izigame.me

Getting the comparison out of the way, I've held Hotline Miami (and Wrong Number) as some of my favorite indie games of all time for years. Naturally, with the retro-pixel top view gun-switching ultraviolent fast paced shooter action going here, this game had enormous shoes to fill. So my first few runs made me think "this is just fresh enough. Some good ideas, nice visuals... Yeah, this is good".
And then I got into a boss battle with a giant mecha snake with machineguns. In my 4th run. And that was awesome. "Hotline Miami, this is not".
So yeah, for anyone like me that might have been worried that this is "just bringing some decade old game with more modern considerations", I'm pleased to see that it differentiates itself positively and extremely early. With "bullet time" to slow down the massive amount of bullets on the screen, a fresh variety of enemies and bosses early on, and a generous healthbar that will likely deplete after strings of poor decisions and bad planning, each floor has a lot of adrenaline that doesn't reward "trial and error", but instead, planning how to approach each room.
Yeah, planning is rewarded... but so is keeping a high combo multiplier to get more money to make your run better. So there's a lot of high-risk high-reward decisions at every moment. Play too safe and you won't be able to afford upgrades, yet play too reckless and you'll end up surrounded with no "bullet time" to even the odds.
It's very good action, extremely fast paced, and while it can feel a bit clunky early on due to the unusual controls, waltzing in and painting this black and white mansion red is very gratifying.
So yeah, recommended if you like fast paced action, punishing but fair gameplay, are okay with its violent themes, and if you like roguelikes in general.