Here we are. The season 1 finale of IO Interactive’s episodic Hitman adventure. This episode brings Agent 47 to Hokkaido, Japan. A beautiful remote mountainside hospital sets the stage for a challenging finale to what is one of the year’s best games.
Infiltrating this remote hospital as a VIP patient, the player sets out to take down one of the agencies own and his lawyer who seeks to gain access to an active list of operatives. The story IO has told this season started off with what seemed to be a typical story line. As we progressed through each mission however it became more and more intriguing as the plot of the shadow organization takes a twist and leaves the player wanting to press forward. Diving deeper into who is behind seemingly random events that end up linked by a strange figure from 47’s past. The story of this game progressed at a very steady pace that was extremely satisfying. In the season ender we get what seems to be closure only to be left with a cliff hanger setting up what will no doubt be an exciting season 2.
Every mission has provided many ways the player could go about completing each objective. This mission did not veer away from that. Players can make their way around the hospital taking the identity of other patients, doctors or even a yoga instructor to progress deeper and deeper into the heart of the location. It could prove to be challenging for many players that want to strive to get that perfect run. You aren’t given anything to start with at this location forcing you to really explore the map and find any opportunity you can to progress. Players will come across many interesting items that can give insight into everything going on in this world.
Overall the final episode was satisfying while also leaving me anxiously awaiting season 2. This installment of Hitman did a fantastic job of balancing the difficulty for long time fans and also providing brand new players of the franchise an intro into the mechanics and story of Agent 47. The opportunity system gave each level many different variations to go about completing them leading to a lot of replayability. While I struggled occasionally with getting compromised in cases that left me baffled, I never ran into anything game breaking. There were minimal bugs throughout the entirety of the game. IO continues to support the game with different elusive targets giving players a reason to go back and play each location. The leaderboard system is a great way to compete with your friends on who can be most creative in taking out the objectives. The freedom given to players to complete the tasks is incredible. Mix that with some of the best maps any Hitman game has seen and what you have here is the best Hitman game to date.
9/10
Cory J
Twitter: @Fiction315
