Square Enix’s revamped Hitman franchise has arrived. Agent 47 is back and ready to bring down the bad guys, even if it's at the cost of exposing his identity. Everyone’s favorite hitman has lost his memory, or so he’s told his new agency. We don’t know what Agent 47 is hiding, but it’s clear we can’t trust him just yet.
Hitman is taking a huge risk with its episodic release. There’s not as much content as we’d hope, but it still has elements that shine. Check out iDigitalTimes’ full review for Hitman episode 1 below.
The GOOD
Hitman ’s cinematics look like something out a James Bond movie. The game embrace the episodic genre, offering up bits and pieces of the story without giving too much away. However, it’s unlikely the story will have you hooked by the end of the episode. The character of Agent 47 is far more interesting than the story of episode one, at this point. It’s like watching a pilot featuring one of your favorite actors; you’ll watch to support him or her, despite a lackluster opening. Keep in mind, the Hitman reboot might be a slow burn when it comes to story. However, the cutscenes are beautiful and feel authentic to the franchise. Agent 47’s cheeky responses when questioned about his past, for instance, are great.
Hitman episode 1 encourages creativity with kills; there’s no right way to take down a target. The best part of Hitman is interacting with the environment to improvise kills. For example, guns attract too much at the Paris fashion show. Scouring the grounds nearby turns up rat poison, a butter knife, and a screwdriver. I decided poison was my method of choice, but first I needed a good disguise.
As I was walking around the Paris mansion in my tuxedo, I encountered a disguise opportunity. Two makeup artists told me I looked like a supermodel walking the runway that night. I assumed because I was masquerading as a famous model my movements would be closely monitored (I was wrong). Challenge accepted. Soon, Agent 47 was beat to perfection and ready to walk the catwalk. I killed my target and continued to bask in my fifteen minutes of fame. Badass, right?
Hitman also challenges the player to go back and complete objectives they may have missed the first time. You’re graded on how well you execute your mission, and if you’re like me, you’ll want to top your last score. Your window of opportunity is limited for some objectives, which becomes a source of frustration for the player. In the Paris mission, there’s a mystery guest whose arrival I missed during my first playthrough. You’ll need to take advantage of the save files or risk having to start over again.
The more challenges you complete, the better weapons and disguises you unlock, which will help you down the road. Before each mission, you choose what you want to bring with you. You don’t have to bring in the same weapons every time. Completing the mission under a certain amount of time or in a creative way earns a reward, while bad behavior, such as killing innocent people (I’m guilty of this), earns a penalty. Patience is key for a good playthrough of Hitman .
The BAD
Unfortunately, the bugs in Hitman are too glaring to ignore. On launch day, I was kicked out of the Hitman servers seven times in the span of three or four hours. My Internet connection was fine; I even restarted my router to make sure. It’s incredibly annoying to have to restart from your last save point when you’re so close to completing an objective. The autosave isn’t reliable either, and sometimes set me back 15-20 minutes of gameplay.
Second, the AI is both vigilant and incredibly stupid. If you disguise Agent 47 as a male supermodel, you might know exactly what I’m talking about. Hitman episode 1 lists challenges for players to complete in their mission replays, one of which is to disguise yourself as a supermodel and meet with one of your targets. I completed the challenge and decided to move on to the next target in disguise.
Problem is, the supermodel disguise lets you go anywhere. You can get close to your target and he won’t be suspicious of you. You can follow your target, witness sketchy business deals, and his guards won’t even flinch. That made killing my second target way too easy. I waited until he was at the bar, released a chandelier on him, and BOOM! He’s dead. Later, I walked to a helicopter as the supermodel and no one pursued me. That’s too easy and not a rewarding way to take out your target.
What’s worse is how I figured out my target was at the bar. Poisoning your target was another challenge, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I followed my target disguised as the supermodel. There’s a specific sushi he wanted, so I waited until the kitchen staff turned their backs and poisoned the rolls. My target never touched them, so on to plan B.
My next poisoning opportunity was at the bar. I needed to disguise myself as a bartender. I walked around to see if there was some poor unfortunate soul I could knock out and steal their clothes. Then I noticed my target went around to the kitchen a second time. I thought that was odd, so I followed him. He made the same movements he did the last time. That’s how I noticed he was on a loop. His AI didn’t change his movement patterns, so there was no point for me to change disguise. I ditched the poison plan and decided to bring down the chandelier.
I’m not sure if the loop movements were a choice developers actively made, but I was surprised by how long I was able to take between killing target number one and two. No one noticed I killed my first target; I hid her body, but SOMEONE should have been alerted. Square Enix prides itself s on its interactive AI, yet my second target doesn’t even change his movements? He’s in a loop just waiting for me to finish the job?
Hitman rewards you for eliminating your target quickly and stealthily. I’m curious if I took longer than expected to kill my second target, but that still shouldn’t dictate when the player can make their next move. The bugs make the game feel like it lacks depth in terms of gameplay and replay value.
Final Thoughts
Hitman episode 1 tries to reinvent the episodic game genre. The James Bond feel of the cinematics and freedom to take down your targets in unique ways makes for an entertaining playthrough. However, the game relies too heavily on replay value to make players believe they’re getting more content than they actually are. All in all, I see why Square Enix is trying to make Hitman into an episodic drama, but can’t help but wish they released the full game.
