Review for HITMAN 2. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 13/11/2018
Awaited by many fans, the second chapter of HITMAN features the now known agent 47, easily recognizable thanks to his iconic shaved head with a barcode tattooed on it. In HITMAN 2 we will continue the narrative thread started with the first chapter, it will therefore be necessary play the previous missions to understand the basics of the plot, which is why the first chapter is also integrated into the game, which can be activated upon purchase on the reference store.
But are there any changes in terms of gameplay compared to the first chapter? Well, let's find out together!
At the start of the game, as in the first chapter, a short introductory video will be played that will explain the story of Agent 47 who, about 20 years before the game events, is put to the test by Diana Burnwood, who strongly believes in his talent in spite of the director Soders. In case you are new to the HITMAN saga, you can face a short tutorial (identical to that of the first chapter) divided into two phases. In the first mission we will have to assassinate Kalvin Ritter, a well-known jewel thief who, after retiring from the tour in 1998, is targeted by a former client who hired the ICA to take him out. The mission setting is that of the luxury ship we had already tried, and in which we will have to follow different approaches based on our style of play, but with the aim of killing Ritter.
The final training test (always present also in the first chapter) is entrusted to us by Soders, which projects us years ago: the target to be assassinated is Jasper Knight, a spy under the orders of the KGB guilty of killing the United States ambassador, and that after hiding in Cuba, is located by the top management of Langley. Again we will have to give our best and complete the mission in one of the many ways available.
Completed the prologue, Agent 47 begins his career in the ICA by killing the various targets assigned by the top management of the organization: the plot of HITMAN 2 unfolds through various objectives aimed at closing the Providence contract, which requires the elimination of the shadow customer. The information gathered from the Colorado mission of the first chapter see in Alma Reynard the first goal to hit and above all from which to steal important information, a reason that leads us to break into his home on the beach of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.
Obviously the plot is important but it is treated in a simplistic way, without ever being too deep, but leaving the player with the task of searching in the various scenarios for objects, excerpts of conversations and anything else that will activate specific objectives of the main trend. Each scenario will have different stories, which in addition to deepening the background behind the objectives to be killed, will help increase our killer score and therefore our professionalism.
Once the first mission is completed, we will have to face the first real contract, which is the one set in Miami, an extremely complex location with many things to do, so much so that during our first run it took us about an hour to kill the indicated targets. In this second chapter there are in fact many objects to interact with, as well as disguises to be used to be able to evade the guards and then access restricted areas. We were captivated by the amount of possibilities and above all on the replayability of the various scenarios, which offer many ways of approach, which range from the simple killing of the target to the very elaborate strategies that take hours to be correctly applied.
From the point of view of the gameplay we have not found any big news: the unlimited instinct mode remains, which allows us to locate the targets to kill, the guards, the objects to interact with and any NPCs present in the vicinity. The only thing maybe we hoped would change is artificial intelligence that remains too simple to distract, a component that can be slightly modified by increasing the difficulty of the game from professional to master, so as to have NPCs more attentive to sounds, more hitmen and more cameras.
One of the aspects that most struck us about HITMAN 2 is the amount of content present at the launch, in fact we will have six scenarios available immediately: Hawke's Bay, Miami, Santa Fortuna, Mumbai, Whittleton Creek and Isle of Sgail. The scenarios alone will guarantee you many hours of play, in fact if you want to 100% complete all the present challenges and thus obtain the highest level of professionalism in each scenario, you will have to dedicate many hours to them. Fortunately, the planning of the mission comes to your aid, which will allow you to select the starting area, the infiltrated object and the equipment, which will be enriched as you complete the available challenges.
In addition to the campaign, there are also other modes that are worth mentioning, among which stands out Sniper Assassin, in which Agent 47 will have to arm himself with a sniper rifle and kill the reported targets and as many guards as possible. The mode is presented as a single contract, where our agent 47 will be stationed near a giant luxury villa where a wedding is about to take place, and without being able to move in the slightest, agent 47 will have to complete the mission within 15 minutes . To complete it, the player will be required to play cunning, first killing the guards near pools, bushes or overhangs, and then organizing the assassination of the three main targets, which can be killed by simulating accidents or in the "old way". The Sniper Assassin mode it can also be played in co-op with a friend, so they can coordinate together and compete for the highest score, calculated based on killing skills.
The last modality present, leaving out the various contracts and escalation contracts, is the Ghost Mode, or a multiplayer mode that sees two players compete in a scenario (for now only Miami) where they will have to compete to kill the indicated targets in the shortest possible time. Players will have to compete at the same time, however they will only see a "ghost" version of the rival, so as to keep track of his progress, but they will exist in separate realities, not influenced by the actions of their opponent.
From a technical point of view, the improvements compared to the first chapter are there but they are not extreme and during our test on PlayStation 4 Pro we could see how with the frame rate unlocked, in most of the scenes, the game still managed to maintain a fluidity more than acceptable, although hardly fixed at 60 FPS. Despite some slight drops, the fluidity remains more than good, as well as the graphics which, although not excellent, are very satisfying, especially for the excellent characterization of the scenarios, all very pleasant to explore.
HITMAN 2 is undoubtedly a conservative title, which takes what was good in the first chapter and improves it by adding many new objects, clothes and challenges to face, for a longevity that on paper can easily reach 100 hours of game. If we add to this the Sniper Assassin modes and the Ghost Mode, we get a product that at launch is very rich in content and that will also satisfy people who are entering this genre for the first time. Technically, the title maintains the same graphics engine albeit with some general improvements that thanks also to the excellent characterization of the scenarios gives undoubtedly successful settings, one above all Miami, which seemed rich, alive and full of things to do. The only notes we want to make concern the plot that is left slightly in the background, due to the sandbox nature of the title, and an artificial intelligence that does not shine.
► HITMAN 2 is a Shooter-Tactical type game developed by IO Interactive and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 13/11/2018
