Anyone that knows me knows that I’m always up for a good challenge. Hell, between me returning to Bloodborne and working on a review for the DLC titled “The Old Hunters” I decided to check the B.A.T.G.R. inbox. From there was a nifty little email from Square Enix that entitled us to playing the new Hitman Beta for PlayStation 4. With a grin on my face, I was eager to download the new entries beta to see just how IO Interactive would handle this new title. As someone who has never touched a Hitman title, I was quite interested in seeing just how well this remake could be, especially after watching plenty of YouTube Let’s Plays of the original titles. With my little bit of research done, I was on my way to downloading the 4GB beta.
Knowing full well how the series now played, I began the first mission with an eager mind. Being introduced to the control scheme was the first piece of the puzzle to tackle. After getting that out of the way, I was on my way to my first target. The most major change that I noticed was the ways for players to go about their missions. This included new approaches, but also the wide array of options that players can use as disguises. This isn’t to understate the fact that the A.I. and level designs aren’t superb. With a newly structured A.I. the difficulty from what videos I had seen was entirely a new beast. Guards would attempt to interrogate 47 if they thought him an impostor. One close enough and your disguise blown? It was time to fake an arrest and knock them out if it was only one guy. If multiple? Good luck, Chuck.
Unlike what I would expect out of some games, I didn’t expect our handler, the famed Diane Burnwood to put her career on the line to bring Agent 47 into the mix of things. Our first mission was quite simple as she would outline it for us. We have a shady art dealer who needs taken out for specific reasons, the mission a simulation of one that could happen, and 47 is tasked with making sure this dealer doesn’t get out a live. Much like any Hitman game, there are multiple entry points, and for me going through the back seemed like the best option. Here I was able to take on a mechanics uniform, hide his body, and sneak into the underbelly of this makeshift boat. As the party went underway, it was time for us to locate our mark. With him found, it was also time for me to find a new disguise. With guards everywhere and guests busy, why not look for the cook? Well finding him and taking his disguise, hiding his body, and moving in on our target was quite easy. Thanks to a blend-in option like Assassin’s Creed, I was capable of having 47 act as if he were a bar tender. From there it was time to tail our target to his point, assassinate him and move to extraction.
After completing the mission it was time to move onto the next one. This one would truly put Agent 47’s skills to the test, most-of-all? Mine. As the mission began to go underway, I learned that I would take 47 on his path to assassinating a defector who would leave to team up with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. The mission was simple. Infiltrate in any means necessary to kill the target. Along the way I would be informed that there were multiple entry points as well as ways to assassinate him. Some would include poisoning him, dressing up as a KGB Captain in order to get close to him and shoot him, choke him, or even use the poison while he wasn’t looking. Another included using a ejection seat against him. My option? Plan F. All the above. My plan was simple. Prep the ejection seat for him to explode because of, become the KGB agent, infiltrate his room, and plant the poison in his consumables. I did all thee above, but the one that worked best was the looniest of them all. As you’ll see in the gameplay video, which was knock everyone that came around out, and then choke the target into submission only to drag him into the room, snap his neck, and head for extraction without ever being noticed.
While this is my first Hitman game, Hitman’s reboot will surely be getting my attention for hours thanks to its notorious way of sucking players in. I’m sure I’ll go back and give the others a try while I’m at it. Stay tuned for our upcoming review when the first portion releases on March 11th, 2016. Head on over to Hitman.com for more information.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.