Pool Cue

Lore & Background

The player walks in as a nameless killer wearing a mask, and the first thing the environment offers is not a gun but a cue leaning against a table. It is a quiet, almost domestic weapon in a setting built for violence, and that contrast is very much in the spirit of the game. The pool cue does not scream; it taps, it sweeps, it ends a conversation with a single, precise stroke. In the broader texture of Hotline Miami's weapon roster, the cue sits alongside the bat, the sword, the karambit, and the machete as a tool for players who prefer to feel the weight of the kill rather than the report of a round. It is slower than a karambit, less versatile than a sword, but it gives you the longest melee reach in the game. That reach is not just a stat; it is a design choice that says, in this room, you do not need to be inside the enemy's space. You can stay at the edge of it, and that is enough. Fans often point to the Pool Hall as a level where the game's tone shifts from chaotic shootout to something closer to a slow, choreographed dance. The cue is the instrument of that dance. Every swing is a measure; every kill is a downbeat. The music keeps going whether you hit or miss, and the neon keeps humming, and the felt on the table is already stained with something that is not chalk.

In Their Own Story

The jukebox is playing something with a bass line that thuds in the floorboards. You step over a broken glass ashtray, the mask pulling the skin tight across your jaw, and the first thing you see is the cue leaning against the rail of the nearest table, its tip worn to a pale ring. You pick it up. It is lighter than you expected, balanced just past the midpoint, and the wood is warm from the room's heat. A man in a Hawaiian shirt is turning away from the bar, a cigarette dangling from his lower lip. You do not run. You step, you swing, and the cue traces a long, clean arc that catches him square across the shoulder. He goes down before the cigarette hits the floor. The music does not skip. You walk to the next table, where two more are arguing over a shot, and you let the cue do the talking. The felt is green. The neon is pink. The bass line is still thudding. You are already moving to the next room.

Reader's Guide

Pickup and handling. The Pool Cue is a one-hand melee weapon with the longest reach in the game. You pick it up from the Pool Hall level (or any level where it spawns on a table or rack). It replaces whatever you are holding. There is no reload, no ammo count. You have it or you do not. Swing mechanics. The cue swings in a wide, slow arc. Compared to a karambit or a bat, the animation is noticeably longer, which means you are vulnerable during the wind-up and the recovery. You cannot spam it. You commit to one swing, watch the arc complete, and then decide your next move. In a tight room with three enemies, that single swing has to be the right one. Damage and reach. The cue one-shots standard, unarmored enemies in a single clean hit, same as most melee weapons in the game. Its defining advantage is range: you can connect with an enemy who is roughly a full body-length further away than a bat would allow. In a hallway, that means you can kill the guy at the far end without stepping into the doorway where the second guy is waiting. Role in a run. The cue is a positioning weapon. It rewards players who think in terms of space and angle rather than speed. Use it in open rooms, in hallways, in any layout where you can keep distance. In a cramped kitchen or a bathroom, the extra reach is wasted and the slow swing becomes a liability. Swap to a karambit or a bat if the geometry closes in. The cue is for the wide, the long, the deliberate. Let it sweep. Let it land. Let the music keep playing.

Did You Know?

• The Pool Cue has the longest melee reach of any close weapon in Hotline Miami, letting you hit enemies noticeably further than a baseball bat would allow.
• Like most melee weapons in the game, the cue one-shots standard enemies, but its slower swing speed makes it riskier in multi-enemy encounters than a faster option like the karambit.
• The cue's extra reach changes how you approach hallways and doorways, allowing kills from a position that would be lethal with a shorter weapon.