My interpret was that part of this was symbolism for the PTSD developed after killing people. Like him throwing up after killing the bum. So basically it's a artsy tragedy. Not to my knowledge, but since it's art one could interpret it that way. I think as he was finding out what was happening he found more and more masks of the dead guys a long the way. Half of the secret masks you pull from dying or dead people. I think it's a homage to the 80's alternative story lines bull. Since comics were becoming big in the 80s Marvel released a buttload of “What if?” stories. If I'm right they some of the more popular ones. Also remember those late 80s early 90s chose your own adventure books? Yeah, those too. In all honesty I think the Rooster was beaten into a coma and just drove home, but due to all the trauma he thought he killed the guy. So I kinda thing both are true endings. See above. Part of it is a coma dream. See above. Yeah. The time-line is jumbled on purpose. Kinda. It's one of those open for interpretation things. The Rat Mask guy could be the alternate personality of the Friendly Guy(s) or he murders them for whatever reason. I think it was a picture of him and his girlfriend. If you look at the credits it's like a blue card with a figure(s) on it.

The one from the hospital was not a paper but a security lock keycard for opening the nearest door, in my opinion.

I kinda like how this game raises so many unanswered questions, but I find it frustrating in equal measure. Playing through it again I'm finding some other weird things, like before the prelude mission in addition to receiving a phonecall you actually get a parcel with instructions on getting the briefcase and a rooster mask within, could this mean that the protagonist was only supposed to do the one mission, and that everything else was him choosing to kill excessively? Also I guess it's implied that the MC signed up to be an agent for the nationalist group behind it all, so maybe he was brainwashed and each phonecall was some kind of trigger for each killing spree. Also I think that motorbike guy won the fight and that the original masked man is in a coma and hallucinating from then onwards.

That's probably the best explanation I heard yet.

The man the protagonist kills on the end is (from what I've gotten) the mobster boss. The double Uzi guy in the final level with the main protagonist says something along the lines of "So you're the guy who keeps killing my men"

This is making me think that the main protagonist actually did not break out, but rather "finished the job" in a sense: he chopped off the (russian) serpents head. You could argue that he became aware of the fact that he was brainwashed, but just wanted to give sense to what he has been doing for months (killing mobsters) by killing the main "bad guy".

Honestly, the main story line is a nice play on games in genral; planting doubts in your mind on the tasks you have to have to accomplish. You still do them, finish 'levels', kill 'bosses' and then go after the 'last boss'.

The motorcycle guy really plays more of the sub-plot role. Unraveling the strings that were pulled behind the scenes. And setting things up for a sequel / DLC with the 'true ending', which, again, is a very gamey thing to do.

In the intro to level 14, the police reports you collected in the previous chapter tell you where the calls are coming from, which sets up the location for the next level. But do you notice that the level 14 and level 19 lobbies are the same? It's just that each character goes a different route. So the ultra-nationalists are working in the very same building, right under the Russian mobs' noses. Also, I wonder if there is some meaning to the fact that MC never speaks, but motorcycle helmet guy has speaking lines.

I understand that people desire a concrete timeline that leaves both heroes alive and having accomplished their missions. But it seems like their scenarios present an either/or choice, with neither outcome being true or correct. The narrative here doesn't matter half as much as the experience, so you're given two windows to view the events -- even if they are mutually exclusive.

The protagonist is on the fixed arc of video game hero. His motivation is unclear. His world and sanity are gradually degrading, but his only means of interaction with the world is continuing to next level and murdering his way up to an inconsequential boss. The three masked characters offer questions and dubious context. Reality is disintegrating around him. But there exists no means or reason to connect the dots. The immutable goal is to kill mobsters -- and he succeeds!

The biker, by being a playable character in an alternate timeline, offers a 4th wall breaking alternative. This part of the game, Answers, serves as a response for the lingering curiosities that may exist for the player.

His story eventually brings you face-to-face with the brown haired and blond janitors, who serve as meta stand-ins for Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin. The "bad" ending leaves you on your own to interpret the story, and you're challenged to make sense of the senseless (typical artists). And the "complete" ending provides an appropriately ludicrous finale -- all the killing has been set in motion by insane, jingoistic nonsense! A game full of insane mayhem deserves an equally bonkers explanation.

So consider what this says about video games as a medium. The protagonist's story takes place INSIDE the confines of the game, and the game continues on whether or not it can resolve any of the exterior questions about what's real or meaningful. The biker's story reaches outside the game to explore those curiosities. But this is a world of stylized and gratuitous 80's violence, so you better damn well expect a crazypants finale.


Playing this game is amazing. It's fun. It's clever. It's challenging. But the set pieces and the story are more of a launching off point for you to evaluate your own approach to the game, rather than wrapping up everything in a neat package.

