Diverse, open-ended level design makes for one of the most exciting stealth games to date
By: Ryan Ramakrishnan
Reviewed on Xbox One
With a bevy of choices in how to execute the many assassinations presented, “Hitman” wonderfully uses its sandbox level design in each of the episodic missions to provide a surprisingly lengthy experience, one that is as nerve wracking and entertaining as ever before. Its story is far from important or compelling, with the exception of one or two moments, making the gameplay take full priority. “Hitman” ultimately uses the risky episodic format to full effect in terms of that gameplay, providing players with several open-ended experiences, each worth a revisit.
Story
Agent 47 is the hitman the series has always followed. “Hitman” sees 47 taking on several contracts to kill for the International Contract Agency, or the ICA. The ICA’s contracts come off as random and unrelated; however, the conspiracies raise when someone known as the “shadow client” seems to have coordinated them for bigger purposes.
“Hitman: Absolution” (2012) was the previous mainline title in the series and put a lot of thought into its storytelling, maybe too much; however, this “Hitman” title does little to deliver its potentially compelling narrative. I found the episodic structure to suffer here because it took so long to get the entire story to be told. Playing it today in one sitting, or more likely in one playthrough, will allow you to keep up with every story beat far better. This won’t however make it any more interesting or tightly focused, as the game’s gameplay and label design was clearly prioritized far more, making the story very forgettable.
Gameplay
IO Interactive does stealth right with “Hitman.” The classic act of grabbing a disguise, sneaking around, killing your target and getting out right away is at the core of the gameplay and has never been better.
“Hitman” allows you to perform simple maneuvers like crouching, taking cover, running and of course switching between weapons. The weapon wheel includes whatever you choose to enter the level with or what they provide you at first. From there, you will find plenty of items everywhere. Some of these can be melee weapons or throwables, depending on how you wish to play, such as wrenches, kitchen knives and scissors. You’ll find guns of all sorts, items used to push particular assassinations like rat poison for example and more.
These items all play into the act of assassinating your target(s). The primary goal of every episode’s mission is to kill. Sometimes you will have to take out two, others four. There are also other objectives to take care of as well. Those play in to the story of the mission. How you choose to kill your assigned targets is a choice you can make every time. That is the beautify of the sandbox structure of “Hitman.”
The game’s episodes each come with massive levels to explore. You’ll certainly find yourself stumbling upon new items, mission opportunities and threats and disguises alike throughout. The choice is always yours and the large levels make that all the more fun. Some players will go for one approach while you may never see that approach visible or accessible because of your route.
With the always handy garrote, you can choke out targets quickly but an also do so with your bare hands. A silenced pistol is also an option typically available from the start. The aforementioned items to pick up and use can not only be applied to killing but also as a distraction. Throwing blunt objects and small fruits or coins alike can trigger an enemy nearby to cautiously approach the area of contact. From there, you can deadly sneak behind them for a kill or sneak around them. Once again, the choice is always yours.
The opportunities that “Hitman’s” episodes offer are specific ways to take out a target through a series of events or decisions that the game can guide you towards if you so please to follow it. These can make for some of the most exciting assassinations and are worth checking out.
Of course, the most notable thing besides choice is disguises; although, using a disguise in “Hitman” certainly plays into player choice. Plenty of enemies and NPCs have outfits that are tailored to accessing certain areas undetectable or the opposite. It can be a matter of being able to enter a fortified location or not. These are still nonetheless optional. You can, once killing or knocking an enemy out, take their clothes as a disguise. As you walk around with it on, you’ll notice whether or not others can detect you and if you’re safe or not with said disguise.
Graphics
The massive levels of each of “Hitman’s” episodes are wonderfully crafted in the visual department as much as in their mechanics. Whether it’s the huge party and runway in Paris or the militant, crowded setting of Marrakesh, “Hitman” always looks gorgeous. IO Interactive put a lot of thought and time into creating living, breathing settings for all of the episodes, presumably why they chose the episodic approach in the first place, coupled with their gameplay loop in each location.
