HITMAN Demo

When it comes to fictional assassins, few names resonate as much as Agent 47, except maybe Jason Bourne. The Hitman series has almost two decades of history under its belt, so the developers have had a lot of time to improve the game over the years, as well as listen to the players and integrate the desired features episode after episode. However, the last entry in the franchise has taken a very interesting turn when it comes to content development.

HITMAN is the most recent entry in the series, and the biggest change comes in the form of episodic content, which means that the developers release additional mission packs every couple of months, instead of a new game every couple of years. Although this can turn into a cash grab in many cases, IO Interactive managed to do it right for a change, so it’s always a joy to get a batch of new missions to test your stealth skills.   As far as the gameplay is concerned, there are no huge changes at play, but everything is polished and refined. Agent 47 has many new options at his disposal when it comes to sneaking around, disguises and weapons, which means that even veterans should find new ways to have fun. However, the missions themselves are brilliant most of the time too, especially since the targets are much harder to get to this time around.

Speaking of which, each mission has multiple solutions, depending on how you want to approach the targets. It’s often possible to take them out without being detected, but sometimes it feels better to actually pull the trigger and get away with it, preferably without alerting the authorities. Hence, it’s up to you to control Agent 47 as you wish, and you obviously get different ratings depending on how you handle every mission.   Lastly, the graphics are simply gorgeous this time around, especially in terms of level design. You can tell that the designers have really given it their best to present you with breathtaking landscapes from all over the world, and the smooth character animations help a lot with immersion as well. The voice acting is top-notch as usually, and so are the sound effects that complete the atmosphere.

In the end, the HITMAN demo is a bit late to the party at this point, since the game has already been out for quite some time now. However, this is a great way to see what it has to offer if you are uncertain about paying money for the episodic content, and the great part is that you can choose which mission packs to buy if you do not have the cash for all of them.