Switching up the way things usually are isn’t always for the best. “Hitman 2” on the Playstation 2 proved to be my first experience with the franchise that would spawn a hefty helping of sequels ranging from games set to improve upon what came before it to grandiose reboots or adjustments to make each game more accessible without forgoing the franchise’s greatest strength: kill targets in almost any way the player sees fit. In an effort to adapt to gaming’s changing consumer market, IO Interactive teamed with SquareEnix to release five “episodes” month by month in 2016 before the complete “Hitman” package came together. While the release strategy wasn’t for the best in the eyes of many, the game itself proved to be a fantastic offering and left me excited for the sequel that would come out two years later under the WB banner after being put a position where the game seemed to be on the verge of cancellation.
Did I Complete “Hitman 2”?
Unlike the old “Hitman” games where the simple premise of “eliminate the target” and move to the next stage was the norm, the most recent versions of “Hitman” including this offering features so much the player can take part in to make each mission as memorable as possible mostly thanks to “Challenges”. Each of the six maps available have a set of “Challenges” that can be completed via certain situations including “Story Missions” –scenarios specific to each map usually featuring protagonist Agent 47 dressing up as someone like a renown tattoo artist scheduled to meet with some infamous cartel leader. These “Challenges” provide massive replay ability and will take completionists dozens of hours to finish. There are also multiplayer modes – “Sniper Assassin”, “Ghost Mode” & “Contracts” – for those who don’t feel like just doing the standard missions, as well as other single player offerings, “Elusive Target” (a timed worldwide event featuring a lone target players can kill to earn special in-game rewards) & “Escalation” (maps featuring up to five higher difficulty settings with each completion of a specific goal). To top it off, owners of “Hitman” (2016) have the ability to download all the maps from the previous entry boosted by the implementations from its sequel. After completing the main story maps and playing all the modes in twelve hours or so, there’s still a lot of “Challenges” left to discover including those from the previous “Hitman” that will definitely keep me coming back for a long time.
Did “Hitman 2” Live Up to the Hype?
Rather than stick with the “episodic” release formula set in the 2016 iteration, “Hitman 2” is a complete package from the onset featuring six maps connected to a campaign that is ultimately forgettable until the final few cutscenes – cutscenes that feature still CGI images where the camera pans in certain directions – as well as an extra extensive map for even more fun. But older “Hitman” games featured stories that weren’t necessarily more than just ways to put protagonist Agent 47 in a particular area to kill a person or multiple people; so coming into a “Hitman” game with the intent of it being a narrative masterpiece is ignorant. The game’s real story is usually connected to how well the player handles being as stealthy as possible and then adapting to a situation gone wrong especially when someone sees 47 pulling off a kill and his disguise is compromised; meaning the player must either escape the area without dying and/or disable someone else with the intent of pressing on with a new plan under a different identity (or hide in some tall grass or in a group of people who nonchalantly allow some stranger to stand in the middle of their circle).
Agent 47 has a slew of weapons he can bring with him including sniper rifles thanks to the return of his briefcase, but utilizing items found in the world is usually the best way to go about completing a task including poisoning a race car driver while posing as a doctor or turning a militarize robot against its creator. Agent 47 gunning his way through an area is always an option, but the overall movement & gunplay doesn’t make it the most useful or satisfying method. Melee combat boils down to a quick time event that too feels unfulfilling. The map selection in “Hitman 2” is diverse and, arguably, better than a majority of the locales seen in the previous game; though the final map leaves something to be desired. Moving around each map will provide “Story Missions” which are specially made for each map and usually is a more detailed way to complete an assassination while the game assists the player with waypoints. “Story Missions” are a nice way to help players who don’t want to be overwhelmed by all the options of completing a task. The picture-in-picture updates such as an unconscious body being found also helps keep a player on their toes while helping them learn from their mistakes when going about replaying the stage. Added to the replay ability of “Hitman 2” is the returning difficulty levels with “Professional” difficulty being akin to “Normal” in relation to other games, while “2’s” “Master” setting removes the restart function from missions while upping the AI’s awareness & features no guidance system; truly giving the player a feeling of being a perfect secret agent when successful. The aforementioned “Challenges” also make replaying maps much more fun than compared to the older “Hitman” games where the player had to make their extra fun with personal challenges or stipulations like finishing the campaign without switching disguises.
Multiplayer in “Hitman 2” is commendable, but flawed. Outside of the returning “Contracts” and timed “Elusive Target” modes with the prior being player-designed scenarios in the maps provided featuring different targets in comparison to the main campaign as well as potential interesting optional requirements such as blowing up the target. “Sniper Assassin” mode can be done both alone & with a friend or random fellow would-be assassin; featuring a slew of targets to gun down from a far distance without alerting anyone of the assassin’s presence. “Ghost Mode” is where it’s at in regards to multiplayer action as two players work in the same world mostly independent of each other in hopes of scoring five unnoticed kills before their opponent. Killing an innocent bystander will cause a player to lose a point and no points are given for seen target murders. Unfortunately for now both “Ghost Mode” and “Sniper Assassin” are in their beta forms at the time of this review featuring only one map per respective mode. Add that to the fact with this being a niche game finding a partner or opponent may take a while.
“Hitman 2” also has some technical issues especially when it comes to the AI. Sometimes enemies can be incredibly stupid or unusually hostile. Trespassing in a certain area may alert a guard that, even when 47 walks away, still shouts at the intruder as if Agent 47 is standing in the same spot. NPCs will overreact to certain scenarios such as 47 carrying around a food item, or will see a dead body and won’t become alerted. While the game’s frame rate & overall stability in regards to crashes & glitches are commendable, unexpected problems will arise from time to time such as one mission where the communicating NPCs needed to progress the scenario saw one of the characters constantly walking away mid-sentence; extending the sequence for about five minutes. The game is also always online, featuring a leveling system that unlocks map-specific items & stash locations upon completing a section. But being always online means that if the game is having server issues or the player loses internet connectivity it’ll boot the player back to the main menu; proving to be a big problem if someone is playing on “Master” difficulty considering the sole save slot could mean having to replay an entire mission or losing a tremendous amount of progress.
“Hitman 2” proves to be a much better version of “Hitman” (2016) with more memorable maps & smartly designed “Story Missions”, multiplayer modes with the potential of being incredible once they move past the beta phase, and a base amount of stuff to do that will keep the game fresh for a long time.
Should You Play “Hitman 2”?
While this version of “Hitman” and its direct predecessor have some obvious limitations compared to earlier games in the franchise, very few are as accessible or enjoyable as “Hitman 2”. The highly diverse maps, copious amount of options to complete a task both during the campaign and in online competition, and all the features from the previous game for players of “Hitman” (2016) makes this one of the most complete “Hitman” experiences ever. For fans of “Hitman” (2016) this is a no-brainer and worthy of a purchase. Those who love stealth games built on improvisation will enjoy this as well. “Hitman 2” has been a part of frequent sales since its release and is a game worthy of purchase at full price, but a sale makes this offering a better deal than the price of a home some high-end security guard is looking to purchase without being aware he could be blown up at anytime & no one will hear him scream.
