Agent 47 goes from the warm environment of Bangkok to the cold environment of Colorado in this latest episode entitled: Freedom Fighters. Colorado provides just the right amount of added difficulty to satisfy die-hard fans and newbies alike despite its location being lackluster.
Starting off the mission, 47 is tasked with eliminated four different targets-which is a first for this season. The four targets in question are: Sean Rose, Penelope Graves, Ezra Berg and Maya Parvati. Since there are four different targets moving around with their own agenda, as well as a condensed environment to play in, its easy to see the difficulty spike. The four targets were enough of a challenge that I never felt truly bored. If one target seemed too tedious, I wouldn't dwell on it, instead I would move on to the other three targets. This method helps because there are so many clever and inventive ways to take out the four targets, some of which are easy, and some not so easy.
As with every Hitman episode, I began knocking out some of the opportunities the game presented me. With these opportunities I began to get a feel for how the map is laid out and the disguise locations on the map. Speaking of disguises; Colorado leans too heavily on them. I found myself playing hot potato from one outfit to the next just to get closer to my target. Previous level's had a handful of disguises, but the dependency was up to the players discretion. Instead, the constant changing of outfits felt like a design issue when playing the level.
The apricot farm in which 47 plans out his attack is small-yet varied. So varied in fact, that it almost feels implausible that so many different things would be happening on this farm without a higher power knowing. On the north side of the farm sits the main farmhouse, there's also the traditional barn as well as a gun range and multiple training grounds.The location doesn't help much considering its rather dull and lifeless. I live in the midwest, and although the fitting cold colorado atmosphere feels well-represented, its the last place I would expect an assassin to conduct a mission. Hitman appeals to me because the game takes the player to various locations throughout the world, all with different culture and atmosphere.
One of my biggest gripes with this season of Hitman is the story. Since the episodes come out every few months, my knowledge of the main story starts to dwindle, so much in fact, that I needed to watch the previous cutscenes just to jog my memory. The main story is thinly spliced between each mission in the form of a cutscene. These cutscenes are well made, but its all to brief to get a full grasp of the circumstances surrounding 47. Going forward, if IO Interactive continues on with Hitman in the form of another episodic season, I hope they ditch a main over-arching plot, and just focus on each episode telling its own story.
Colorado may not be the most polished or glamorous location in the season and the story may be scarce; but the same gameplay is there. With enough challenge and opportunities to complete the mission its enough to overlook the design flaws.