TLDR:
If you enjoyed HITMAN (1), you will enjoy HITMAN 2 as it is more of the same since not much of the formula has changed. If you are completely new to HITMAN 2, it is an amazing stealth/assassination game featuring several intricate, large-space maps that are basically your playground for hired murder and shenanigans. There is a high amount of replayability in the game as there are dozens of ways to kill targets/complete each mission for you to discover every time you pick up the game.
Also, you can play HITMAN (1) maps in HITMAN 2 by purchasing the legacy content package. The reason to do so over playing HITMAN (1) is that both games feature the same progress/challenge trackers but progress doesn't carry over from 1 to 2.
GENRE:
Stealth, assassination, third person, semi-open-world-sized episodic maps
GAMEPLAY:
You play as the world's greatest assassin, Agent 47, and take on missions in one of several large maps across the world. Missions are in the form of assassination contracts that may sometimes come with additional parameters. For each mission, you are usually assigned to kill 2 or 3 main targets, but it is your goal to complete the mission as stealthily as possible without being discovered or drawing suspicion.
Maps are densely packed and relatively wide-scaled both horizontally and vertically. Locations are filled with a plethora of non-lethal items, like wrenches and crowbars, and lethal utensils, like knives and blades, lying around if you choose to use them. Maps are also filled with hundreds of NPC's that take the forms of guards, important figures, and civilians and Agent 47 can usually assume the guise of these NPC's while they are knocked out unconscious (or dead). It is to your advantage to discover disguises to wear in order to infiltrate certain sections of maps that would otherwise deem you as "trespassing" in order to access highly protected locations where targets are usually found.
Your performance in missions is calculated at the end after you escape the map. You are scored higher if you perform actions stealthily such as hiding all bodies from discovery, avoiding getting your cover blown, and destroying any camera evidence that may have recorded any suspicious actions. On the flip side, your score is lowered when any event occurs where your suspicion is raised like in events described above without taking the appropriate stealthy action.
Missions are not meant to be completed only once though. Challenges are an in-game achievement system that promote the game's replayability value by allowing you to discover different ways to kill the targets or interact with key figures in each map. Some might challenge you to simply find a way to poison or accidentally kill the enemy, while others challenge you by limiting your play style for a mission such as by forcing you to complete the mission while never changing disguises out of your starting suit. Thus, every time you want to replay a map, you will likely have the opportunity to find a different way to murder than you might have already found previously.
If you want to take a break from main story missions, you may take part in escalation contracts, user-generated contracts, and play the Sniper Assassin game mode. Escalation contracts are challenges played in the existing maps that escalate in difficulty such as initially asking you to kill a guard and then in the next level asking you to kill two guards within 10 seconds of each other. User-generated contracts are missions designed by players allowing others to replicate their murder path and to compete for high scores on a leaderboard. Sniper Assassin is a game mode where you play as Agent 47 in a separate map with a sniper rifle in a vantage point to snipe a multitude of targets, although admittedly at the time of writing this review I have not properly played the mode yet but I look forward to trying it out.
GRAPHICS:
HITMAN 2 is a very beautiful game and plays very smoothly throughout its entirety. Each playable map is very distinct and is home to many beautiful sights that feel like a touristic, traveling-the-world experience as you go between a sprawling racing event in sunny Miami to a secret organization's gathering at an off-the-map island in the middle of the ocean on a dark, cloudy evening. There are some slight graphical differences between HITMAN 2 and HITMAN (1) that are not entirely obvious such as subtle lighting changes, the way water physics behave, and if you look closely enough some textures are ever-so-smaller or removed from the previous game (you can find a video about these changes on YouTube). However, none of these changes take away from the overall solid presentation.
STORY:
HITMAN 2's story sequentially follows the events of HITMAN (1)'s, although like I stated in my HITMAN (1) review, the gameplay takes precedence over the story here as well. The TLDR version is that Agent 47 and his handler, Diana Burnwood, are still on the trail of the developing criminal organization called Providence, while simultaneously on the trail of a third party codenamed as the "Shadow Client". Some backstory is revealed in between episodes about Diana and Agent 47's past, but I'll leave that for you to discover.
STRENGTHS:
•Like HITMAN (1), the gameplay features a high amount of freedom and player choice. You can choose what you want to have in your pockets before each mission, which mission stories you want to follow in order to get closer to your targets, which disguises you want to assume, which method of assassination you want to commit to (garroting, headshot with a gun, accidental incineration, pushing off a high ledge, etc.), and how you want to flee from the map.
•Each map feels very unique and different from the others. Miami is densely packed with civilians at a public racing event while Sgàil is filled with elite guards all holding dangerous automatic weapons. Whittleton Creek is a quiet, American suburb while Mumbai is a bustling, Indian slum. IO Interactive does a great job at presenting every location as it would likely feel like if you were to visit it in a real world setting.
•The game is amazing for completionists and is filled with potentially hundreds of hours of content. There is so much replayability value found in HITMAN 2 as you can tackle challenges and replay missions under different circumstances every time you play. Plus, you get rewarded in completing challenges by unlocking new tools to use at your disposal such as different map starting locations, different utensils like lockpicks and explosives, and sometimes even new suits for 47.
WEAKNESSES:
•EDIT: Previously, this section listed speculation that HITMAN 2 progress would not carry over into HITMAN 3. You CAN, but be sure to do some research about whether or not Epic has allowed the transfer of progress from Steam to Epic copies since 3 is in Epic exclusivity for like a year.
NUMERIC SCORE (if you care):
9.5/10
The HITMAN games are my go-to for scratching my semi-open-world stealth genre itch. HITMAN 2 is an easy buy if you fancy slaving away hundreds of hours finding new ways to commit murder as the cold and calculating bald man known as Agent 47.
Checkbox reviews are lazy copy & paste bullsh*t. ASCII art reviews tell you nothing. "Let's be honest, I only wrote this review for awards" is a waste of everyone's time. If you are interested in genuine & detailed game reviews, feel free to check out my others here (or don't, I don't tell you what to do).