Sound
“Hitman’s” soundtrack didn’t per se grab me like it's gameplay or even visuals; however, the music does fit the tone of each of the game’s levels quite well. Each thriller of a mission did have a track to boot to keep the vibes relevant. I did, at times of intensity, find the music to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Agent 47 is the hitman the series has always followed. “Hitman” sees 47 taking on several contracts to kill for the International Contract Agency, or the ICA. The ICA’s contracts come off as random and unrelated; however, the conspiracies raise when someone known as the “shadow client” seems to have coordinated them for bigger purposes.
“Hitman: Absolution” (2012) was the previous mainline title in the series and put a lot of thought into its storytelling, maybe too much; however, this “Hitman” title does little to deliver its potentially compelling narrative. I found the episodic structure to suffer here because it took so long to get the entire story to be told. Playing it today in one sitting, or more likely in one playthrough, will allow you to keep up with every story beat far better. This won’t however make it any more interesting or tightly focused, as the game’s gameplay and label design was clearly prioritized far more, making the story very forgettable.
Gameplay
IO Interactive does stealth right with “Hitman.” The classic act of grabbing a disguise, sneaking around, killing your target and getting out right away is at the core of the gameplay and has never been better.
“Hitman” allows you to perform simple maneuvers like crouching, taking cover, running and of course switching between weapons. The weapon wheel includes whatever you choose to enter the level with or what they provide you at first. From there, you will find plenty of items everywhere. Some of these can be melee weapons or throwables, depending on how you wish to play, such as wrenches, kitchen knives and scissors. You’ll find guns of all sorts, items used to push particular assassinations like rat poison for example and more.
These items all play into the act of assassinating your target(s). The primary goal of every episode’s mission is to kill. Sometimes you will have to take out two, others four. There are also other objectives to take care of as well. Those play in to the story of the mission. How you choose to kill your assigned targets is a choice you can make every time. That is the beautify of the sandbox structure of “Hitman.”
The game’s episodes each come with massive levels to explore. You’ll certainly find yourself stumbling upon new items, mission opportunities and threats and disguises alike throughout. The choice is always yours and the large levels make that all the more fun. Some players will go for one approach while you may never see that approach visible or accessible because of your route.
With the always handy garrote, you can choke out targets quickly but an also do so with your bare hands. A silenced pistol is also an option typically available from the start. The aforementioned items to pick up and use can not only be applied to killing but also as a distraction. Throwing blunt objects and small fruits or coins alike can trigger an enemy nearby to cautiously approach the area of contact. From there, you can deadly sneak behind them for a kill or sneak around them. Once again, the choice is always yours.
The opportunities that “Hitman’s” episodes offer are specific ways to take out a target through a series of events or decisions that the game can guide you towards if you so please to follow it. These can make for some of the most exciting assassinations and are worth checking out.
Of course, the most notable thing besides choice is disguises; although, using a disguise in “Hitman” certainly plays into player choice. Plenty of enemies and NPCs have outfits that are tailored to accessing certain areas undetectable or the opposite. It can be a matter of being able to enter a fortified location or not. These are still nonetheless optional. You can, once killing or knocking an enemy out, take their clothes as a disguise. As you walk around with it on, you’ll notice whether or not others can detect you and if you’re safe or not with said disguise.
Graphics
The massive levels of each of “Hitman’s” episodes are wonderfully crafted in the visual department as much as in their mechanics. Whether it’s the huge party and runway in Paris or the militant, crowded setting of Marrakesh, “Hitman” always looks gorgeous. IO Interactive put a lot of thought and time into creating living, breathing settings for all of the episodes, presumably why they chose the episodic approach in the first place, coupled with their gameplay loop in each location.
Sound
“Hitman’s” soundtrack didn’t per se grab me like it's gameplay or even visuals; however, the music does fit the tone of each of the game’s levels quite well. Each thriller of a mission did have a track to boot to keep the vibes relevant. I did, at times of intensity, find the music to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Content
“Hitman” provided a great deal of content in each of its main episodes. There are plenty of challenges, kill opportunities, alternate decisions and more.
