The Hong Kong Massacre

The game is a series of short action-puzzles in style of "Hotline Miami" crossbred with "Max Payne" (has bullet time & dive shooting). Could benefit from higher contrast & less visual bloom, but still rather satisfying to play (that's when you win of course). Simple yet effective.

A semi-enjoyable, mediocre, John Woo-style Hotline Miami clone.
It's not particularly polished, and some of its aspects feel quite at odds with the kind of experience the game wants to offer (especially the unlockables, which basically force you to give up one of the game's best features), but it has enough content to scratch that itch, albeit not for long.
I personally wasn't interested enough to go all the way through. Ultimately, I'd rather just play Hotline Miami again.
But it's fine.

PRO-TIP: Use slow-mo constantly. In most other games, I like to hold back from using abilities until absolutely necessary. However, HK Massacre lets you fully refill your slow-mo meter in less than 0.5 seconds, so clearly the game wants you to be in slow-mo all of the time. That's the only way you can dodge the insanely fast enemy fire and it's obvious the whole game is built around you stylishly weaving & dodging around bullets in slow mo. It's a homage to John Woo cinema, after all! Once you understand that, this is an incredibly fun and satisfying game.

Ey, do you like Max Payne?
Do you like John Wick?
And most importantly, do you like hurting people?
If you say yes to any of these, then this game is for you!! Although there's a bit of jank, the field of view is limited, and the character moves a bit too slow, the game's still great if you enjoy any of the questions mentioned above

Fun short game. Beat it on Hard without using slowmo but some achievements are on Medium so I didn't get those that are tied to Medium.

Also how do you even accomplish the challenge of not missing a bullet in every level. That is so BS

This game it's too underrated. Is not an easy game but need to try to see how much is beautiful. The scenography is beautiful, the visual effects are wonderful and the music is great. Therefore, why is not appreciate it?
Come on, get it and have fun with it!

My Playtime: 15.4h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (15 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.
Intro
The Hong Kong Massacre is a top-down shooter game where you need to quickly kill enemies while dodging their bullets. In doing so, you are armed with a slow-motion ability to help you dodge those bullets with ease. You and enemies die in 1-2 hits, meaning that you need to act quickly.
Pros:
- Challenge to increase the difficulty
- 4 weapons with different upgrades
Cons:
- No restart hotkeys
- Configuration isn't saved after leaving the game
Specs
Steam Deck: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 CUs
Should you buy this game?
If you enjoy fast-paced shooter games where you replay the levels a lot, buy it on sale.
In-Depth Review
Visuals
The game is portrayed in top-down, 3D visuals. Different enemies wear clothing in different colors to make it easy to distinguish, although this is soon to be gone with enemies wearing bulletproof vests. They all wear white clothes on top of their vest, even though they might be equipped with different weapons.
As a game where you need to kill many people, it can be hard to notice a living person on top of corpses. This is because corpses will stay on the ground with blood spattered on the surroundings, and since there is only a small amount of blood on the body, living enemies can easily blend in well due to their clothes' similar color.
Story
Honestly, it's hard for me to make sense of the story. The main character keeps switching between the same locations, finding a new objective to go through. There are realistic-looking cutscenes that play as you progress the game, but they tend to reuse the same image and don't add much to the story. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be an ending to the story, adding to the confusion.
The Game
Gameplay
The Hong Kong Massacre is a fast-paced, top-down shooter, similar to Hotline Miami (my review). You need to break into a building and kill all enemies to finish the game. However, unlike Hotline Miami, you are armed with a slow-motion ability that lets you play at a slower speed. Killing enemies will increase the gauge, or you can turn it off to let it recharge. This ability really helps since enemy movements and actions are randomized a lot. You can't rely on muscle memory to finish the levels, although you can at least learn the strategy to beat each level safely.
You can also roll to be invincible to bullets. However, rolling is very slow, and if you roll into a wall, you'll be stuck there until the rolling animation ends. Furthermore, it has a cooldown, meaning that you have to wait before you can use the roll again. All these oddities make me uncomfortable when playing the game, especially since the invincibility frame seems inconsistent when you are in the slow-motion mode.
The game has 35 levels, separated into 5 chapters. There is a boss fight at the end of each chapter, where you need to beat an enemy that takes several hits to beat. Since there is no challenge in these levels, the bosses can be beaten easily, especially since you just need to use the slow motion to attack them before they can attack you.
Most enemies die in one hit. This makes it easy to plan your run, although sadly, this was ruined by the last chapter with the introduction of enemies that die in two hits. It just makes the progression slower and adds more annoyances, especially since you need to remember how many times they have been hit if you want to beat one of the challenges. Moreover, this just makes the adrenaline rush you get from the earlier levels turn into frustration since you are not killing enemies as fast as before.
I hate when the levels force you to shoot long range. The game seems to like to do this, especially with enemies that sometimes shoot outside the screen. You can only kill enemies if they are on the screen, and your gun's accuracy will be lowered if you shoot too far. Luckily, the game seems to give an indicator whenever your aim will hit an enemy or not. I noticed this near the end of the game, but it's really helpful and can help with aiming.
Challenges
You can choose from four guns to play with, although you need to unlock the other three if you want to use them. Same with the gun upgrades. The upgrades require stars, a currency earned by finishing a level or challenges. You automatically gain 1 star after finishing a level, although you will be able to gain 3 more stars if you finish the challenge. That being said, beating the challenge can be challenging, and this game seems to punish you for not doing it. It'll take you longer to get the gun and upgrade that you want since you only get 1 per level. Luckily, you can also steal guns from the enemies after killing them.
There are 3 challenges in each level. The first one requires you to finish the level quickly, the second one requires you to finish the level without slow-motion ability, while the last one requires you to only use your bullets to kill enemies (no miss shots). The last two challenges require you to play in different styles, and although aiming for all challenges at once is possible at the first few levels, I found it to be almost impossible to finish the game like that.
Length and Difficulty
I beat the game and finished all challenges in 15.3h. I spent the rest of my playtime finishing the rest of the achievements. The game has three difficulties, which affect how long your slow-motion gauge lasts. I played in the medium difficulty, and I found that they are long enough to clear most enemies in a room.
There is a learning curve when playing the game. You'll feel frustrated since everything feels like relying on RNG, and there isn't much you can do about it. However, you'll notice that it's not a big deal once you utilize the roll and slow motion properly. The only exception is when you need to beat a certain challenge, since enemies like to roll and make you miss your shot.
I found the game to be way easier than Hotline Miami due to the slow-motion ability. The challenges add a bit of difficulty, although it's not that hard for me. Moreover, each level feels the same when you are already familiar with the game's mechanics. Luckily, each level doesn't last long, and there aren't many levels in the first place.
Conclusion
It can take you some time to figure out how the game works, but once you do, The Hong Kong Massacre can help you sate your Hotline Miami addiction. It's a game that will raise your adrenaline by killing enemies quickly while trying to avoid the bullets in slow motion like a pro. There are some minor bugs, and it lacks some QoL improvements to make the game more enjoyable, but you shouldn't encounter them too often. If you enjoy fast-paced top-down shooters that require you to retry a lot, buy it on sale.