Originally published November 2016

Welcome back to my series of mini-reviews on the various Hitman games of previous generations. Last time, I discussed my own experience with the franchise as a whole and my experience with the first game in the series, Hitman: Codename 47. Today, I'll be looking at its sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which is a big step up in a lot of ways, but still not much fun.

Disclaimer: Rather than playing through to completion (because I just don't have the time and patience), I've played a few missions in each of these games to give myself enough of an overall (initial) impression. If the games suddenly get better at the end, I don't know because I never got to the end. What I do know is how long I was willing to tolerate the archaic game design before giving up.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a big step up in quality over its predecessor. There are significant strides Hitman 2 takes that the show developers had ideas for the series but may have been limited in their capabilities in the past. There are also certain things about the way the game is presented that make me question if this was the direct sequel to the first game, or if it was Hitman: Contracts. Wikipedia says that Hitman 2 was the follow-up to Hitman: Codename 47. It also says that Hitman: Contracts came after 2 to retread and rewrite the story of the original game (if there was one). However, the way Hitman 2 plays and looks in comparison to Contracts leads me to question which game was designed first. Sure, the maps of 2 are almost as bare as the first game, but it seemed like there was more freedom in the gameplay of Hitman 2. Regardless of which game actually was designed first, it has a 2 in the title so let's just assume this is the second game in the franchise.

Immediately, you can tell this is a huge graphical improvement from Hitman: Codename 47. It's also more than just a series of scenarios with the same environment and different enemy placements. This is an actual game, with different maps, different objects, and more methods of murder. It even has a tutorial level to help you understand the mechanics!

The plot, in a nutshell: Agent 47, having left his life as an assassin behind, is working as a groundskeeper for a small church, somewhere in Sicily. His attempt to live a life of peace is brief, as thugs show up and kidnap the only priest on the premises. The priest is held hostage and it's 47's job to kill a bunch of people to get the money necessary to pay for the priest's safe return.

In some ways, Hitman 2 strays from the Hitman path by giving Agent 47 more of a reason to kill people than just financial gain, or his instinctual predilection for murder. This is something of a problem to me because it tries to make him into a hero by giving him this ransom business. It's fine if he's conflicted about the murders, and it's good that the game penalizes players for killing innocents, but a heartless clone of a hitman shouldn't overstep the boundaries of an anti-hero format. We're certainly allowed to care, but not allowed to forget that he's a killer, like Jean Reno in The Professional.

Agent 47 also has a lot of dialogue in the opening chapter about his regrets, which are actually supposed to be honest. I had trouble buying it, personally. The whole time 47 was interacting with the priest, talking about how he was a bad man with a violent past that he wanted to escape, and how the priest mentioned he donated all his money to the church, I wondered if it was an elaborate set-up to kill the priest. Maybe that's what the whole game is, but I'll never know because I won't finish it.

Hitman 2, while a significant improvement over Hitman: Codename 47, is still a temperamental stealth game with some strict paths to follow. While in the original game, there were only specific set-pieces and moments in which a disguise would help, Hitman 2 at least makes more use of the incognito mechanics. It may be common sense, but to gain access to the various restricted areas of a level without raising much suspicion, you need to obtain a disguise. This is usually done by finding clothes in closets or lockers, or from the various other people walking around the level. Guards and other NPCs may be suspicious of you as you walk around in these disguises, but they won't outright kill or kick you out like they would if you wore your hitman suit, unless they catch you doing something. It's the first (or second) game to require players to make consistent and proper use of the "hiding in plain sight" mechanic.

Despite the fact that you now have different methods of getting to your targets, the ways in which you kill the targets are still somewhat limited. The Rambo run-and-gun method is always an option, though not recommended since health is a finite resource and enemy guards will kill you quickly. Plus, you also run the risk of scaring off your target before you can kill him if there's too much of a commotion. Usually, you want to utilize the tools provided, like hiding a weapon in a present or pouring poison into some food and dressing as a chef. Usually, there are only about 2 or 3 of these options available per level, and utilizing them properly can be the main challenge. At some point (aka Blood Money) the developers realized that this specific part of the mechanics is what makes the Hitman games so fun, so they added more and more methods to achieving your goal. In Hitman 2, however, your options are still quite limited. The maps are also pretty bare-bones and still reminiscent of the purgatory maps of Hitman: Codename 47.

The potential of the Hitman series becomes more visible with Hitman 2. The gameplay mechanics are improved to accommodate the type of gameplay most people expect from the series. Agent 47, while still stiff, controls a lot better. Plus, the production quality of the game is a huge leap forward with better voice-acting and better graphics. Yet, the game still feels very limited, the AI is too paranoid and scripted, and the levels themselves are still rather basic. Considering how it also took a fair amount of tweaking to even get the game to work, I say it's not worth your time.

Do you agree or disagree? Is the Hitman series a special favorite for you? Tell me what you think in the comments here or on Facebook.

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