Last weekend the closed beta of Hitman happened on PlayStation 4. The testing phase began on the 12th Feb and ended on 15th. The beta is happening now on the PC, having started day before yesterday, the 19th Feb, and will be available until February 22. Access is granted to everyone who bought the game during its pre-sale, regardless of version, where the introductory package will include only the prologue and the mission of Paris, or the complete package, which will grant access to all episodes as they are released.
The testing phase is a good way to see how Agent 47 is faring in the new generation, giving us the chance to check out the great visual and especially the gameplay, most important part of any game in the series. What we do not have in much notion is how the story will unfold as the game will be divided into episodes. According to details revealed by the developer IO Interactive, it will both have individual stories that will be resolved in one episode, as well as stories that extend over an entire season, involving Agent 47 and other important characters like Diana Burnwood and new characters. The idea is to have several gameplay seasons.
The beta consisted only the prologue of the game, which shows 20 years before the main story, when 47 was joining the ICA (International Contract Agency). This prologue is basically a tutorial, a way to teach all players, but with an already structured mission. Initially, it is mission given in which certain parameters are explained and must be followed. After its completion, the same mission becomes available to the player in the way you like, and it is here that we see the variety in play, letting the player choose the approach they prefer. Finally, the game opens up a final mission different from previous ones to put to the test learning so far.
Those who played the last game of the series, Hitman: Absolution, will experience several similar elements in the new game, but all in the more refined form. The gameplay is smooth with responsive controls, which is of utmost importance here. The highlight is a multitude of ways to kill your target, as in the training mission, that includes poisoning the target and finishing him while he is in the bathroom vomiting up, either with classic wire or drowning it in the toilet (shown below in the video), or to disguise the contact with whom he will meet, which will allow Agent 47 to get close and kill him without anyone seeing, and various other forms. This has always been a high point of the series, which seems to be at its peak.
To facilitate the life of the player, the game has an opportunity system, which displays an option to follow it if an opportunity presents itself. An example of this is the final mission of the prologue, where after listening to a conversation, the player sees the opportunity to kill the target while he should perform testing in a jet. The result is fantastic and comes to be comical. The artificial intelligence of the enemies is another important point, which is crafted in the new game. To disguise, do not try to go around others who have the same function of his disguise, because you could be easily unmasked. Unlike Hitman: Absolution, now there is more to instinct bar where it was possible to camouflage when enemy saw you and thus mislead them.
However, the instinct feature is still present, serving to highlight important items like objects that the player can take, for example weapons, in addition to highlighting the main target for assassination. The look of the new game takes advantage of the new generation of resources, offering beautiful and detailed scenarios, although the missions offered in beta could be more simplified. In short, Hitman can be a game for fans of the series, because here you will find more that are already used, but you can not expect anything so innovative. The only possible problem that so far I see is in the story, something that was always just fine in other games, here there is a fear because of the division into episodes. Will we have a great suspense in the end of a season? Does the game let us look forward to the end of each episode? The first part of the new Hitman comes on March 11 to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
