Hitman

We sit down and review Hitman — Paris. This is the first episode of Io Interactive's latest addition to the Hitman franchise. Here's our review on how they did.

The wait is finally over and the multi-delayed Hitman has been released. Well at least the first full episode and the prolog that many of us had a chance to experience during the beta that Square Enix put on for us. That was a nice taste but the maps were small and tight and it is time to see what Io Interactive has in store for us as we move forward with the rest of the content coming for Hitman. Here's our review of the first "episode" of the game just for you to read.

Story

The core story here places Agent 47 in present day Paris on a mission to assassinate two top officials in a spy ring called IAGO. One a fashion mogul and the other a former fashion model. They are up to no good and trying to expose the identities of many deep cover MI6 agents. We can't have that so we must sneak our way into the fashion show/auction to make sure both targets are eliminated and the list of MI6 agents do not get out into the open. But all isn't as it seems…

Hated

I'll start off with the elephant in the room for Hitman here as the episode in all actuality is really short. Short to the point that you can finish the core mission here in less than ten minutes. That's even going through the whole thing without killing bystanders, hiding everything, killing the targets, and getting back out. I know this isn't supposed to be the only bit of substance to Hitman here but you would think that the core mission would be longer than some of the subsequent play throughs that add in little extras you need to complete as well.

My next big gripe would have to be that the controls for Hitman don't seem to be as responsive as they should be. Case in point being when trying to do anything with doors and unconscious/dead bodies. Everything that is interactive on the map has a marker over it but when you are trying to pick up a dropped weapon or drag a downed human the game often chooses to turn on a nearby radio or open a door with guards on the other side. You'd think with the extra time Io Interactive had they would have fixed this.

Lastly, and this is more of a nitpick based on how advanced the AI is claimed to be, is that most of the NPCs in the world begin to feel less and less unique the longer you play. The AI, which is strong, seems to be running on the same tick cycle every time. While the reactions are usually random, none of the non-reaction sequences are not. That is that the security and targets will always move in the same pattern all the time when no outside force is acting on them. This make is too easy to figure the patterns and makes the missions in Hitman repetitive the worst way.

Loved

First and foremost I do have to applaud Io Interactive on the sheer size and detail they put into Hitman here. Even if this is just the first "episode." If you choose to go off task and just mingle around the map there is a whole lot going on that you most likely will never see without doing just that. This does give a lot of breathing room for those custom contracts and other modes that are still waiting to be filled with content and I think that is going to be one of the best aspects once Hitman has had more than a week out for launch.

As I mentioned above, the AI is top notch here and truly shines when an outside stimulus is added into the world. The reactions that you get in Hitman feel even more genuine based on the NPC template type being filled. I've been attacked by strong women trying to defend themselves and I have also seen "badass" men cower in a corner because the dialog was all an act. If this was planned or not is up to debate but it does deeper into the world of Hitman when you see such variations in terms of reactions.

Lastly, as should be expected by now in Hitman, the sheer number of ways you can set up a kill or just "off" someone is astronomical. While the game only offers up rewards for a handful, there is a whole lot more breathing room here than I remember in any other Hitman in terms of how you can kill or subdue targets. Almost every time I go through a different play through of the missions here I find out a new item, disguise, or hazard that I can use to my advantage. Variety is the spice of life and we do have it in abundance here.

Overall

I have enjoyed, and still am, playing through Hitman's first episode. I won't deny that I was hoping for a bit more substance to the overall experience out of the gate but the extra feats and escalation missions do keep me coming back for more. How long that will last is how well the sub-content keeps flowing as we wait for the second and subsequent episodes of Hitman. Sadly though for many out there I find the substance will most likely be on the light side so you may want to wait until more episodes or the full game have released. That is when Hitman will truly shine.

I give Hitman — Paris 210,000 points on the skill points scale.

Hitman was developed by Io Interactive. Hitman was published by Square Enix for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 11^th 2016. A PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.