the moment.

Of course, one of the main incentives of grabbing the title on Sony's newest console is the fact that you'll be able to show every second of your sadistic rampage to your friends and fellow players thanks to the machine's share functionality. There's nothing quite like watching the anti-hero artfully decimate the same room of mobsters over and over, especially when it's accompanied by the game's masterful sense of atmosphere and blood-pumping soundtrack.