Hitman 2 review | PC Gamer

Stabbed. Strangled. Electrocuted. It's drowned. Technically, Hitman 2 – like its predecessor – is an incredibly violent game. Your task as a master assassin Agent 47 is to make sure that the black list of rich jerks has a macabre end, preferably in silence, without witness or alarm. But, again, like his predecessor, Hitman 2 does not revel in his violence. It is not macabre or bloody. Your missions are more cerebral; a puzzle box where the winner state is a death hole being dead.

I could write "like his predecessor" a lot by describing Hitman 2. Perhaps more than any previous game in this 18-year-old series, Hitman 2 looks like a continuation of Hitman 2016. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was a major improvement over Hitman: Code Name 47. Hitman: Blood Money was a significant improvement over Hitman: Contracts. Hitman: Absolution … in fact, let's not talk about that one.

Hitman 2, however, is an iteration. It seems more impressive, but not much. His crowds are denser, but not much. The user interface, the menus and the disguise system are the same and share the same aesthetic style. Even the tutorial is a direct copy – the same two training missions taking place in a plywood simulation taking place in a huge underground silo. That's more Hitman: Season 2 than what you could normally expect from a full suite.

This is something that is important to mention, but that did not stop my pleasure from playing. Indeed, as a whole, Hitman 2 is more consistent in the quality of its levels. Where Hitman was episodic, this suite offers its six missions to launch. And, with one exception, they are all vast and complex – labyrinthine structures and winding streets full of challenges and opportunities.

The first mission is to combine a racecourse and an exhibition center, separated by an underground parking complex. The Colombian village of Santa Fortuna is even larger and includes a mansion, a construction site, a network of underground caves, a drug plantation and a part of the rainforest. Even after more than an hour spent dealing with his three targets, I had not fully explored the space.

Mumbai is like a better version of the 2016 Hitman in Marrakech, with a large and lively crowd bordering more restricted areas than it is more pleasant to cross. A construction site that also serves as a movie set is quite remarkable, with a clever placement of protectors that ensures that even with the correct disguise, you will have to take a circuitous path or resize the unfinished elevator shaft. A good Hitman level requires you to adapt and react as you go along, and Hitman 2 environments excel in providing the routes and options to adjust your plan on the fly.

In fact, there are only five of these giant sandbox environments. The first mission, which takes place in New Zealand, is to explore a small property by the sea. It works more as an introduction to the concept of the game than a level proper. The other five, while excellent, suffer from familiarity. The last episodes of Hitman of 2016 began to play with the structure of what could be a Hitman level, leading to more experimental spaces like Hokkaido, where access was directly related to the disguise that carried 47 people. Hitman 2 feels more restrained. It's inspired by familiar design principles, invoking Sapienza, Paris and even Hitman: the American suburb of Blood Money.

Like its predecessor, the way each mission unfolds is largely yours. By default, Hitman 2 is very handy. You will walk in the public space of each mission until you hear a conversation about your mission. This triggers a prompt for a "mission story," the new name for Hitman's Opportunity system. Choose to follow this prompt and you will be guided through a series of steps that will help you reach your target. In Miami, for example, I hear a military general talking about his next meeting with one of my goals, technology CEO Robert Knox. In response, the game suggests that I steal his clothes.

This is a basic example (many aspects of Mission Story are more complex), but it shows how the goal system eliminates the enigma in favor of elemental execution. I am told what to do, but it's up to me to subdue the NPC and hide his body, so that it is not discovered. Even when playing like this, however, only some of these paths end in obvious death. Hitman 2 is designed for rehearsals, and some of the more inventive purposes require additional planning, using the knowledge gained from a previous run.

Dressed appropriately, I meet Knox for a private demonstration of new military equipment, which puts me within reach and, therefore, to his death. But contextual prompts in space suggest a way to turn his technology against him. I have to leave this for a more rewarding second part, during which I use my extensive knowledge to find the specific elements I need to execute my plan. The ironic dead are always the best.

Personally, I prefer to play with Mission Story hints turned off, at least on my first visit to each level. Opportunities are always present if you find them, with relevant information logged in a separate Intel tab, but this sounds more natural, allowing you to identify the relevant steps. Thanks to the size of each level, it meant that my first mission attempt usually took more than an hour. Nevertheless, for me, this is the most satisfying way to play, and I appreciate how granular the options are: it allows me to define the exact amount of the challenge I want, while at the same time offering a helping hand. those who wish it.

There are also difficulty options, but I have never felt the need to experiment with them. Master, which limits you to a single backup and adds extra guards and cameras, seems like more of a chore than a challenge. Professional, the default option, is perfectly suited. Again, the option is there if you wish, but here is not relevant. Hitman as a series is designed to allow you to define your own skill level and abilities. You can easily make your way through a level, leaving a trail of death as you go. Or you can aim for the rank of silent assassin, killing only your targets and leaving without a trace.

Each mission features a selection of challenges that reward you for every feat, ranging from killing your targets specifically to awesome feats, such as getting the silent assassin score without ever wearing a disguise. As has always been the case in Hitman, your main method of infiltration is to disguise yourself, to dress up by wearing the clothes of someone who is allowed to stay in the place that suits you best. But Hitman 2 is also a more proficient infiltration game, with a new hiding feature that allows you to blend in with the crowd or hide in bushes in the manner of Assassin's Creed . Most of the time, this will not change the way you play, but will give you a little more leeway before starting to execute your plan.

The advantage of taking on challenges is that, like its predecessor, you are rewarded with XP which opens up new tools, new places of departure and new reserve points to smuggle more items. This is another way for Hitman 2 to create more entertainment on the same five levels. My style of play means that for my first run, I did not go anywhere without my hook and a handful of coins to distract the NPCs. But after gaining some levels of mastery, you will have access to a fun arsenal of weapons and toys. IO even brought back the case, which means you can finally carry a sniper rifle without being immediately attacked by all the guards on the map.

Many other new features are not really known. The detection interface has been a little updated, which is nice, I suppose. And apparently, NPCs can now see you in mirrors, which has not played any role in my career. The other big change concerns cinematics, which are now delivered as a slide show of dynamic images. I have never been particularly invested in the story of Hitman, but the change is embarrassing, especially because the cutscenes of the (repeated) tutorial are present and fully animated.

Familiar problems also persist. Sometimes these complex simulations fail, characters stopping a conversation in the middle of a sentence in order to trigger a different conversation, before returning to the first as if the mysterious interruption had never occurred. And, like its predecessor, all this requires an online connection. You can play offline, but you can not take on challenges or unlock new things.

In the end, Hitman 2 feels safe. This is a kind of double-edged sword. This means that this suite offers very little innovation, but also involves five levels of quality (and New Zealand) that can compete with some of the best in Hitman's long history. Perhaps more importantly, it's a robust platform for more unique illusory targets, user-created contracts, more Assassin Sniper cards, and more at future extensions.

When Hitman's 2016 was announced as episodic, I was confused, certainly, but also excited about constantly expanding the space for new Hitman levels. Looking so much like its predecessor, Hitman 2 will fulfill this initial goal. When paired with the additional Legacy Pack – free for Hitman owners 2016 – which adds the levels of the previous game, Hitman 2 positions itself as the essential platform for entertaining murder riddles.