‘Hitman: The Complete First Season’ Showcases The Pleasures Of Murder

Who doesn’t want to be Agent 47? The globetrotting assassin has spent years in the gaming imagination as the ultimate silent killer. Sneaking in, arranging the hit, and sneaking out is all the fun. But does it have to be anything else?

Hitman: The Complete First Season (PS4, Xbox One, And PC)

Artistic Achievement

47’s antics have never looked, or sounded, quite so good. The game starts with a witty parody of tutorials, where you play 47 reenacting his agency’s greatest hits on shoddy sets — complete with a hilarious moment where, if you’re clever, you can force your fellow assassins to break character when you perform a particularly cruel hit — and goes from there. The game looks beautiful and sounds gorgeous, but the real bonus here is the little side conversations 47 can overhear as he wanders across the world, ready to pick off a target. IO Interactive has managed to create some genuinely amusing little characters for players to stumble over.

Innovation

After Hitman: Absolution experimented with a mix of slightly more linear, but still open, levels to kill your way through while following a plotline, the franchise goes back to basics here. The focus is on individual missions mostly tied together by 47 and his handler that require players to piece together the best way to bump off targets without being spotted. Or you can just shoot him in the face and run for the exit. It’s up to you! Still, considering that this was the stealth game pioneer, they could have stood to shake things up a bit more.

Execution

IO Interactive has been at this for more than a decade now, so they’ve got it down to a science. Part of the appeal of the Hitman games has always been they’re puzzles with dozens of solutions, and they’re largely limited only by your creativity and wit. The franchise has always rewarded exploring and mixing and matching, a bit like an old-school adventure game with more violence. That wit is a particular focus this go-round; in the hospital mission, you’ll often run into some jerk doctor reviving your target, for example. Elsewhere, you can take a walk down the runway in Paris, and you can troll your target by pretending to be his therapist. It’s ridiculously funny, in places.

That said, it raises the question of if the franchise’s decision to go episodic — this game collects all previously released episodes and adds some bonus content for the disc — was in part because of the fact that this feels like this is as far as the Hitman series can go. Fun is important, of course, and the franchise is careful to never wear out its welcome with too much too fast, but it’s worth asking if we just want more missions out of what has become one of gaming’s great franchises.

Staying Power

If you go through every way to finish off a mission, and there are a lot, you can sink easily 40 hours into this game. Most players will probably wind up spending a solid 12 to 15, however, to finish off each mission.

DLC Factor

The boxed edition of the game we were sent did include some exclusive PlayStation missions, which might grate on some players’ sensibilities. Still, there’s a lot here, and everything else, including three bonus missions, can be found in the box. You also get the soundtrack and a fairly entertaining, if fluffy documentary about the game.

Final Thoughts

Hitman is always welcome for the highly polished series it is. And if you just want more action with a witty edge, this’ll be a perfect game for you. But if you were hoping the franchise would push further, that may have to wait for future episodes.

Verdict: Worth A Chance

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