Hitman: The Showstopper
Agent 47 has finally got his swager back
£44.99; PC, PS4 (version tested), Xbox One
Hitman, the soft-rebooted sequel in IO Interactive’s longrunning assassination simulator, is all about the art of murder, but the death of the target itself is only a small part of what has made this new instalment so compelling. Dialling things back to the open-minded freedom of 2006’s Blood Money, Hitman turns the kill into a meticulous exercise in spider-like preparation as you watch your target, identify opportunities and strike before disappearing back into anonymity. That freedom is what made
Blood Money such a classic game, and here that sense of unbridled player agency has been boiled down to its purest form and spread delicately across multiple, large open settings. Reminiscent of the large-scale Black Box Missions that Ubisoft Montreal added to the Assassin’s Creed series back in Unity, the main contract of episode one, The Showstopper is a veritable playground.
IO has clearly listened to its fanbase and its critics, as it’s given us an assassination simulator with an almost artist’s level of murdery expression. Opportunities lie everywhere – some are obvious and are labelled as such (exploring a setting can reveal these, such as posing as a supermodel or using a fireworks display as a cover for sniper fire), while others are more subtle and require more imagination and ingenuity (say, causing a garden heater to explode or making a puddle a death trap via a live wire).
If you’re a less experienced player, you can track these opportunities and be guided to each element with waypoints. For purists, these hints can be switched off, enabling a true sense of precision to emerge. Challenges can also be found littered across your Parisian locale, with points awarded for certain kills.
There are some causes for concern – the review code we tested suffered an uncomfortable amount of slowdown early on, especially during pre-rendered cutscenes, and the loading times for the game are a little too indulgent. Also, while we appreciate IO’s decision to make this an always-online experience (to enable for new content to be added, such as Elusive Contracts that appear for timed periods), the fact that your save is locked online means many players will hit a roadblock if their internet connection drops out.
As a first episode, The Showstopper is a slick mission statement for an ageing series made youthful once more. The plethora of options is Blood Money reborn, and while the occasional drop in frames and online save infrastructure can rankle, Agent 47 proves he’s got a lot of mileage left in the tank.
T3 RATES The number of variables for each kill is astounding, with a freedom that would give MGS V a run for its money.
T3 SLATES The number of NPCs on screen is impressive, but their animations feel rigid and robotic.
T3 SAYS While dialling things back to Blood Money may not be very original, deploying it on a scale like this makes this the most creative Hitman instalment.