Hitman (2016) failed. Customers loved the game, but hated its restrictive always-online DRM, and with the episodic nature of the game spreading out the hype too much for it to catch on with the wider gaming public, the hatred of the DRM won out. Hitman (2016) bombed so hard that Square Enix let go of the studio and the Hitman IP. IO Interactive had enough money to become an independent studio instead of being shut down, but that new independent status and the extensive layoffs after made people nervous about what Hitman 2 would be like. What gave fans hope was that it wouldn't be episodic, and that without a AAA publisher, and after the studio almost tanked due to the DRM, IO Interactive had no good reason to bring it to the sequel.

IO Interactive did it anyway.

Customers voted with their wallets to show that they didn't want this, but IO Interactive doesn't seem to care about its customers...only their wallets. You may not think this sounds that bad. Customers can play offline, but Hitman 2's offline isn't worth playing.

If you play offline, almost all content is restricted until you reconnect. This means that in a game about replaying the same maps over and over again in complete challenges that give exp for unlockables, there are no challenges and no exp in offline mode. Your saves are separate in offline, too, so if you complete a challenge offline, you'll have to do it again online.

I wouldn't care so much if Hitman hadn't already had 3 hours of downtime earlier this week, following by 3 hours of downtime for Hitman 2 yesterday, and then more downtime earlier today. Maybe this will get better over time, but that wasn't the case with Hitman (2016) and I don't see why it would change. So it doesn't matter if your connection is good. You can still be left completely unable to play a game unless you want to play a gimped version that doesn't even carry progress over when it comes back online.

IO shows real contempt for its audiences for shoving this down our throats after the backlash, and I don't recommend supporting them as a company. Plenty of developers leave the AAA scene to go independent that have consumer friendly businesses, but those developers don't work at IO Interactive.

----

As for the quality of the game, it's good, bordering on great...but only just.


Hitman 2 is more like Hitman (Season 2). IO Interactive didn't expand on the mechanics of the original to deliver something more than the original, but if Hitman (Season 2) is what you wanted, it's worth buying. IO Interactive learned from Hitman (2016) to give us maps in that style, but with that style all but perfected. Hitman 2 is Hitman (2016), but better. The added multiplayer mode and Sniper Assassin mode are both excellent additions and make this worth the pricetag. Not to mention that if you bought Hitman (2016), you can play visually upgraded versions of its levels inside Hitman 2, for free. It may be DLC that was turned into full game, but it's clear that real work went into giving you as much content as possible to justify the price.

However, if you wanted more out of Hitman 2 than you got from Hitman (2016), look elsewhere. It's not Blood Money 2. This game isn't even as deep as Blood Money, which had a number of features this game doesn't. Check this review of Hitman (2016) by the wonderful Coflash for details: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/coflash/recommended/236870/

These are relatively minor features, but it shows that IO Interactive has made a game less advanced from what it made ten years ago, and that missed potential is visible the longer you play. There's only so many times you can go through these levels without the mechanics feeling simplistic and the AI too exploitable. Why don't enemies notice when you open doors? Why do thrown objects go through doors? Why do bodyguards let you follow the person they're guarding into the bathroom? It starts to feel unrefined, and some minor features would have gone a long way to stopping everything from blending together after a while, and that's not how a Hitman game should play. You may be able to play through maps again and again for a while, but the developers only included 6 new levels. Hitman 2 will feel same-y too soon for a game that will already suffer from the diminishing returns any sequel will have.


Hitman is an espionage simulator. You're given a target and told to kill them however you want. Discovering the unique and clever ways to do this is the fun of the game. Play it like James Bond and focus on blending in and picking up as much intel as you can to make your way to the target. Play it like a standard stealth game and sneak around avoiding guards to find the perfect opportunity to get close and strangle your target to death. Poison someone and follow them to the bathroom to drown them in the toilet. Disguise yourself as a mechanic and drop a skylight on the target's head. It's all up to you.

There are only six maps, but you're constantly discovering new things about them that help you do it all again, but better, faster, and flashier, until your playthroughs start to look like scenes from spy movies. The mechanics are a bit simplistic, but the maps are so expansive that just routing your way through them doesn't feel repetitive even after playing them over and over again. There is so much to each one that you can't see it all in just a few playthroughs. Characters are littered throughout the map, all with their own stories that can be exploited to help you complete your mission, and you unlock optional starting locations, weapons, and items for each map. Add on the contract system, which changes the target to potentially any NPC on the map, with conditions on how to kill them, and you have a recipe for success.

It's one of the most inventive and unique stealth games out there...it's just a shame that doesn't extend to its mechanics, which are simplistic and clearly a secondary focus compared to the maps. If you've never played one of these games, this is the best place to start. If you do buy it, just make sure to turn off Opportunies and Instict in the gameplay options AT LEAST, otherwise the game feels incredibly linear. If you're like me and want less handholding than that, turn off as many visual elements as you can from the HUD. The game plays fine without them (even the minimap) and it's much more immersive.


Hitman 2 is a competent successor to Hitman (2016), but nothing the game adds is able to elevate it beyond what is essentially glorified DLC. It looks more polished than it is (Again, why don't enemies notice when you open a door? why do bodyguards let you follow their charges into the restroom?) and I'm more excited for the game that uses maps these complex while adding more gameplay features than for this game itself. It may be worth buying if the description intrigues you, and this is certainly the most accessible and content-rich Hitman game for newcomers, but I can't support IO Interactive spitting in the faces of its fans. The game is almost good enough to get away with it, but not quite.

