Just 2 years after Codename 47, IO interactive released Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - capitalizing on the success the first game was despite it's mixed to above average critical reception, there was clearly promise in the franchise.

Silent Assassin saw improvements in every single aspect compared to it's predecessor, the level design was much better, the animations and visuals popped a lot more, qualiy of life was given to the map and general feel of the gunplay was improved a lot.

While Silent Assassin does have a few stinker missions, namely the ones in the snow mountains of Japan like Hidden Valley and At the Gates, the vast majority of the missions are designed in a similar vein to Thermal Bath Hotel from Codename 47, which was by far the best mission there.

Every single mission is something you can tackle in complete stealth, you're no longer forced to go guns blazing in specific segments, the game also introduces a nuanced ranking system with various labels depending on your playstyle and performance ranging from :
Mass Murderer - killing everyone and everything you see to Silent Assassin - Unseen, efficient with no wasted kills or gunshots.

The only real gripe I have with Silent Assassin is the unpredictable AI, it works fine for most of the time but it can get frustrating when they see you from the back of their head or immediately open fire because you jogged for 1 second.
The suspicion system is not as consistent as future entries, sometimes they just decide to open fire as you're passing by, sometimes they dont. Granted, the less you linger around them, the less likely they are to notice you but it does make close encounters frustrating at times, while working in favor of the game at others like in Tubeway Torpedo where you constantly have to walk past other guards in extremely tight corridors, giving the mission a kind of tension you won't really be able to get in any other Stealth franchise except Hitman.

As for the soundtrack, it's amazing as usual. Jesper Kyd like always delivers top notch compositions that enhance the experience and give Hitman it's unique atmosphere and mood it's known for.
There is a bit of a tonal shift compared to the first game's soundtrack, Silent Assassin has a more impactful and orchestral sound whereas Codename 47 had a more moody and subdued sound.

Overall, it's a fantastic sequel, improving upon every single aspect of the first game and putting the Hitman franchise on the map, still remaining the best selling entry in the franchise - maybe except the new Hitman 3 for which we don't have definitive figures yet.

Codename 47 is the first entry in the Hitman franchise, renowned for being probably the best stealth franchise to ever exist. Does this game live up to that reputation though?

No. (lol)

It's still a fun time especially during the earlier missions and the Thermal Bath Hotel mission, which also happens to be the best in the game, however the experience is marred by inconsistent AI, noticing you from OUTSIDE OF THE DRAW DISTANCE in some missions even, like the Say Hello to My Little Friend mission and Plutonium Runs Loose (which is probably the worst mission in the entire franchise) and a lack of a limited save system within missions like future entries, forcing you to restart from the very beginning when you fail. Yes, not IF you fail... WHEN you fail, because you will. Some missions hit you with extremely punishing knowledge checks that you would've had no way of knowing on your first playthrough but the game punishes you for that regardless.

The fundamentals that the franchise was built upon are all here and this game will forever be respected for starting it, but pretty much every other game in the series is better.

The one thing that I can't criticize is the insanely atmospheric soundtrack composed by Jesper Kyd, also known for his work on some of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Overall, it's a decent time but it has aged pretty poorly and you do have to play through the game once to be aware of all of the knowledge checks, it makes latter playthroughs much smoother and less frustrating.

Context to the review bombing.
THE GAME DOES NOT INSTALL THE EPIC GAMES LAUNCHER. This is MISINFORMATION by review bombers.

It seems everyone is pissed that the game has Epic online integration and Denuvo.
I'll play Devil's advocate and say that this is insanely overblown. Denuvo causes no performance issues to Superstars, both because the game is generally low spec and because there aren't really many Denuvo triggers put into it. It's a nothing burger of a complaint. As for the Epic integration, a bit of an inconvenience at best, you really only need to register or link your account once. It's not the only game on Steam to do have a service connected to a different client. Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity 2 OS also force you to use Larian's own launcher but this game doesn't. It's legit just a single time account link and it's all through Steam afterwards.
Is it the ''Epic = CHINA THEFT OMG'' fear mongering that's pretty much built on nothing but baseless paranoia lol.

The actual game review
Classic Sonic like always is wildly more consistent than Modern.
The controls feel really good, the soundtrack is mostly great (safe for the Jun Senoue tracks that sound a lot like Sonic 4, keep this man away from the Genesis soundfont please...) and the level design while it doesn't have the heights that the likes of Sonic 2 and 3&K have, it also doesn't have any of their lows either. Making it the most consistent 2D Sonic title as of now which definitely puts it ahead of Sonic 1 and Sonic CD for me.

The general aesthetic of the game is very pleasing and colorful, with some of the most expressive animation the series has seen in a long while, or well, since Mania.

As far as the physics go, this ain't no Sonic 4, it's very much in line with the Classic games, maybe with some microscopic differences but the controls are overall great.