Review: Hitman 2 successfully builds off an already incredible foundation

DISCLAIMER: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Platform: Xbox One (reviewed), PS4, and PC

Developers: IO Interactive

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

MSRP: $59.99

The Hitman franchise has been a wild ride, we’ve gone from semi-open levels, to VERY open levels, to really linear, narrative-driven levels, all the way back to VERY open levels. It’s been varied as IO Interactive has attempted to really find what works for the franchise but they finally figured it out in 2016.

Following 2012’s story-heavy Hitman: Absolution which was received somewhat well for its story and gameplay but criticized for taking a step back from what made the series so great, IO Interactive made their grand return with a soft-reboot for the series. This love letter to Hitman gave us vast levels with layers upon layers of opportunity, it provided dozens, if not hundreds of hours of replayability and gave just the right amount of story to keep us interested.

After splitting off from Square Enix, IO Interactive went independent to make Hitman 2. There was a question of what this game would look like without Square backing them, would it be smaller, more limited? Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is publishing Hitman 2 so they likely got some funding from them but make no mistake, no corners were cut with this sequel.

This is largely an expansion of the first game rather than a full-blown sequel. It’s got a lot of the same systems and the changes made won’t be really noticeable to casual Hitman players or make a difference to those who are totally new the series, it’s more refinement as opposed to straight-up innovation.

Hitman 2 is a direct sequel narratively, so it follows the events of the first game and calls back to it in order to continue the arc surrounding Agent 47’s mysterious backstory and the shady organizations that hide in the shadows of our society. Just like the first game, this story can be totally ignored if you really don’t care and you won’t really miss anything aside from some context of why you’re in the location you’ve traveled to.

The story is actually really interesting and provides a lot of weight to the characterization of Agent 47 and the world around him so I strongly recommend following it as it may surprise you with how good the story really is. We learn a lot about who our barcoded friend is, where he comes from, and some of the other atrocities he’s committed. It’s a fascinating way to give this otherwise secretive character that’s been around for decades a bit more depth than just the fact that he’s a man basically programmed to kill and that’s it.

When it comes down to actually playing the game, it feels almost daunting but not in a bad way. The levels are so incredibly dense with multi-story buildings with pretty much every door and room accessible, back alleys to explore, underground tunnels, hidden areas, and so much more. I can’t think of a time I ever went up to a door and wasn’t able to interact with it, the levels are sprawling with places to go and exploration is rewarded.

If you played Hitman 2016, you’ll know what to do right from the getgo. You just go and take in the environment, learning about your surroundings, the opportunities you can take advantage of, and much more. There’s something immensely satisfying about spending 20 minutes or more just gathering intel on the area and your target, watching guard patterns, identifying routes, etc, all to build up a plan and then executing it to either great success or failure.

The beauty of Hitman 2 is that it’s a game for master manipulators. You manipulate every single element, you can cause some chaos to make your target intentionally flee only to have them run into their panic room where you’ve left a bomb for them. You can trick someone/something into killing a person for you via sabotaged equipment. Everything about the world is able to be toyed with in some capacity, there’s no stone that can’t be left unturned.

With Hitman 2, IO Interactive has taken the time to add some smaller systems to make this game feel a bit more cohesive and well-rounded. They’ve changed the names of some systems like the guided opportunities from the first game to make their purpose clearer, they’ve added foliage and the ability to blend into large crowds to hide from enemies, and some more subtle changes.

Hitman 2 also feels more forgiving in a sense. The first game felt kind of punishing if you died or wanted to reload a save, it would seriously impact your score or just make it completely void. Hitman 2 avoids that completely by allowing you to play the game more comfortably by not forcing you to play through levels in one go if you want to get a score/rewards at the end. Even when you fail, you still get the XP you earned and progress by ranking up. It allows everything to feel a bit more relaxed and less stressful.

While these are indeed small in the grand scheme of things for a AAA sequel in 2018, they’re still very appreciated and necessary.

The ability to dump bodies in bushes and lose pursuers in crowds is something that feels like a no-brainer in hindsight and helps make your overall time with the game feel more enjoyable thanks to these additions. IO Interactive has even gone back and remastered all of the Hitman 2016 maps with these features and if you have a copy of the original game, you’re able to download them free of charge.

The game is also incredibly beautiful, just from the opening mission alone I was really taken aback by the visuals. Strong winds blow up sand on a beach and cause grass to bend, the moon naturally reflects off the water in the sea, and so on. It’s quite the looker which honestly wasn’t something I expected when I booted up the game.

Hitman 2 also comes with a lot more content than the first game via two new online modes: Ghost mode and Sniper Assassin. I didn’t have the opportunity to play Ghost mode as my internet went out for a large portion of the time I spent reviewing the game BUT, I did play Sniper Assassin.

Sniper Assassin places you on top of a cliff overlooking a very crowded wedding at an extravagant palace. Your goal is to successfully snipe three main targets and eliminate about a dozen or more guards, bonus points if you can do it without anyone noticing. It’s super hard to do without anyone noticing but it’s fun nonetheless!

You’re given three different sniper ammo types which allow you to shock enemies (or maybe the environments around them), pierce walls, and there’s standard ammo which does what you’d expect. There’s a number of ways to dispatch your enemies other than just a bullet to the head, you can blow up propane tanks, knock towering objects down on them, or find other creative ways to get the job done without making anyone realize that someone is intentionally causing the unfortunate demises of these people.

Furthermore, you can even hide bodies by shooting them off ledges, into water, or taking them out in secluded areas. Sniping itself is also pretty difficult as you have to account for the positions people are in, the time for the bullet to travel, accommodating for how they’re moving, and more. It’s an incredibly fun mode and one that I’d love to see get more maps in the future.

Even though I largely enjoy this ridiculous, wonderful game, I do have some issues with it. Sometimes the AI acted a bit overly aggressive towards me and boundaries weren’t spelled out very well. I dressed up as an exterminator and went into fumigate someone’s home that I was supposed to be at but I guess the exterminator isn’t allowed in the actual house and is supposed to stick to the backyard, so I was instantly shot to death rather than escorted out.

These kinds of things happened to be in various levels throughout the game and while I usually just reloaded my save and tried again, it was annoying and caused many minutes of work and progress to come crumbling down in a matter of seconds.

On top of that, sometimes the game feels as if it’s catered too specifically to those scripted assassinations. The ones where you follow a sequence of events that result in some catastrophic and usually hilarious death of your target. Maybe it’s the point and commenters will yell at me for this but killing a target any other way than the very scripted assassinations doesn’t feel very gratifying, it feels ultimately like you’re dropping a penny in an ocean. There’s not a lot of oomph to it. It lacks that feeling of accomplishment which one could argue you should still get even if the scripted moments are one of the core elements of the game.

Far too often does it feel like you have to wait for a target to come to you or come out of an area because the game has the AI stay somewhere specific so it gives you ample time to trigger one of those specific assassinations. It can feel like a waiting game which can be tedious and boring but perhaps I’m alone on this.

The Verdict:

The beauty of Hitman 2 is that the first game was already so good that it didn’t need some radical shake-up to the formula with a sequel. IO Interactive knew that they essentially struck gold the first time around and instead of overhauling the whole thing, they’ve taken a closer look at what could be done to improve things rather than take an entire step back and shuffle everything around.

With much more content to increase the value of an already incredibly replayable game, a more polished, refined experience, and more ways to kill people than I can count, Hitman 2 delivers a worthwhile follow-up that fans will surely be pleased with even if it feels more like an expansion rather than a sequel.