One of the only games to make episodic content work. An absolute gem of a game that manages to combine a good espionage plot, well considered mechanics, and a thoughtful implementation of progression to extremely great effect. Probably the best game of this type for sure.
Overall it is a quality game, but there are some caveats:
- Paris, Sapienza and Hokkaido are not only the best of the package, but some of the best hitman levels;
- Marrakesh and Bangkok are interesting in concept, but in practice they arent as open as the first ones;
- Colorado is the inferior map since most paths you have to follow one of the opportunities to beat it (it's not a bad thing, but for hitman, it kinda breaks the purpose of experimentation).
- Paris, Sapienza and Hokkaido are not only the best of the package, but some of the best hitman levels;
- Marrakesh and Bangkok are interesting in concept, but in practice they arent as open as the first ones;
- Colorado is the inferior map since most paths you have to follow one of the opportunities to beat it (it's not a bad thing, but for hitman, it kinda breaks the purpose of experimentation).
I can't believe I didn't discover this series sooner. The first in the World of Assassination trilogy is so fun and incredibly funny at times. Definitely putting the other 2 on my personal wishlist
A genuinely fantastic start to a new era of Hitman. In almost every level, you can feel the effort and loads amount of detail put into them. IO Interactive deserve so much more praise for making my favorite stealth game ever! What can I say, these murder box puzzles are my comfort games… don’t look too deep into that lol
9/10
9/10
I think hitman games just sort of rock and this is a good hitman game
hitman
I'm forever grateful this game even got made.
(s)hitman
Technically I just played through the campaign on Hitman WOA but I’m reviewing each game separately.
Great game. I’ve replayed the first few levels more times than I can count. It’s not high art or anything like most of the other games I rate this high, but it’s just an amazing and really fun stealth game through and through with so many options that make all those replays so much fun every single time.
Great game. I’ve replayed the first few levels more times than I can count. It’s not high art or anything like most of the other games I rate this high, but it’s just an amazing and really fun stealth game through and through with so many options that make all those replays so much fun every single time.
Playing the Hitman trilogy through the World of Assassination package, though I believe that this series can be reviewed both as individual titles, due to the refinement of features, storytelling, and content over the episodic release spanned over 5 years.
Before starting Hitman, I had made the assumption that this series was akin to the earlier Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid entries; curated linear levels with an emphasis on storytelling and stealth mechanics. While the emphasis on storytelling and stealth are present, I would be doing this game a disservice by leaving that as the explanation to a refreshing modern take on the stealth genre.
Hitman can be described as an "assassination sandbox". Each level is a pseudo-open world with assigned assassination targets, key points of interest, and subplots that lead the player to piece together new ways to take out their assigned targets. This sandbox-esque open ended mission structure is without a doubt the main allure to the Hitman franchise. There was rarely ever a time where I felt as though there was only one way to complete a task. The game does not feel overwhelming with the choices given, because the game also presents you with “Opportunities”; scripted and timed quest-like story sequences that lead you to themed assassination attempts through the use of characters, events, and environmental chain reactions, all of which are specific to the contained story of whatever mission you are currently on. Opportunities allow for a more linear story that allows you to get a feel for the location. There are multiple Opportunities on each level, and most opportunities have some level of creativity that make you want to replay the levels, if only to see the different outcomes that the developers intended. Aside from these story beats, the game rewards you with different tools/disguises/starting points once you complete certain tasks on each mission. The game rewards replaying levels, and I replayed multiple. Once I completed a mission maybe twice with the scripted Opportunities, most levels opened themselves up to wacky and unorthodox assassination attempts that varied from hidden sniper shots all the way to a rubber duck explosive that gave me more than a couple of laughs off the npc reactions alone (both because of the way dense crowds react to you actions and the tried and true ragdoll death). When I first skimmed through the included levels for the first Hitman installment, I wondered if the value was there due to the admittedly low amount of missions included. While I would still have appreciated more missions in between the cinematic story cutscenes, I also understand that the replayability and optimization of these levels is the main appeal of Hitman.
