So Hotline Miami came out years ago and obviously had an influence on the Indie scene. At the risk of being completely wrong and coming off as uninformed in creating this thread, I will still dare to posit that is introduced a gameplay conceit that may be creating a sort of subgenre within action games. I'm not talking about the form of gameplay, obviously Hotline Miami isn't the first or even defining overhead action game, I am taking about a conceit that can be readily applied to different types of action games, the same way the properties of Rogue can be.
The conceit I'm talking about is:
"You kill enemies in one hit, but can be killed in one hit in yourself, now clear out those levels"
This is what connects Hotline Miami and the games that are possibly it's followers within this supposed subgenre. Games such as Ape Out, Mr. Shifty, Katana Zero, Bloodroots.
And of course there is a bit of leeway here, as Ape Out for example has your character being slightly more durable (able to take three hits as opposed to one) and has elements that push it's enemy killing process more towards improvisation, rather than premediation (escaping as the goal, a degree of random generation), but I think those are still within the template.
Now, I seriously might be talking out of my butt, since Katana ZERO is the only one of these I have actually played, but I really do think there's a sub-genre emerging. In fact, I WANT this shit to become a popular indie sub-genre. The action in these games have a certain level of exhiliration. They combine the feeling of empowerment with danger of of the ever-potent threat of a swift death. They the closest interactive equivalent to visceral action movie scenes where the hero fights their way through a hallway of goons.
So if it IS a thing, what do we call them? I propose the term "Glass Cannon", because that's what you are in these games.
EDIT: I wana point out that they don't have to be overhead, as exemplified by Katana ZERO
or even if they are overhead, they don't have to involve shooting, as demonstrated by Ape Out
and Bloodroots
The conceit I'm talking about is:
"You kill enemies in one hit, but can be killed in one hit in yourself, now clear out those levels"
This is what connects Hotline Miami and the games that are possibly it's followers within this supposed subgenre. Games such as Ape Out, Mr. Shifty, Katana Zero, Bloodroots.
And of course there is a bit of leeway here, as Ape Out for example has your character being slightly more durable (able to take three hits as opposed to one) and has elements that push it's enemy killing process more towards improvisation, rather than premediation (escaping as the goal, a degree of random generation), but I think those are still within the template.
Now, I seriously might be talking out of my butt, since Katana ZERO is the only one of these I have actually played, but I really do think there's a sub-genre emerging. In fact, I WANT this shit to become a popular indie sub-genre. The action in these games have a certain level of exhiliration. They combine the feeling of empowerment with danger of of the ever-potent threat of a swift death. They the closest interactive equivalent to visceral action movie scenes where the hero fights their way through a hallway of goons.
So if it IS a thing, what do we call them? I propose the term "Glass Cannon", because that's what you are in these games.
EDIT: I wana point out that they don't have to be overhead, as exemplified by Katana ZERO
or even if they are overhead, they don't have to involve shooting, as demonstrated by Ape Out
and Bloodroots
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