10 Incredible Video Game Stories That Got Everybody Talking

8. Hotline Miami

2012€™s Hotline Miami burst onto the gaming scene seemingly out of nowhere, and while its deep mechanical gameplay and bloody graphic violence attracted most of the media attention, the most intriguing part of the experience itself was the game's hauntingly surreal and avant-garde story. Blending a sense of non-linearity with one of the most unreliable narrators in gaming history, Hotline Miami left players wondering about the implications of the plot to the point where it wasn't clear if the whole thing even happened at all. Questions popped up around every single part of the story, and with a superb dose of fourth-wall breaking, Hotline Miami pulsed with a unique postmodern wink rarely ever found in the super-serious big-budget po-faced military shooters that dominate most of triple A gaming. While unanswered questions can be infuriating, Hotline Miami€™s refusal to spell-out its narrative actually worked within the context of the game; it was exactly what the hazy, psychedelic gameplay demanded - and players loved every second of it.
Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.