Speaking of the cinematic story cutscenes, they had my full attention whenever they appeared. They are well written, had amazing ambiance that set the tone for the series, and the acting was top notch. The cutscenes did their job of getting me to jump directly into Hitman 2, but I will say that Hitman (2016) should not be played as a standalone title. This isn’t because I believe that the World of Assassination is SO good that you would be missing out by not playing the other games of the franchise. I say this,because the story in the first act of Hitman is just dripfed context to a much larger conspiracy that the protagonists aim to solve, clearly over the span of three games. Stopping at Hitman (2016) will leave you confused and would ultimately sour an amazing stealth game experience that is clearly intended to be played as a trilogy.
Before starting Hitman, I had made the assumption that this series was akin to the earlier Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid entries; curated linear levels with an emphasis on storytelling and stealth mechanics. While the emphasis on storytelling and stealth are present, I would be doing this game a disservice by leaving that as the explanation to a refreshing modern take on the stealth genre.
Hitman can be described as an "assassination sandbox". Each level is a pseudo-open world with assigned assassination targets, key points of interest, and subplots that lead the player to piece together new ways to take out their assigned targets. This sandbox-esque open ended mission structure is without a doubt the main allure to the Hitman franchise. There was rarely ever a time where I felt as though there was only one way to complete a task. The game does not feel overwhelming with the choices given, because the game also presents you with “Opportunities”; scripted and timed quest-like story sequences that lead you to themed assassination attempts through the use of characters, events, and environmental chain reactions, all of which are specific to the contained story of whatever mission you are currently on. Opportunities allow for a more linear story that allows you to get a feel for the location. There are multiple Opportunities on each level, and most opportunities have some level of creativity that make you want to replay the levels, if only to see the different outcomes that the developers intended. Aside from these story beats, the game rewards you with different tools/disguises/starting points once you complete certain tasks on each mission. The game rewards replaying levels, and I replayed multiple. Once I completed a mission maybe twice with the scripted Opportunities, most levels opened themselves up to wacky and unorthodox assassination attempts that varied from hidden sniper shots all the way to a rubber duck explosive that gave me more than a couple of laughs off the npc reactions alone (both because of the way dense crowds react to you actions and the tried and true ragdoll death). When I first skimmed through the included levels for the first Hitman installment, I wondered if the value was there due to the admittedly low amount of missions included. While I would still have appreciated more missions in between the cinematic story cutscenes, I also understand that the replayability and optimization of these levels is the main appeal of Hitman.
Speaking of the cinematic story cutscenes, they had my full attention whenever they appeared. They are well written, had amazing ambiance that set the tone for the series, and the acting was top notch. The cutscenes did their job of getting me to jump directly into Hitman 2, but I will say that Hitman (2016) should not be played as a standalone title. This isn’t because I believe that the World of Assassination is SO good that you would be missing out by not playing the other games of the franchise. I say this,because the story in the first act of Hitman is just dripfed context to a much larger conspiracy that the protagonists aim to solve, clearly over the span of three games. Stopping at Hitman (2016) will leave you confused and would ultimately sour an amazing stealth game experience that is clearly intended to be played as a trilogy.
cold from my man agent 47
Great stealth sandbox. The levels here are beautiful, intricate, and sprawling beyond anything we'd seen before. Agent 47 feels as deadly, cunning, and oddly funny here as he's ever been and its a great experience through and through, regardless of the level of handholding you accept from the game's difficulty
The Hitman reboot series (2016-2021) is virtually the same game just chopped into some episodes. So my review for all three is the same. But that's okay. They're all absolutely great. Huge dynamic open maps, near-infinite ways to kill targets. All feel very fun fresh challenging. You can play every map twenty times and still find new things, new methods. It always feels fun too. Never repetitive.
The story is surprisingly tight and coherent for a game that would be just as good with no story altogether. Hitman is a puzzle game at its heart. It's not a loud shoot em up. It requires no shooter skills. It's closer to Among Us or Tetris than it is Call of Duty. A fantastic time and an insane bevy of content. I'll be sad to say goodbye to Agent 47 for quite awhile but I'm looking forward to IOI's take on James Bond in the future.
The story is surprisingly tight and coherent for a game that would be just as good with no story altogether. Hitman is a puzzle game at its heart. It's not a loud shoot em up. It requires no shooter skills. It's closer to Among Us or Tetris than it is Call of Duty. A fantastic time and an insane bevy of content. I'll be sad to say goodbye to Agent 47 for quite awhile but I'm looking forward to IOI's take on James Bond in the future.