For starters, there is the multitude of ways to take out your targets. Perhaps you killed him or her with a silenced pistol in a secluded room the first time. Your second go may have you desiring a new approach like poisoning their drink or throwing a knife at their throat in plain sight. The choices are seemingly endless and that is what makes the replay value already so great because of how much fun a new run can be.
There are also plenty of challenges in each episode, whether they be killing with no disguise, not killing anyone but the target, or taking the target out in a specific manner. These challenges are varied and some are quite the daunting task. They make for plenty of fun for completionists who wish to tackle everything the missions have to offer.
Then there are the elusive targets. Every so often, for a limited amount of time, a new target would show up in one of the levels. They aren’t able to be identified unless you actually stumble upon them and falling calls off the elusive target for good. They are exhilarating challenges to tackle in real time.
Unlike the limited amount of real world time the elusive targets come with, “Hitman” also has several non-story targets to take out in challenge levels within each of the game’s episodes. They have progressive difficulties too so this section of the game alone opens up several more hours of gameplay for those interested.
IO Interactive succeeded with their episodic format thanks to the bevy of content each provides. At first glance, players were afraid of this approach but in hindsight, the decision opened the doors for players to experience several hours within each episode before rushing in to the next.
Conclusion
Gamers in search of an open-ended, personalized stealth experience should look no further than “Hitman.” IO Interactive created plenty of deep levels with seemingly countless ways to go about your contracts. With tons of disguises, guns, melee weapons and many more items and opportunities alike, “Hitman’s” missions and settings each provide a great deal of gameplay. That gameplay is refined and incredibly enjoyable and intense thanks to the difficulty and danger around every corner. It is just a shame that the potentially interesting story told through less prioritized cutscenes wasn’t given nearly enough focus to make me care like I did for the innovative gameplay.
Which episode and setting was your favorite? Have you completed any levels with no disguises or no kills? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
“Hitman” provided a great deal of content in each of its main episodes. There are plenty of challenges, kill opportunities, alternate decisions and more.
For starters, there is the multitude of ways to take out your targets. Perhaps you killed him or her with a silenced pistol in a secluded room the first time. Your second go may have you desiring a new approach like poisoning their drink or throwing a knife at their throat in plain sight. The choices are seemingly endless and that is what makes the replay value already so great because of how much fun a new run can be.
There are also plenty of challenges in each episode, whether they be killing with no disguise, not killing anyone but the target, or taking the target out in a specific manner. These challenges are varied and some are quite the daunting task. They make for plenty of fun for completionists who wish to tackle everything the missions have to offer.
Then there are the elusive targets. Every so often, for a limited amount of time, a new target would show up in one of the levels. They aren’t able to be identified unless you actually stumble upon them and falling calls off the elusive target for good. They are exhilarating challenges to tackle in real time.
Unlike the limited amount of real world time the elusive targets come with, “Hitman” also has several non-story targets to take out in challenge levels within each of the game’s episodes. They have progressive difficulties too so this section of the game alone opens up several more hours of gameplay for those interested.
IO Interactive succeeded with their episodic format thanks to the bevy of content each provides. At first glance, players were afraid of this approach but in hindsight, the decision opened the doors for players to experience several hours within each episode before rushing in to the next.
Conclusion
Gamers in search of an open-ended, personalized stealth experience should look no further than “Hitman.” IO Interactive created plenty of deep levels with seemingly countless ways to go about your contracts. With tons of disguises, guns, melee weapons and many more items and opportunities alike, “Hitman’s” missions and settings each provide a great deal of gameplay. That gameplay is refined and incredibly enjoyable and intense thanks to the difficulty and danger around every corner. It is just a shame that the potentially interesting story told through less prioritized cutscenes wasn’t given nearly enough focus to make me care like I did for the innovative gameplay.
Which episode and setting was your favorite? Have you completed any levels with no disguises or no kills? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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