[h1] Don't buy this game. [/h1] Hitman (2016) failed. Customers loved the game, but hated its restrictive always-online DRM, and with the episodic nature of the game spreading out the hype too much for it to catch on with the wider gaming public, the hatred of the DRM won out. Hitman (2016) bombed so hard that Square Enix let go of the studio and the Hitman IP. IO Interactive had enough money to become an independent studio instead of being shut down, but that new independent status and the extensive layoffs after made people nervous about what Hitman 2 would be like. What gave fans hope was that it wouldn't be episodic, and that without a AAA publisher, and after the studio almost tanked due to the DRM, IO Interactive had no good reason to bring it to the sequel. IO Interactive did it anyway. Customers voted with their wallets to show that they didn't want this, but IO Interactive doesn't seem to care about its customers...only their wallets. You may not think this sounds that bad. Customers can play offline, but Hitman 2's offline isn't worth playing. If you play offline, almost all content is restricted until you reconnect. This means that in a game about replaying the same maps over and over again in complete challenges that give exp for unlockables, there are no challenges and no exp in offline mode. Your saves are separate in offline, too, so if you complete a challenge offline, you'll have to do it again online. I wouldn't care so much if Hitman hadn't already had 3 hours of downtime earlier this week, following by 3 hours of downtime for Hitman 2 yesterday, and then more downtime earlier today. Maybe this will get better over time, but that wasn't the case with Hitman (2016) and I don't see why it would change. So it doesn't matter if your connection is good. You can still be left completely unable to play a game unless you want to play a gimped version that doesn't even carry progress over when it comes back online. IO shows real contempt for its audiences for shoving this down our throats after the backlash, and I don't recommend supporting them as a company. Plenty of developers leave the AAA scene to go independent that have consumer friendly businesses, but those developers don't work at IO Interactive. ---- As for the quality of the game, it's good, bordering on great...but only just. [h1] For those familiar with Hitman: [/h1] Hitman 2 is more like Hitman (Season 2). IO Interactive didn't expand on the mechanics of the original to deliver something more than the original, but if Hitman (Season 2) is what you wanted, it's worth buying. IO Interactive learned from Hitman (2016) to give us maps in that style, but with that style all but perfected. Hitman 2 is Hitman (2016), but better. The added multiplayer mode and Sniper Assassin mode are both excellent additions and make this worth the pricetag. Not to mention that if you bought Hitman (2016), you can play visually upgraded versions of its levels inside Hitman 2, for free. It may be DLC that was turned into full game, but it's clear that real work went into giving you as much content as possible to justify the price. However, if you wanted more out of Hitman 2 than you got from Hitman (2016), look elsewhere. It's not Blood Money 2. This game isn't even as deep as Blood Money, which had a number of features this game doesn't. Check this review of Hitman (2016) by the wonderful Coflash for details: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/coflash/recommended/236870/ These are relatively minor features, but it shows that IO Interactive has made a game less advanced from what it made ten years ago, and that missed potential is visible the longer you play. There's only so many times you can go through these levels without the mechanics feeling simplistic and the AI too exploitable. Why don't enemies notice when you open doors? Why do thrown objects go through doors? Why do bodyguards let you follow the person they're guarding into the bathroom? It starts to feel unrefined, and some minor features would have gone a long way to stopping everything from blending together after a while, and that's not how a Hitman game should play. You may be able to play through maps again and again for a while, but the developers only included 6 new levels. Hitman 2 will feel same-y too soon for a game that will already suffer from the diminishing returns any sequel will have. [h1] For those not familiar with Hitman. [/h1] Hitman is an espionage simulator. You're given a target and told to kill them however you want. Discovering the unique and clever ways to do this is the fun of the game. Play it like James Bond and focus on blending in and picking up as much intel as you can to make your way to the target. Play it like a standard stealth game and sneak around avoiding guards to find the perfect opportunity to get close and strangle your target to death. Poison someone and follow them to the bathroom to drown them in the toilet. Disguise yourself as a mechanic and drop a skylight on the target's head. It's all up to you. There are only six maps, but you're constantly discovering new things about them that help you do it all again, but better, faster, and flashier, until your playthroughs start to look like scenes from spy movies. The mechanics are a bit simplistic, but the maps are so expansive that just routing your way through them doesn't feel repetitive even after playing them over and over again. There is so much to each one that you can't see it all in just a few playthroughs. Characters are littered throughout the map, all with their own stories that can be exploited to help you complete your mission, and you unlock optional starting locations, weapons, and items for each map. Add on the contract system, which changes the target to potentially any NPC on the map, with conditions on how to kill them, and you have a recipe for success. It's one of the most inventive and unique stealth games out there...it's just a shame that doesn't extend to its mechanics, which are simplistic and clearly a secondary focus compared to the maps. If you've never played one of these games, this is the best place to start. If you do buy it, just make sure to turn off Opportunies and Instict in the gameplay options AT LEAST, otherwise the game feels incredibly linear. If you're like me and want less handholding than that, turn off as many visual elements as you can from the HUD. The game plays fine without them (even the minimap) and it's much more immersive. [h1] Conclusion [/h1] Hitman 2 is a competent successor to Hitman (2016), but nothing the game adds is able to elevate it beyond what is essentially glorified DLC. It looks more polished than it is (Again, why don't enemies notice when you open a door? why do bodyguards let you follow their charges into the restroom?) and I'm more excited for the game that uses maps these complex while adding more gameplay features than for this game itself. It may be worth buying if the description intrigues you, and this is certainly the most accessible and content-rich Hitman game for newcomers, but I can't support IO Interactive spitting in the faces of its fans. The game is almost good enough to get away with it, but not quite.