Hitman – Intro Pack review: Finally, a worthy successor to Blood Money

Hitman turns the clock back over twenty years to a time when Clone #47 was first recruited by The International Contract Agency. Those familiar with the series will recognize Diana Burnwood in the opening cutscene, the person who would progress from being 47’s recruiter to handler over the course of the next couple of decades. The intro sets the stage, and it’s up to you to deliver, first in the tutorial “simulation” and then in a mission based on the supposed real-life exploits of Director Eric Soders, Diana’s boss. Humble beginnings  The first mission takes place on a Yacht where 47 is tasked with eliminating Kalvin Ritter in a party setting. This doubles as a guided tutorial which gives us a glimpse of the new Hitman sandbox—multiple entry and exit points, various disguises and their associated pros and cons, weapons, AI behavior and more. It immediately feels fresh, as well as a triumphant return to Hitman’s roots; emergent gameplay, contained storytelling and an emphasis on sandbox. It is made very accessible as well, with the player being walked through almost step-by-step. Upon completion of the first mission, there’s an option to explore the it further—utilizing alternative methods of infiltration and assassination. Freeform training takes 47 to Cuba, with the task of eliminating Chess Grandmaster Jasper Knight, a soviet spy. With the introduction of additional layers of complexity and more variety in terms of tools at his disposal, this is 47’s chance to get creative. Upon completion of this mission, he is recruited by The Agency. He is now Agent 47. Silent Assassin  Players are encouraged to be stealthy, use non-lethal takedowns on enemies who are not the main targets, as well as encourage them to explore a variety of assassination opportunities available. Other characters in the world react to the player’s actions, and the paths available to the player are defined by the choices they make. Choose to don the disguise of a security guard? Watch out for other security guards. Put on the clothes of a high ranking officer? Expect unhindered access to most areas and be repeatedly saluted by your subordinates. Create a loud, explosive distraction? Expect to endure the chaos of fleeing crowds and added security for your target. The gameplay systems in previous games have been refined to their most evolved states yet in Hitman. In addition to the use of disguises, contextual actions, weapons, and manipulation of the environment, Agent 47 can also rely on his instinct (a by-product of the otherwise weak Hitman Absolution) to spot interactive objects, targets and opportunities. It also helps that the size of the sandbox in the third and final Paris mission is just about the perfect size for these systems to be fully leveraged. Showstopper  Present day Paris, France. Agent 47 arrives in the French capital on a mission to assassinate two targets: Viktor Novikov, former oligarch turned fashion mogul, and his wife, Dalia Margolis. They’re the brilliant minds not just behind Sanguine, one of Europe’s leading couture brands, but also ringleaders of IAGO, a network of spies responsible for security leaks around the world. 47 needs to get to them before they blow the covers of undercover British agents. The mission, aptly titled “Showstopper,” takes place at a fashion show by Sanguine. There are so many layers to Showstopper. Completing it at the most basic level will not require more than an hour of your time, planning and execution included. Even on your first play-through, there is enough happening both from a contained story standpoint as well as in gameplay terms. You will encounter various characters with their own stories: a reporter wanting to do an interview, a sheikh looking to win an auction, a famous fashion model about to take to the ramp, and more. With over twenty different methods to execute both targets including chandelier accidents, poisoning, electrocution and unexpected descents into the Seine river, Showstopper is the quintessential Hitman mission. It’s the sort of level technological constraints prevented developers from fully realizing in the past. From the crowds and the fashion show, to the size and scale of the map and the intricacy of the architecture, Showstopper delivers as the perfect Hitman sandbox. 47 will have to don several disguises, exploit the lapses in security, find the right tools, and do the deed when the opportunity is presented to him. It is however, in the replay, where real fun can be had. Playing it again, and again  We might never know if there were other factors at play when IO and Square Enix opted to go with an episodic approach to Hitman, but it appears to have worked out. In previous games I felt like there was a lost opportunity—I wanted to replay some of the levels, but the progression of the story prevented me from doing so. Hitman solves this problem. Sufficient depth is showcased in the player’s first attempt at completing Showstopper, which generates curiosity. With each successive playthrough, there is real incentive to keep going back to try something different. Added challenges and alternative targets are presented in the game’s ‘Escalation’ modes with ten levels of progressively complex objectives, while the user generated ‘Contracts’ mode returns as well—something which feels more at home here thanks to the larger, more open levels. Technical difficulties  While Hitman’s accessible sandbox can provide moments of pure, twisted joy, it breaks your suspension of disbelief on a semi-regular basis. The AI is not the brightest at times, allowing you to simply perform suspicious actions like repeatedly bumping into armed guards while spam-crouching like a mad person. It will also let you get away with performing kills in crowded places simply because you were out of a guard or NPC’s line of sight. Other issues persist as well. Frame rate drops are not uncommon when there is a lot of visual detail on screen—the console version is plagued by this problem, while on PC, AMD cards are less prone to this than Nvidia. Players also complained about server troubles at launch, a problem given that Hitman relies on this for some of its features, but I had no issues during my time with it. There have also been reports of agonizingly slow loading times on console. Despite its problems, however, Hitman can occupy its players for several hours after they’re done with story missions. Bear in mind that repeated playthroughs are essential to getting the most out of it. If subsequent episodes are able to keep this up, 2016’s Hitman could well turn out to be the best game in the franchise.

Rating: 8.5

What’s good Superb sandbox “Showstopper” sports one of the all-time great Hitman mission settings High replay value Looks great  What’s bad Technical issues AI lets you get away with murder. Literally.