That's exactly how i saw it, two timelines

what i want to get into are the 3 masked peapol you talk to in the game i think that the chicken is your murderous self as when he 1st met you is the day you 1st go on a killing spree and get the mask. also when he says that the next time he sees you will be the last. well the last time he sees you is right after you die (if you believe that their are 2 separate timelines). or if you think that theirs only one timeline. then the last time he sees you is right after your girl friend is shot dead and you are almost killed. i think at that point you lose your taste for blood and you just want to end this and have a normal life. but i cant think of who the other 2 are the horse mask might have something to do with the mafia considering the name "don" juan

also sorry if thats hard to read im a bit dislexic

Had a thought today:

At first, the main character collects increasing amounts of newspaper clippings regarding the killings. But then, once you free the girl, she starts cleaning up the house, including getting rid of the clippings. Now, think about the horse-masked person, and how she mostly says stuff amounting to "you don't really want to know". See the correlation?

I thought the game was a clever portrayal of mindless violence.
All the enemies in the game serve no purpose other than for you to kill, you never see their face and you barely even see your own face.

When someone is told to shot someone, most people's subconsciousness will make them miss, however if you hide the face of the person they are shooting at they will be more likely to shoot them. This is because they dissociate the people they are killing as people.
This is shown in the game with it's faceless enemies in suits and with it's numerous masks where the protagonist even see's himself wearing the masks but each one has it's own personality (his own is never shown).

In the end he doesn't really know why he's killing as the best way to kill someone is to not think about it and to just do it.

That certainly matches with this picture: http://thegamefanatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hotlinemia.jpg

Given how angry the Owl is the simple guess from there would be the biker is the owl but the suit doesn't fir that at all. I certainly think you're on to something though.

Gonna write up a big ass post regarding this, done some mucho thinking on the subject. This'll basically be the TL:DR part before the big post to show some of my ideas and theories.

- Friendlyguy is the hitman that shoots MC
- MC could possibly just be straight dead
- Horse, Rooster and Owl aren't real people
- 50 Blessings actually makes (SOME) sense
- Bikerguy's storyline was possibly the sensical ending

This is gonna be long. Sorry. Feel free to pick this completely apart. Just thoughts.

I don't actually think the Horse, Rooster, and Owl are actual people. Part of me believes that they're either parts of his imagination, or represented parts of his subconscious. My first assumption towards that starts at the beginning, where the Rooster tells the MC that they first met on the 3rd of April, the first mission. This could either coincide with two things, in my opinion. The Rooster is the murderous/killing aspect of his personality. Whether it's iconic, or the Rooster is more based completely off this, the package he gets on the 3rd of April, which I'm assuming is the first "job" is the Rooster mask, the first one you start off with. "The day of our first encounter" from the Rooster is likely (IMO) coinciding with either the aspect of murdering, or contact with the mask, which in turn acts as kind of a channeling of that, IE not a murderer unless the mask is on.

The Owl, arguably the most hostile towards you and most wishing to see you gone, is likely the conscience, or perhaps rational thought or maybe morals. Something therein. "I don't know you! Why are you here? You're no guest of mine!" starts off the chilly reception with the Owl, and it only goes downhill. At the second meeting, "You're not a nice person, are you? You make me sick!" as the MC continues to murder, and murder. Upon the final meeting of the Owl, you get the line "I told you not to come back here! I see that my opinion of you doesn't matter. If you insist on returning here than I should leave!" I take this as a clear example that this is the moral part of the conscience completely fed up, and the last line might be indicative of that part of the conscience fully intent on leaving, IE, all moral inclinations and remorse leaving the body, condemning the MC to simply a murderous shell.

That leaves the Horse, and to be honest I really -don't- know. The Horse seems to take the neutral tone, not supporting like the Rooster, but not antagonizing like the Owl. The Horse seems to be consciously aware of the situation, and potentially where it could go, expressing that it "A picture is starting to take form here...I wonder if its accurate. Some pieces don't quite seem to fit. Or maybe I just don't like the way it looks." expressing that if things continued on the current course, perhaps it isn't comfortable with where it'll end up. The Horse also seems to be the only one concerned with the MC's health, suggesting to see a doctor and to rest.

If we're going by Freud, the three fit in extremely nicely. Id, the instinctual unconscious animalistic pleasure deriving personality structure is the Rooster, in this case the killing. The MC isn't just some poor schmuck forced into doing this, he's relishing in it, between the clippings and the fact his life doesn't center around anything other then the next job. The complete lack of social interactions, even with the girl he brings back, shows the only thing that matters to him is that next job and that next set of murders.

The Ego is the Horse, aware of the push and pull between the Owl and the Rooster, but still concerned overall with the MC as a whole. It doesn't judge or try to sway one way or the other because it's aware of the significant pulls between the other two animals. As a result, it's also the most forgettable of the trio. Now I know the artwork and the model hints that the Horse is in fact a woman, this is something I'm not certain of myself.

