Hitman

Hitman absolution was kinda shit, even the developers kind of admit it to in an open letter to fans. The game tried to attract new, filthy-casual players by stripping as much as they could of the game's challenging mechanics that the fans loved through the years.

The new Hitman game, cleverly titled Hitman, is the sixth major entry in the series. In it IO-Interactive (the developers) return to form with the largest, sandbox levels the series ever had. But size doesn't matter, unless it's a dick or a sandwich, the levels are absolutely filled with great details that you can interact with and use as part of the gameplay.

If you didn't know how Hitman games play, here it is: You start in a sandbox level and given a target, or targets, which you have to assassinate. Furthermore, you'll have the freedom of approach in how you kill the target. You can go balls-out, you can do it silently, or you can make it look like a freak accident. In each of those methods are different number of methods; shoot him/her in the face, use a piano wire, poison him/her drink, drown him/her in a shitter, push him/her off a cliff, drop a chandelier on his/her head, throw a grenade at him/her, sabotage his/her ride to explode, throw a knife on his/her face, setup a proximity mine, use a lethal injection, etc. So you get the idea. There is no shortness of variety under those three methods, but those methods were established for a long time now in the series, and I hoped for something more; like make an NPC character take him out, or frame the target so the officials take him out, etc.

There are six levels in the game, and they were released in an episodic form, which truly helped shape the game beautifully. It seem IO took the gamers feedback to heart, so you will see as you play through the episodes how different each level plays and looks.

One of my major issues with the game is the engine. It seems that IO isn't ready to ditch the engine, or at least give it an overhauling update. The engine seems to give them huge leeway in terms of mechanics, which is great, but it looks old visually and the animations looks outdated. But still, the game runs smoothly, which is more than most games these days. Looking at you Dishonored 2, every Ubisoft game (this generation) and the ever-so-broken Bethesda developed games.

Another aspect of the game that deserve praise is the amount of content it has; other than the main campaign, every level has different missions that you could do. You are given alternative targets with a specific method of approach. Another is the Elusive target, which is biweekly mission where you will be given a target that you have to assassinate using only the briefing information you're given to identify him. Miss the target and you can't play it again. And still there are more exciting modes to give more life to the game.

The narrative in the game is told through CG cut-scenes between missions, but unfortunately the narrative itself felt lacking. Yet the locations and settings are great enough to compensate.

In closing, the game, as far as gameplay and mechanics, is the best in the series (from what I've played: Contracts, blood Money and Absolution). The level design, attention to details and variety of approach makes the game an absolute blast, and a great package. You can call this game as IO's Absolution (Tee-hee!) to the fans, as they have done what many developers are unfortunately not doing these days; stick with your fans and they will convert new fans.