Kris Wall reviews Hitman Episode 1: Paris…
Due to the episodic release structure of the new Hitman, I will be reviewing each part of the content separately on a monthly basis. This review is for the Prologue and Paris missions.
IO Interactive’s Hitman series has always represented a masterclass in level design, in patience and preparation, and in risk and reward. Few other games have matched the heart pounding thrill of a well executed assassination, from casing your mark and studying the environment to use to your advantage, to moving unseen through a mission and disappearing like a ghost at the end, the feeling of sheer elation that comes with that hard-earned Silent Assassin ranking is something that few other games have been able to recreate. Hitman is a series that demands you slow down and pay attention to its world, learning its systems and intricacies, while punishing those who dare to rush in guns blazing, even if that is a valid but messy option. Hitman wasn’t a series that you could describe as ‘welcoming’ to all but the most hardened and determined of gamers… until now.
The story of Hitman acts as a reboot of the series for a new generation, the prologue mission opening 20 years before the first contract begins and showing us the shadowy origins of Agent 47, his first meeting with his handler, Diana Burnwood, and his initial training within the ICA facility. The game soon moves to present day, a mission called The Showstopper, and has Agent 47 tasked with infiltrating the Sanguine fashion show in Paris to take out its leaders, Viktor Novikov and Dahlia Margolis, who are using Sanguine as a front for a spy ring called IAGO, an anti-ICA of sorts that are causing trouble around the world.
By now, everyone knows that IO Interactive have chosen an episodic release schedule with the new Hitman game, with part 1 featuring 2 training ops and a main mission in Paris, with additional locations around the world being released for the next 6 months. What surprises is the sheer amount of content that IO has packed into such a seemingly small amount of play areas, and its here that the classic Hitman mechanics come to the fore and really shine big and bright to form a package that will easily keep you playing until the next episode arrives.
Hitman’s biggest attraction has always been in the intricacies of its level design and layouts. As the series progressed, missions started to allow for multiple approaches and styles of execution. Every level started out as a near impenetrable puzzle of restricted areas, guard patrols and studying the patterns and habits of your target and their bodyguards. Much of the joy of a Hitman game comes from slowly unraveling these dense, labyrinthine maps and plotting the perfect assassination.
Just walking through each level and pushing its boundaries, testing its security, seeing where Agent 47 can and can’t go, learning what disguises grant access to which areas, and locating items to set up traps and areas to initiate accidents is a thrill in itself. Few gamers who have enjoyed this series could ever forget the missions set in the Chinese market and the opera house, where you serve up the poisonous puffer fish to your target and swap the prop gun with a real gun so your mark is executed by someone else during a live stage performance respectively. There’s a real thrill to the world of Hitman when you find that perfect disguise and maneuver to your target in plain sight, taking them out with Agent 47’s staple fibre wire or a fatal accident, then disappearing as if you were never there, a previously impenetrable puzzle solved with skill, precision and style.
The Paris fashion show may be one of the best level designs I’ve seen in a Hitman game since Blood Money. A multi tiered mansion complete with private grounds, a massive wine cellar and kitchen, bodyguard bolt holes and security offices, secret VIP only auctions, a fancy bar area, several galleries, as well as the massive catwalk centre piece, and the backstage and dressing room areas that accompany such a show. There are so many methods of approach to just this single level, my first run through had me disguising myself as the lead catwalk model, Helmut Kruger, who bared a striking resemblance to Agent 47, allowing me to don his outfit and makeup and move freely in plain sight, eventually taking out my target by setting up the elaborate lighting rig above the catwalk to trigger a catastrophically fatal accident. Upon completing my mission and checking out my statistics, I was shocked to find that this was just one of 24 ways I could have assassinated my target in just this level alone, the opportunity for improvisation and creative kills is excellent.
The missions all come with a series of challenges as well, ranging from easy to seriously tough. Even the two training missions in the prologue demand a serious amount of replaying to discover and beat all of its challenges, with some truly tough assassination methods to try and set up and execute. Challenges are split into Assassination (obvious), Discovery and Feats categories, Discovery challenges have you exploring the levels and beating locational challenges, from finding hidden items to finding certain disguises, interacting with a specific NPC or using the environment to your advantage. Feats are imposed limitations which challenge you and Agent 47 to such things as only using fibre wire, using a certain method of dispatch like poison or drowning, or completing a string of challenges in a row before completing the mission. Looking at the list, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to complete around half of them, but I’m looking forward to giving it a shot.