That leaves the Super-Ego, the 'parental agency', the conscience. This is clearly the Owl. Never happy with what the MC does, striving to fit into the socially acceptable mold, and as it continues on and it's clear the MC has no intention on deviating, begins to self-realize it has no place here.

This doesn't explain everything, as the Rooster makes some very accurate predictions, and seems to know how the thing is going to end from the beginning. This leads me into another related theory, and probably one slightly outside of the norm. And that theory is the MC died in the fight with bikerguy, or perhaps was killed by the ratmask assassin..

There's a few things I can use to push some lee-way to that, the first is that the strange things only begin to happen right after the fight with the bikerguy. This could potentially be a spiraling of events down towards the end of the game. This could likely be the slowly dying MC having his life flash before his eyes. A possibility is that at this point, he begins to relive all the events, kicking off the initial conversations with the three masks. Only real push I have for this is the horse saying "As of lately you've done some terrible things." This is of course going off the assumption the May 3rd hit with the Rooster mask was the first job. If it wasn't, that's basically invalidated. However it's just as possible the three masks were a repressed part of his mind he retreated into inbetween jobs, or maybe it was just a dream in which his subconscious came forward. It's all up to debate.

Another theory is that after the biker scene, the MC's world begins to slowly deteriorate into madness, his subconscious beginning to bleed into his conscious as the underlying psychological effects of all those murders begin to wreck havoc on his life. If this is to be believed, it shows that he only has true focus when he is killing and murdering, as these effects and reactions only happen during the off times, what used to be his normalcy and relaxation. Now he's forced into a world where the only clarity he has is when he's killing, the rest of his world is a confusing borderline schizophrenic mess.

Regardless, it's my belief he dies, somewhere and somehow. Possibly by the ratmask assassin. After ratmask shoots him, and he goes into an out of body experience, the Rooster mask is there to talk to him. This is himself, the brutal killing personality, the only thing that's left. The Rooster reinforces this with the exact phrase of "Looks like it's only you and me left now... I'm sure you know by now, that this won't end well." As the rat wasn't part of the trio, it wouldn't make sense why the other two would suddenly leave unless we're talking the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego. The Super-ego is gone, it knows it's not wanted, the ego not far behind as the events of late have proven the MC is beyond saving. The only one left is the animalistic and pleasure seeking Id, and it too knows that with the death of MC imminent, it's time is gone. Without the killing, the MC is nothing at this point. Rooster knows something is up, and states it with "What you do from here on, wont' serve any purpose. You will never see the whole pictures. And it's all your own fault. Now it's time for you to leave. There's a warm bed across the hall from here. And you look like you could use some rest." Could this mean the Rooster knows the MC is close to death, due to the MC's own over zealousness at killing?

My only reason for thinking he dies here is because the rest of the MC's plot is completely nonsensical, including the ending. Completely clearing out a police station, and then a criminal HQ only to defeat two pink panthers, a katana wielding assassin, and a criminal underboss before delivering the coup de grace to the old and withered crime lord? It sounds like a cliched 80's movie ending, and considering the time and the refusal of a dying man to realize he'd lost, this might very well be the thoughts flashing through him as some sort of solace before his mind shuts down and goes dormant.

The BikerDude section makes much more sense, somewhat. Scarface sends him on the right track. The 50 Blessings in the timeframe makes sense. It's 1989, the Soviet bloc is slowly crumbling, and alliance and a treaty seems to be the way out. For Americans who have lived with the cold war for 30, 40, 50 years, some might find this inexcusable. It would be akin to the US making a peace deal with the Nazi's in 1944. It's important to note that -both- MC and bikerguy BOTH had pamphlets for the 50 Blessings in their apartments. And the two janitors made it clear that the members signed off that they were willing to die for the country, bikerguy included as they reminded him he was part of the group. It was likely only members of this group, 'true patriots' they were calling up to wax the Russian gangsters.

That's probably enough for now.

OK so i think the horse is your instinct of self preservation she doesn't care how you live your life as long as you keep living

the rooster is your murderous rage and anger all he wants is a release

and the owl is your conscience he wants to keep you from becoming a monster and when it comes to him i completely agree with you

i think that your character was trying to live a double life and loved the girl that he was with (she starts sleeping on the couch then then she gets a bed in your room then she cleans your house then you move the beds together). when rat face shoots you and you meet up with the chicken what has happened is rat face shot you expecting you to bleed out but you survived. then in your haze of pain while you lie in your own blood knowing your girlfriend is dead and your house has been wrecked by someone that's part of your own organisation.
you decided to throw everything away to get revenge on the peapol that did it to you

when the rooster say "Looks like it's only you and me left now... I'm sure you know by now, that this won't end well." he is saying that he realizes that you don't care if your a monster anymore and you don't care if you live anymore all you want is revenge. also i think that you live until the end and in your blind rage youv let the peapol you hate manipulate you into thinking it was the Russian mobsters that did it

sorry im fairly sure that was a bit of a jumbled mess but im very tired and also dyslexic not a good combo