Hitman is not an action game. Despite its title, it’s not really a “murder simulator” either, though I don’t doubt there are some who’d call it that, pearls firmly clutched; no, after a lot of hours spent exploring the cavernous mock-settings of the ICA training facility, and the opulent, baroque Parisian palace, I’m pretty sure it’s a puzzle game. A huge, sprawling, complex puzzle with dozens of solutions - and, yes, okay, quite a lot of murder.
But the kill isn’t the point. The point is everything leading up to it, the hours spent watching patrol routes, hiding in cupboards, and then - when everything is in place - seeing if you got it right. The hit itself is only the briefest flash, and it doesn’t even come with a sense of relief, because you know you still have to get out of there somehow.
The game’s episodic release has been controversial, but for me, it’s turned out to be something of a blessing. When I played any previous Hitman games (Hitmans? Hitmen?), it was only briefly - a level or two here and there of Hitman 2, Blood Money, and Absolution. I don’t know why they never really clicked with me before, but I suspect the structure was a large part of it - once a level was done, the target eliminated, I never felt the compulsion to go back and revisit; but with Paris being all there is (for now), I’ve been undistracted by the lure of narrative progress, and spent the best part of a month learning my way around the sprawling, four-storey Parisian palace and gardens, and still finding something new on almost every playthrough.
Challenges on each level give hints and ideas about novel approaches to your targets and award Mastery XP, which unlocks new starting locations, equipment, and item drop locations. Opportunities (on by default, but optional) give a more structured experience, feeding you objectives once you’ve discovered their starting point. Official and player-generated Contracts make for surprisingly varied gameplay, too, as you have to start paying attention to people who, before, were effectively set dressing; it’s only a shame that Contracts you create can’t be shared directly with friends - there’s not even a search function.
Paris has become familiar now; I know where to find poison, weapons, master keys, and the disguise I need to weasel my way into particular sections of the mansion. In just under three weeks, 47 will be set loose in Sapienza, and the whole learning curve starts over again.
That’s not to say it’s flawless; there are rough patches, too. There’s the Contracts thing I mentioned above, plus an occasional bug where guards will be alerted to unacceptable behaviour through walls - on one memorable occasion, a three-man security team on the other side of the level instantly noticed when I… subdued a target in a sealed bathroom, leaving me to wonder if maybe I’m not the only one with an Instincts mode.
For all his alleged expertise in the arts of corpse-making, too, 47 is frustratingly fragile in combat, meaning that the “Combat” status usually means a scrubbed run. And there are more niggling problems, too - writing is sometimes clunky, or on-the-nose, and a lot of NPC actions (particularly those required for the more intricate assassination methods) are only triggered by 47’s presence; that means it’s more difficult to miss an opportunity, but pulls back the curtain a little too far on the scripted nature of proceedings, and makes it difficult - if not impossible - to set up NPC-on-NPC “accidents”. The writing, too, has its stumbles, straying into the clunky and cliche in both cutscenes (the first conversation between 47 and his handler, Diana, is particularly wince-inducing) and overheard NPC interactions.
Still, there’s more here to like than dislike - a lot more. When it came out a few days after The Division, I still thought I’d be spending most of my time in post-pandemic New York, with only occasional forays into the world of international assassination.
I wasn’t even close; Hitman hasn’t just taken up the lion’s share of my gaming time, but my waking thought processes. If the remaining episodes are as well-packed as Paris, this might well be my game of the year.
That’s not to say it’s flawless; there are rough patches, too. There’s the Contracts thing I mentioned above, plus an occasional bug where guards will be alerted to unacceptable behaviour through walls - on one memorable occasion, a three-man security team on the other side of the level instantly noticed when I… subdued a target in a sealed bathroom, leaving me to wonder if maybe I’m not the only one with an Instincts mode.
For all his alleged expertise in the arts of corpse-making, too, 47 is frustratingly fragile in combat, meaning that the “Combat” status usually means a scrubbed run. And there are more niggling problems, too - writing is sometimes clunky, or on-the-nose, and a lot of NPC actions (particularly those required for the more intricate assassination methods) are only triggered by 47’s presence; that means it’s more difficult to miss an opportunity, but pulls back the curtain a little too far on the scripted nature of proceedings, and makes it difficult - if not impossible - to set up NPC-on-NPC “accidents”. The writing, too, has its stumbles, straying into the clunky and cliche in both cutscenes (the first conversation between 47 and his handler, Diana, is particularly wince-inducing) and overheard NPC interactions.
Still, there’s more here to like than dislike - a lot more. When it came out a few days after The Division, I still thought I’d be spending most of my time in post-pandemic New York, with only occasional forays into the world of international assassination.
I wasn’t even close; Hitman hasn’t just taken up the lion’s share of my gaming time, but my waking thought processes. If the remaining episodes are as well-packed as Paris, this might well be my game of the year.
This review is based on the PlayStation 4 version.
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