As I’ve already said, Hitman has been rebooted with accessibility to all players in mind, its once punishing difficulty and off-putting learning curve having been dialed right back to allow new players, as well as series veterans, to enjoy the world of Agent 47. To this end, IO have included ‘Opportunities’, whereby Agent 47 can eavesdrop on conversations around the levels to gain insight into his target and a possible method of elimination. The opportunity can then be tracked on-screen with waypoints highlighting areas of interest that Agent 47 should head to and investigate next. It probably won’t please veterans who prefer to do things their own way without any hand holding, but it can be switched off in the menus. Looking at it from an outside perspective though, it’s a great inclusion to introduce new players into this world and show them the mechanics, specifics and approaches of what makes a good hit. It does make the game a lot more easy than it should be so I’d recommend using it a few times until you’re comfortable and then switching it off for the true Hitman experience.
IO have built this new Hitman within a persistent online world, which I was initially hesitant about when it was announced. However, in……. execution, it opens up the missions in the game to so many possibilities, with updating challenges and extra side targets, as well as elusive timed targets that will only appear in levels for a limited 48 hour period before disappearing from the maps for good. These special characters will come with their own patterns, dialogue and security details too, giving old maps a fresh take and the need for a new approach. It adds a serious amount of replayability to the missions, on top of the myriad of ways you can already approach them, and the plethora of escalating challenges that they already contain.
The much-loved contracts mode is also back in Hitman, with players able to generate their own challenges within the levels, selecting up to 3 NPC’s as marked targets and then choosing the method with which to execute the mark as well as imposing limitations such as not being able to change outfits, not being spotted at all or not killing anyone except your target. The catch being that the creator must first pass their own challenge in order for it to be uploaded to the servers, so you won’t be wasting time undertaking some impossible feat of wetwork lunacy. There’s already some challenging contracts available to play through, with many more being added every day, and with player generated content as well as the aforementioned evolving content that IO are delivering weekly and monthly, there’s plenty to keep you coming back to Hitman for more.
Unfortunately, Hitman is let down by some incredibly long load times, and in a game based around trial and error and lots of reloading, it really takes the edge off. At this point in time it’s uncertain whether these load times are a result of how big the level is and just how many moving parts it has to manage, or if it’s the shift towards the persistent online world that means the game is constantly updating, bu hopefully it’s something that will be fixed in a patch in the near future.
The game also features some almost comically weak A.I. in parts. In opening up the game to be enjoyed by everyone, it’s rounded off some of its harsher edges. Getting caught in earlier games saw Agent 47 hounded and hunted to the ends of the earth, until your only options were death or reloading. Here, being caught doesn’t mean the end of the world, which is great for fun factor, but it also shouldn’t be so easy to escape detection and suspicion from some of the world’s most supposedly elite security either. Elsewhere, triggering a fatal ejector seat accident that saw my target being rocketed off into the skies in full view of everyone, triggered little more than a raised eyebrow as guards carried on their patrols while somebody asked if anybody else had just witnessed someone getting fired into the stratosphere whilst screaming their face off. Meanwhile I’ve just effortlessly walked away to my exit vehicle while wearing mechanics overalls, despite the accident I’ve triggered being a mechanical fault that should have put all the mechanics on site under suspicion. Maybe I’m just being overly picky, but while the challenges in the game are definitely fiendish affairs, I definitely didn’t feel as challenged by the enemy A.I. as I have done in previous Hitman games.
Hitman is a great looking game, if not a stunning looking game. Running on the Glacier 2 engine, the environments are huge and look vast and detailed, but there’s an almost clinical sheen to them. The game does feature some excellent vistas though, such as the arctic tundra spreading out from the ICA facility or emerging on a balcony at the Sanguine fashion show and looking out over Paris. Sometimes the game’s reach exceeds its grasp and the frame rate takes a slight knock, but when you see the amount of moving parts the engine is handling, the density of heavily crowded areas with rarely any 2 NPC’s looking the same, having their own animations and conversations, as well as having Agent 47 being able to push and move through it all, it’s a small setback for what is quite an impressive technical achievement.
After the more cinematic Hitman Absolution, Hitman pushes the reset button and takes the series back to its roots, whilst also opening up this formerly exclusive world of assassinations to every one of every skill level to enjoy and immerse themselves in. I’m looking forward to seeing whether the episodes will be standalone chapters or if there will be a story that begins with IAGO here and weaves its way through the episodes, linking them altogether in a compelling narrative. Based on this first episode alone, Hitman might just be the best the series has been since its pinnacle, Blood Money, and with 6 more locations and plenty more assassinations, challenges and contracts to come, it’s only going to get better from here. Welcome back, Agent 47, you’ve been missed.
Pros:
+ Paris is one of the best levels in the series history
+ Accessible to players of all skill levels
+ Updating / evolving content with elusive targets
+ Plenty of challenges and content to get stuck into
+ Contracts mode
Cons:
– Questionable A.I.
– Long load times
– Occasional frame rate issue
Rating: 8/10
Kris Wall – Follow me on Twitter
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