Hotline Miami beginner guide: PC inputs, lines of fire and retries
Standard PC inputs, changing held items and checking where an attempt failed. Room-clearing examples and enemy-specific exceptions are in collapsed sections.
Edition: Original PC Steam game, app 219150, mainly Windows Updated. Covers normal story progress. Distinguishes save and display differences from Original; excludes Hotline Miami 2, port-exclusive features and mods.
Verification scope: Public sources checked on 2026-10-04. The game was not launched; the current build number, frame counts and reproducible timings have not been tested.
Sources checked: 2026-10-04
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Check the standard PC inputs
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| Action | PC input | Requirement | What to check after failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | W/A/S/D | During a controllable scene | Changed bindings, or whether a menu is open |
| Aim and attack | Aim with the mouse; left-click to attack | A gun must have ammunition | Watch the aiming direction rather than the direction your body moves |
| Pick up / throw | Right-click | With empty hands, pick up a nearby weapon; while armed, throw it | Check your held item before picking something up from the floor |
| Put down | Hold the right mouse button | You are holding a weapon | Distinguish this from a short click to throw |
| Finish a downed enemy | Press Space near a downed enemy, then continue the required attack input | A normal enemy is downed | Can you reach the enemy, and are other enemies aiming at you? |
| Look farther | Hold Shift and move the mouse | During normal control | Moving the view does not pause time |
| Lock onto a target | Press the mouse wheel | A target is on screen | Is the locked target still the immediate threat? |
| Retry / pause | R after death / Esc for the menu | Follow the instructions for that scene | Are you mistaking R for reload? |
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These are standard labels. Do not treat guns as weapons you can continually reload; watch ammunition and switch to weapons on the floor. Rebinding support depends on the version.
Check your held item before pressing a button
- Before picking up, check whether your hands are empty or you still hold a gun or melee weapon.
- After a throw, do not immediately repeat the same attack. Check the target's state and your now-held item.
- Check other entrances before finishing a downed enemy. Being attacked during the finishing action also causes failures.
- When ammunition runs out, first decide where the next weapon is available.
Practice distinguishing holding, throwing, empty hands and picking up, rather than pressing more keys. Answers for specific rooms are separated into the collapsed examples below.
Answer 01
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Answer 01: before and just after entering a room
Check beyond the door, beyond glass and along corridor patrols together. The following examples apply to normal enemies, not a fixed sequence for every room.
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| Enemy / danger | What to inspect first | Example action | Exceptions and adjustments after failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| A normal enemy immediately behind a door | The door's opening direction and lines of fire beyond it | Push the door to knock the enemy down, then finish them if the space beyond is safe | If another enemy is watching, return behind cover instead of going straight to the finishing action |
| A gunman waits farther inside | The straight line between the entrance and gun barrel | Throw a weapon to knock the enemy down; watch for others appearing as you approach | A throw that hits a doorframe or furniture does not count as a success |
| Several enemies patrol | The order they reach a corner and the gaps between them | Deal with one enemy at a corner, then watch the next patrol | Chasing a distant enemy can expose you to another room |
| You are shot through a window | Blue or yellow windows and gunmen beyond them | Wait on the side with a wall, then use a gun when a line of fire opens | Do not count glass as cover |
| Gunfire attracts a crowd | Your retreat point and how many entrances lead to it | Lure enemies with one shot, return behind a wall and aim at the entrance | Not every enemy necessarily approaches in response to noise. Check the remaining enemies separately |
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Answer 02
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Answer 02: when the same attack does not work
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| Enemy / state | What to inspect first | Action to use | Exception |
|---|---|---|---|
| A normal enemy knocked down | Movement on the floor and getting up | Approach and finish them while it is safe | If you turn away assuming they are dead, they can recover |
| Dog | Patrol position and the line of its charge | Prepare a melee weapon or gun and meet it at a corner | Do not treat ordinary punches, doors or stunning throws as universal answers. Mask effects are separate |
| A large Thug | Remaining ammunition and distance before it reaches you | Shoot while maintaining distance, and confirm it falls | Do not assume a door, bare hands or one ordinary melee hit will handle it |
| SWAT officers | The scene's objective and escape route | Use knockdowns to clear a path and head for the exit | Do not make killing them all the same requirement as clearing normal enemies |
| An opponent in a special encounter | Changes to the encounter's dedicated behavior | Return to the relevant walkthrough answer | Ordinary throws or melee attacks do not work unchanged in every scene |
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Change one thing between retries
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| Symptom | Check after restarting | Next action to change |
|---|---|---|
| You are hit at the entrance every time | Is it the same gunman, or a shot from another room? | Change only your aim or entry timing |
| You attack empty-handed after a throw | Are you assuming you still hold the thrown weapon? | Separate the actions needed to pick up another weapon |
| You die while finishing an enemy | Was another patrol present when you began? | Make one more entrance safe before the finishing action |
| You run out of ammunition in the next area | Your held weapon before climbing the stairs | Move on carrying a gun with ammunition |
| An earlier chapter seems to have disappeared | Whether you are using Original or Updated | Check the version, then return to normal chapter selection |
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Death counts and seconds before restarting are not fixed measures of skill. Note where the first mistake occurred so you can compare attempts, instead of rushing the same inputs again.
Frequently asked questions
Right-click throws instead of picking up
The same input means something different with a held weapon and with empty hands. Check your hands and whether you overlap the weapon on the floor before pressing it.
An enemy I thought I killed gets back up
Knocking down and killing are different. Check the standard finishing input and complete it when nearby enemies cannot target you.
Do enemies move while I look farther away?
The Shift camera action does not stop combat. Use it after checking safety; open the menu when you want to pause.
Bare-handed attacks described in guides do not work
Check enemy type, equipped mask and whether this is a special encounter. Answer 02 in the beginner article covers exceptions.