Is this the best hitman game ever? No. I'm no blood money purist either because clearly that game has shown its age. This one is absolutely quantity over quality. Every level is massive, diverse, somewhat lively and a step in the right direction than some forgetful B action movie the previous game was. They learned a lot from that experience and when time came to make this they didn't do a horrible job for the most part.
There is a ton to do if you're going for 100% if you get the game of the year edition. The escalation challenges go from fun to ridiculous really quick. There feels like 1000 things to do in the game so this is giving DK64 on N64 a run for its money.
The stealth mechanics improved from absolution.. but.. The big but 70% of the time if you are about to get spotted you can run. Yet in the earlier games such as 2 and contracts you weren't allowed to run as it would gain suspicion. There is no metal detectors, targets can get knocked out and stay knocked out giving very little challenge. The video cameras are a joke on normal difficulty, they just give you an excuse to run back and dispose of the cameras. That's it. Where as on professional you HAVE to destroy them and if you get caught doing anything illegal you're compromised. I love the fact that blood on clothes ruins the disguises as well on the harder difficulty and Agent 47 does talk to quite a few more people so David Bateson who voices Agent 47 earned his pay cheque this time around. You can also pacify targets by choking them even if they have seen your face and knock people out with blunt objects. There is very little to do with syringes in this game yet they can be unlocked later in the game by doing some challenges.
On one hand you've got more to do than just rush through in about an hour or so if you know the answer to every puzzle it feels like for all the levels. Yet there is WAY too much to do. I thought watchdogs 1 (Ubisoft) was bad. Padded with tedious tasks to do. Most levels feel too big where all 47 does is run around and unless you know the challenges some of them you just wander aimlessly. By the time I got to Japan the first time as I wanted to see what happens in the story as usually I like to solve every puzzle and get a silent assassin but it got so annoying that I just plowed through everyone.
After Morocco the game felt rushed. Bangkok they placed most key items VERY poorly. Hardly anywhere to stash bodies and the key items were placed in the worst possible spots, sure I could bring a lock pick or something automatic with a suppressor to take the door out but that ruins the fun. The ways to kill the enemies for the most part is satisfying but the level design for the suites and a few other things drove me nuts. There is an easter egg and possibly challenge as it was in Hitman 2 that you have to wait 10 minutes and 5 seconds for this one man to appear. Yeah how about no.
Everyones apparent favorite level or so I was to believe in this game on youtube was Colorado and I thought it was boring to say the least. Some argue and compare it to "a new life" where you take out the former mob member in a suburbs. There are too many targets in the level too. If I wanted to murder lots of people I'd just play GTA. I wish they did a few smaller levels and gave you one target like the first two levels. There is one last challenge I have to do and it's a broken mess that i hope someone got fired over. Taste your own medicine I had to attempt like 10 or 15 times in the span of two days. It's poorly described and even more poorly thought out. They are possible to do but way too difficult. Colorado reminds me of a rehashed version of that level you got to take 3 nuns out in the corn field. Just that is a much better designed level and it has way better designed challenges. I'd rather do Angel Of Death 2 if memory serves me right being the toughest challenge in Absolution than the scarecrow ones in this game.
Professional difficulty on the Paris and Italy levels in particular they have the courage to move certain items around and do other things to make your life miserable. The game should have stuck with one difficulty as to my understanding doing all the levels on professional you can only complete 2 or so challenges at a time. Thankfully they corrected this in Hitman 2. Some you get a few at a time such as suit only, no evidence and whatever. Certain challenges you wander aimlessly and at times there's not enough red herrings. It's just too obvious to too cryptic.
Last but not least, aiming in the game i could never get right. I adjusted the sensitivity of my controller when i found a setting that absolutely worked for every other game. Resident evil 4 to metal gear solid 5 and not this. The mouse is usually my only option for a few challenges such as taking out Jordan Cross from another balcony. Thankfully you can get a sniper rifle that you can slow down time. The weapon selection is quite poor too. There are gadgets to make you feel like james bond but for the most part i wish that the pistol and a few other signature items could be upgraded instead with money like blood money instead of having to go to missions level 10 - 20 to get stuff or complete specific challenges. This isn't goldeneye on n64, give 47 some cash instead of all these slightly different guns. 47 Should just be able to craft the guns into stuff that we are using in that menu. Plus a fire rate button and the ability to take the suppressor off.
The story is pretty dull, like all hitman games. I play it for the action but there's probably 20 minutes maximum of cut scenes and dialogue it feels like. Get this on sale, don't pay full price this one was somewhat of a disappointment. This at best is a DLC. Get it on sale with Hitman 2 and just play it on Hitman 3 if that makes any sense so it feels like a complete game.
