More so than any other before it, the sequel to 2016’s Hitman reboot feels like a concerted effort by developer IO Interactive to take the series back to its roots. There’s no confusing episodic release structure this time around, no overwhelming linearity primed to butt heads with the inherent fun that comes with killing off targets as creatively as possible… Hitman 2 instead firmly places you back into the shoes of the world’s stealthiest super-assassin, setting you on a globe-trotting adventure stacked with assassination contracts to complete and (more importantly) seemingly endless methods of doing so.
Hitman 2 picks up directly where the last game left off, with the ever cool and calculated Agent 47, alongside his long-time handler Diana Burnwood, in pursuit of the elusive Shadow Client: a mysterious figure who claims to possess knowledge of the enigmatic assassin’s past. While certainly present, the story at hand is largely trivial and cliched, merely acting as a means in which to provide context for Hitman 2’s six new sandbox locations. Stretching from the simplicity of an isolated beach house to the excitement of a Miami race track, each one is an ecosystem of interaction and connectivity – with you being the perfect source of disruption.
At first, it’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed with the amount of options present in Hitman 2’s sprawling locations. Your mission might always be to pull off the perfect hit regardless of place or circumstance, but how you go about doing so is always completely up to you. Do you opt to go in all guns blazing? Or, sneakily set up dastardly scenarios like the pieces of a chess board so as to watch your target suffer from afar? Thankfully, the game offers to hold your hand initially, giving you the chance to track specific mission stories that set you in the right position at the right time.
These act as guided prompts laced throughout each of the hubs, which, if pursued, give you just a small taster of the kind of opportunities available to you. For example, one instance in a Colombian town sees you adopt the identity of a celebrity tattoo artist – all in aid of gaining access to the mansion of a local drug lord whose wife has forced him into a little re-inking. From here, it’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It’s in contained scenarios like this where Hitman 2‘s cinematic side really comes to life. All six locations feature between five and ten distinct mission stories depending on the number of targets needed killing.
By engaging in these mission stories and generally taking the time to experiment, you’ll soon gain an intimate knowledge of each level’s layout, major players, and deadly tools just waiting to be made use of. This knowledge is what allows you to be a better, more effective killer; while each mission can realistically be beaten in a matter of minutes, only by exploring every nook and cranny do you stand a chance of completing every mission story and challenge. As with 2016’s Hitman, replaying locations is heavily encouraged and where the true meat of the game lies.
While anyone with prior experience with a Hitman game will feel well at home here, Hitman 2 includes a few more fiendish abilities to Agent 47’s skillset. One of the biggest examples of this is the new ‘blending’ system, which makes it easier to stay hidden in awkward scenarios whenever you become spotted. Much like Assassin’s Creed’s stealth feature of old, simply step into a group of between three or four people and you’ll become near invisible to any pursuers, making it easier to let the heat die down and get away. It’s a small touch, but one that feels very welcome considering how frustrating it’d be to make progress and then have it instantly ruined due to one false move.
Other slight new additions like the way enemies can now see you in the reflection of a mirror feels like it balances any sense of the Hitman 2 ever feeling too easy and, ultimately, adds a tad more realism to the sometimes-outlandish situations you find yourself in. It’s not rare to find yourself offing your target while disguised in an elaborate bird costume – be warned. The last notable new feature worth mentioning is the ability to import all of Hitman 2016’s missions – Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh, Bangkok, Colorado, and Hokkaido – into the main game, all updated with Hitman 2’s visual overhaul and various revised systems. Taken together, these twelve sandboxes make this sequel a very good value proposition indeed.
For the first time ever in a Hitman game, multiplayer is now included by way of a 1v1 competitive mode. In it, you and another player are tasked with racking up kills on designated targets in the quickest time, with the winner being the first to five. Dubbed “Ghost multiplayer”, its uniqueness comes from the fact that you and your opponent exist within parallel realities, being able to affect each other’s game world in a couple ways. While fun in theory, it feels slightly at odds with the slow, methodical approach you’re encouraged to take in the main game. It provides a few short hours of fun in a way that’s notably Hitman, sure, but making only the Miami map available at launch feels like a slight oversight.
In many ways, Hitman 2 is the stealth game at its most refined. It doesn’t do too much to improve on its predecessor or the Hitman formula in general, choosing to instead emphasis the features and elements that always made the series great before showing them off through some of the best and most intricately constructed maps the series has seen so far. It’ll surely take you tens of hours to fulfil every scenario, don every disguise, and pull off every creative kill. Hitman 2 is the ultimate murder-for-hire simulator that gives back just as much as you’re willing to put in.
