Familiarity isn’t a bad thing. Such is the case of Hitman 2, the sequel to 2016’s episodic soft-reboot. Hitman 2 carries over important game mechanics from its predecessor while slightly adding new features.
There are six missions including the prologue. Like the first game, each one is incredibly unique in its own way. For starters, the Mumbai mission sees 47 tasked with eliminating three targets, one of which’s identity is a mystery. At first, the mission seemed nothing short of a nightmare mostly due to the overwhelming size of the map; packed with dense npc-laden streets and verticality. But through my many errors, I began to appreciate the attention to detail in which developer IO Interactive has put into making these locales feel lived-in.
However, it doesn’t always feel immersive in the voice acting department. One of my complaints about the previous entry was the voice acting by npc’s. If you listen carefully, one could hear the same voice actor/actress for multiple characters. This is a small complaint, but one that still remains in the sequel.
The story itself is one of Hitman’s 2 few shortcomings. Just like the previous game, the story is comprised of short cutscenes spliced between each locale. The cutscenes themselves are stills with no animation to them. Telling a story that doesn’t engage the player as it should. All the cutscenes put together equal close to ten minutes. That means ten minutes of story that tries to be serviceable to each mission.
Another facet that remains intact from the previous game is the gameplay, nothing has changed in that department. Same goes for completion of challenges and mastery. These challenges go well with the personal ranking system implemented that establishes your assassin level. Mastery isn’t necessary, but it does incentivize the player with unlockable equipment, starting locations, and outfit choices.
It would, however, be more rewarding if some unlockable equipment favored stealth playthroughs. I found most of my equipment consisted of loud, assault-driven gear suitable for chaotic approaches. Given that the Hitman series isn’t necessarily built to be a shooter, and the mechanics that are given are serviceable, my unlockable assault rife goes largely unused.
Also, equipment from 2016’s Hitman doesn’t carry over. In fact, items that you worked hard to obtain have to be re-acquired in order to use. There is good news as those who have previously purchased the first game can get a slightly updated version for free at no additional cost.
Hitman 2 also dabbles in the multiplayer department. Multiplayer meaning cooperative missions. There are two distinct modes in which players can tackle missions together. The first is ghost mode. Ghost mode tasks the player with competing against another player in an attempt to out-do the other in a given mission.
This is a neat concept despite some shortcomings. The first of which is a lack of connectivity in matchmaking. There’s also the issue of player cooperation. It’s not the game’s fault, but more of the opposing player. I had at least two instances where it seemed the player was idling, or not playing in general. When players do cooperate, however, the result can be surprisingly fun. Especially in the sniper-centric mission Himmelstein.
Hitman 2 remain’s familiar, all while adding additional modes, challenges, and equipment to make replayability high.