Agent 47 is at it once again, but if you have played the long list of Hitman games up to this point there are some things that are now different, whether they are good or bad I think depends on the kind of gamer you are.
The Basics
I want to start by saying that it kind of bugged me the way Hitman 2 held my hand. Let me explain. You see each big mission you’re sent on is full of little mission stories. You can open a menu and pick one, or you can simply come across them organically while you wander about. Problem is once you are following one of these mission stories, the game will give you markers and tell you what to do. That is not the Hitman that I know.
Also, I hate to say it but these markers are actually not the best way to play the game. Not just because it’s not like Hitman games of the past, but because it does not have you play the game the best way. As I have said many times before I am a stealth gamer before anything else. If you start one of these mission stories the game will probably give you a marker to go find an NPC so you can take them out and take their outfit. Thing is that NPC will be in a heavily populated area, and it will be very risky for you to try and do anything to get that outfit from them. The better thing to actually do is snoop around the map, find some useful tools and discover the same outfit tucked away somewhere. Stay stealthy and get whet you need without anyone knowing and without any trouble. Now the issue here is, if you ignore the marker the game has given you and actually do that, the game will sometimes get upset and not advance the story line even though you have item you need. This glitch caused me to sometimes just turn the stories off and completely figure stuff out on my own.
The other issue I had with mission stories is that if you leave them on and try to do them, you can’t do all of them in one run through. While I guess that adds to replayability, if you don’t do certain ones when you get to the end of the level the game will suggest you go back and play the mission again so that you get the content of those certain missions as they are kind of important to the overall story. I would like to know which ones are the important ones before I start so I could give them priority on my first run through. Then after getting the key story line items let me decide if the level was good enough to go back, and if it was I’ll play it again for achievements and the other minor story lines.
Speaking of replayability; that it is something this game has a lot of. On top of being encouraged to go back and do specific missions, you can go back and not do any at all and just take people out if you like. You can play through and try not to be seen at all, or run and gun your way through everything. You can be realistic in your approach, or you can be totally off the wall. It is completely up to you, and you can try again and again. It is actually stunning the number of different ways you can do things. And there are challenges to complete if you like that will unlock tools, new starting locations and stash points. Although, I will say that as a stealth player, not a lot of the unlockables interested me very much.
On the Plus Side
- Lots of replayability
- Smooth gameplay
The Negatives
- Only five levels
- Weird story for a Hitman game
- Some challenges being "pushed" on you for story
If you are a fan of the Hitman games from over the years this is a whole lot more of the same with a bit of guidance through the missions, if you are new to the series this is probably a better place to start because of all the hand holding.