Hitman Series 1 review

The new Hitman game isn’t as simple as there being a new Hitman game like you may expect. Instead it does the whole episodic aspect, with six episodes to the new Hitman game, this comprises of what they are calling “the complete first season” and with the six episodes under it’s belt Hitman has proven itself to be a decent yet deadly game for Io Interactive.

let me first start off by saying that this new Hitman game fits in well to previous iterations. From the moment the game starts it feels very familiar, and that’s a good thing, the new Hitman series starts the player off in a little prologue that’s more of a mini training mission, basically the player’s aim is to board a ship and assassinate a specific target, there are multiple ways in which this can be done and to show that point, once you have completed the mission, you are invited to once again try the same scenario, only this time the player must kill the target a different way (explosion, poison, strangulation, Garrote wire, shooting) the way in which you do this is entirely up to the player.
Once the training missions are completed, we fast forward twenty years and the story continues, the game plays out the same as it does in the training missions, you are given a mission briefing and tasked with someone (or more people) to take out. The game is really enjoyable because of its sandbox style element, that’s not to say that there aren’t any objectives to follow, but how you follow them and how you complete them is entirely up to you.

For example during the Marrakesh episode there is an electrical wire, near it is a puddle of water. if the player finds a screwdriver he is able to mess around with the electrics and causes at least one person an electric shock, this can aid in removing guards from the area and making it more likely for the player to sneak past, or if the player fancies a different tactic, they can sneak into a shop, climb the stairs and knock out or kill a headmaster who is sitting reading a book, taking his clothes and the key that unlocks all the doors to the old school/the now headquarters for the players intended target. The big appeal to this game is the huge sandbox mode, while the story doesn’t get in the way, in fact it adds to the overall feel of the game, not a huge story instead the game is mainly about how the player will kill the intended targets (as it should be).

As in previous Hitman games, you are tasked with killing a specific target, in this instance (Marrakesh) the player is tasked with killing 2 people (i wont go into details to avoid spoilers). It may seem simple, but every level has a number of different outcomes, for example, while knocking out a nearby guard a maid could walk into the room or you could get seen on a nearby CCTV camera. But each mission has it’s own unique feel to it and that will appeal to many.

The negative aspects of this Hitman game is the lack of story, apart from the very short introductions to each mission there is nothing, even the small clips we see are not worth calling a story. Hitman’s biggest problem is it’s requirements for online, this is a multiplayer game, but progress, rankings and challenges all require an online connection.

Overall Hitman series 1 is a very enjoyable game that gives the player a sandbox in which to explore and take out targets any way in which they feel fit. It’s a game that can be played multiple times and each time the player will discover something new.