Hotline miami 2: Wrong Number
Indie games have allowed a new generation of creative developers to experiment. Nostalgia is a leading trope: defunct genres are being resurrected, and the 8-bit aesthetic is a stylistic trademark. Adhering to this practice, the first episode of Hotline Miami chewed-up old-school arcade games and nineties ultraviolence, mixing it up with a contemporary, psychedelic audiovisual blend.
Hotline Miami 2 keeps all of that with a set of new mechanics: players can now shoot sideways, roll under enemy fire, and brandish katanas. The game’s greatest merit is to carefully balance unabashed mayhem with careful strategy. You will need to memorise patterns and act quickly at the right time. And then, do it again and again.
As a sequel, Hotline Miami 2 feels rather conventional. As expected, every part of the game has been expanded and the game mechanics have been completely exploited. Its narrative has been exhausted and lost sequential logic. It now serves as a backdrop for yet another suicide assault.
Hotline Miami 2 is undoubtedly a joy: a well-crafted, ultrafast ride, with a fantastic, inspired soundtrack. The game is designed to satisfy its fanbase. The struggle continues between innovation and conservatism.
Racing Dreams
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Dr Ing. Raphael Grech writes about his love affair with the robot world from Wall-E to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the USA
Light up my Universe
What is the universe made of? How was it formed? How old is it? Will things stay the same forever?
The night sky is shedding its secrets as Ian Fenech Conti (Institute of Space Science and Astronomy) talks about his work measuring the most elusive matter in the universe.Continue reading
Hips 4 Eternity
All over the world, hip replacement surgeries are on the increase. Provisional data from the hip replacement register at Mater Dei shows that, in Malta during 2014, 145 people needed their hips replaced while another 11 needed revisions to old implants. With costs that run into the thousands, the problem of faulty implants caught the eye of a local research team of engineers and medics. Cassi Camilleri finds out more about their work in solving the dilemma. Photography by Elisa von Brockdorff
Lighter and Stronger Planes
Bonnie Attard talks about the aerospace industry and how it can be improved.
I_compute I_create I_am
Creativity is a quality that we, as humans, think is ours alone. Prof. Georgios N. Yannakakis is creating computers that might have already taken this away from us. Computational creativity is here. His games are helping children be more creative, others to overcome dyslexia, and even combat bullying. Words by Dr Edward Duca.
Rocking the Islands
Debunking the myth: Malta is at no risk from earthquakes. Malta’s seismologists speak up.Continue reading
Haggis
Haggis is the only game that I rate a round solid 10. I know, it’s probably not good review practice to give your opinion so clearly and obviously at the very beginning, but Haggis is a special game. It’s the only game that I voluntarily own two copies of, just in case something happens to my other one, or the cards just disintegrate after one too many plays. Haggis is that game. Continue reading