Really enjoying the game thus far -- the character and play-style variety is awesome (especially loved the non-lethal character ^_^) -- but there is one pretty big issue that makes the game feel unfair where the first never did -- the level design.

A lot of the levels are way too large and have way too many open spaces. It seems that the radius at which enemies can detect the player is just a bit lower then the width of the monitor -- given that widescreen monitors have approximately a 2:3 ratio, it means that enemies above and below you can detect you without you seeing them. The large, open levels make the issue worse, because you are often faced with situations where there are potential threats both above AND below you, meaning the look function is not a viable solution to the problem (since you can only extend your vision in a single direction at a time).

In case the devs ever check this forum, I think a viable solution would be to zoom the game out a tad -- just far enough to let players see threats when the threats can see the player. Right now the game actually feels unfair, whereas HM1 never did (at least to me).

In the meantime - does anyone know if there is a possibility to set a custom resolution? I think that if I were able to set it to a 4:3 aspect ratio the problem would be reduced significantly.

Can't check it here, but take a look into %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\HotlineMiami2\
If it's designed like its predecessor, there is a config file that you can open with any text editor (probably hotline2.cfg)
It may contain the resolution settings. If you want to try 4:3, then start with 1024x768.

In my computer, I can choose 1024x768 from the in-game options menu, but no matter the resolution I apply, that "issue" persists. I think it's just how the game is designed, honestly, there's no way around it, unless the devs release a patch in which the levels are a bit zoomed out.

In the level where you play as the pacifist reporter that needs to kill two guys before entering rage state and murdering everyone, I didn't even see the end of the level, so I wonder if the levels aren't stretched beyond what we can see on screen... I'll try tinkering with my GPU (ATI) to see if I can sort this out.

[EDIT] Also, there doesn't seem to be a .cfg file, this time around, just a save file and a window.dat one.

Sorry to hear that. I was hoping to point you in the right direction. Looks like it's waiting for a patch then.

I actually think that it is intentional that the areas are bigger than what you can see. That is why there is the ability to look (hold left trigger and use right stick).

I remember one level in HM1 (chapter 7) I think where is a big hall way and you will die trying to go down there, but if you shimmy along the edge of a window to balcony you can an edge.