The Hitman series has come a long way. I remember when it first came out, sixteen years ago as Hitman: Codename 47. A friend of mine picked it up and it was pretty great for the time. In April of 2014, Hitman Go was released for iOS, and now the Definitive Edition has arrived for PS4 and Vita. I love that it’s a cross-buy/cross-save title, it makes a lot of sense to be exactly that. I’m honestly not sure what makes this version Definitive other than it presumably running the latest version of the code and having slightly improved graphics. I played the game briefly on the PS4 before syncing up on the Vita and found it to be (with little surprise) a much more convenient and enjoyable experience on the Vita.
Whereas Hitman games are almost always third person action and stealth, Go is actually a board game, and it’s visual design mirrors that. Diorama-style set pieces adorn the ‘boards’ which are cleverly designed like a detailed and luxurious game board. The sound effects including pieces shuffling across the board and getting ‘checked’ (killed in Hitman terms) are fitting and well done. The rules are very simple, as are the controls, but the amount of strategy and planning involved is no joke. While the first six or seven levels are a snap, the difficulty quickly ramps up. There are seven different game boards, five of which contain fifteen missions and two eight-level boards that have levels based off of previous missions from Hitman 2 and Hitman Contracts (if memory serves). In between accessing the levels of each board, you can see a brief visual overview of the whole board, so you can loosely guess what the environmental theme of each level will be before you get to it; nice touch. As you progress through the levels, you get closer to your mark. Cue the Ave Maria tune and take him out to advance to the next board.
Well, probably, anyway. Completing the levels is all well and good, but every level after the first handful have up to three objectives that you can go for. At some point you’ll need the extra points — you get points for completing the level, but two other objectives are yours to attempt as well. In my first play through of the first board, I got twenty points, and I need forty-five to open up board three, for example. Other objectives might be going out of your way to snag a briefcase, not killing anyone on your way to the exit, finishing the level in only so many turns, that type of thing. You can view these extra objectives when the mission starts by pressing Start, and as you complete the level a quick review screen shows you what you got. Sometimes you can easily get two of the three objectives in one attempt, other times you’ll have to go back to replay it some number of times.
Replaying and restarting levels in Hitman Go isn’t so bad. In fact, the Square button is bound to Restart, because it’s really easy to make a fatal mistake. I should have made it clear by now, but Hitman Go is a turn-based strategy game in which the player and your foes move in grid-like directions. The boards are small, so there’s no chance of getting lost, but you can definitely choose the wrong path very easily. There are different types of enemies that patrol differently, or don’t patrol at all, and for every move you make, they make one in turn. Some levels are quite difficult, requiring being very patient and cunning. A Hint system is available at the press of the button, the only penalty to which is that you will not be eligible for the Silent Assassin trophy should you use a Hint. You can use the Hint system to not only get the ‘level complete’ step-by-step instructions, but also step-by-step instructions on how to complete the other objectives, too. Hitman Go has a simple premise and controls, but don’t kid yourself, it’s impressively challenging. To that end, I found the Hint system to be a deal-maker feature (without it, I wouldn’t have stuck with this game).
Hitman Go is unlike any other Hitman game to be sure, but it does include a lot of familiar Hitman franchise elements, from Agent 47 to his silverballers to the whole premise of sneaking, assassinating, using disguises and distractions, all that stuff. It’s just smartly repackaged here in a very different experience, one that I would argue makes Hitman Go the most difficult in the series. Yes, I am putting forth that idea without even having played all of the Hitman games to date, but Go is unforgiving. Indeed, the missions are bite-sized and load times are literally about two seconds, but nevertheless Go offers a stout and fairly addictive experience. In a weird personal way, Hitman Go reminded me of Gripshift — fun, portable, challenging, lots of levels — both games look and play great and have a lot of challenge, and are perfect for short spurts that a mobile platform inherently offers.
With that, time for the summary…
