Hitman 2 fails to impress compared to the initial bout of the trilogy. Although the themes of the levels stand out, the actual level design feels more rigid and less warranting creative solutions with its sprawling locales and overly complicated objectives per mission.

Don't get me wrong - there's still some stellar levels in here - Miami and New York all stood out to me as very enjoyable levels with tons of creative solutions.

But the truth is, who knows, maybe I'll enjoy these maps more as I continue to play, but currently in my mind they cannot compare to Paris, Hokkaido, Dartmoor or even Dubai.

That's not to say I didn't like it, it's a lot of the same from H1 but personally it felt like a step in the wrong direction for me. I do think the series course corrected and Hitman 3 feels like a "return to form" with what I have played of it.

I come to this trilogy not just as a person reviewing the games individually but also recognizing the backwards compatibility of each game and the power that it provides. I played through these levels on the Hitman 3 engine because honestly I wasn't a huge fan of some of the H2 engine interactions and overall mechanics. Playing on the H3 engine I think improved my experience on the Hitman 2 maps and led to better enjoyment for me.