Developed by Io-Interactive and scheduled for a March 11th, 2016 release, the Hitman reboot for next gen consoles recently had an open beta for Xbox One and Playstation 4. A prequel to the Hitman series – and showcasing the origins of Agent 47 (when he was an initiate) – the player is dropped off at a secret mountainside facility via helicopter. After being introduced to Diana Burnwood (one of the ‘handlers’ at the International Contract Agency), the player is sent through a small tutorial that contains three assassination scenarios — a yacht; an industrial building; and a military base.
While it’s still too early to form an opinion of Hitman, the beta provides a somewhat polished gameplay experience. During the yacht assassination sequence, the player must assault an engineer located in a shed and then steal his clothing to gain access to the boat. In standard Hitman tradition, the player must sneak up behind their victim (this is done by pressing R3), and then either strangle (i.e. knock out) or snap the victim’s neck. Any actions that Agent 47 can perform appear on-screen. For example: when you’re behind the engineer, the on-screen action wheel indicates that pressing Square button will subdue the victim, while pressing Triangle will snap their neck.
After the engineer has been incapacitated, the player must press X button to wear the victim’s clothing. The player can also hide the body behind crates, inside lockers, and other obscure locales to avoid detection. This game mechanic, as you would imagine, has been a staple of the Hitman series since its inception.
The beta preview allows the player to tackle the yacht contract (and the others) from multiple angles. While the main objective is to find a waiter outfit, it is possible to subdue a security guard or a crew member and use their outfits instead. In fact, the beta praises the gamer for ‘thinking outside the box’. However, the CPU’s behavior changes if the player deviates from the main objective. For example: using the waiter outfit raises less suspicion, but the security guard and crew member outfits can (and sometimes will) raise suspicion with guests, etc.
When this happens, the player must ‘clear’ the situation by acting quickly. The CPU’s AI is smart enough to investigate suspicious acts, and walking into a room to lead an NPC away from a crowded area will (as a rule) prevent further suspicion from occurring. The player has mere seconds to dispose of the NPC before it can alert the others, and this is where the Beta deviates from previous games in the series.
When struggling with an enemy (i.e. fist fighting, etc.,), the player must press the corresponding buttons that appear on-screen to successfully incapacitate their enemy. Deviating from these ‘prompts’ results in the NPC recovering and calling for help. The game only allows so many mistakes before the player’s cover is blown, especially during an up close, melee encounter. Keeping in mind that Hitman is a beta — and the three available missions are actually tutorials — it’s quite possible that this may not appear in the game itself, but only time will tell.
Until it launches in March, we are left to wonder how much of the Hitman Beta will change. As it stands, the preview was relatively stable with only a handful of noticeable glitches, mostly pertaining to the graphics. There’s little doubt that by the time gamers play Hitman, IO Interactive will have polished most of these rough surfaces from the experience. But as it stands right now, Hitman has the potential to be one of the best games of 2016.
Mike Pittaro
Release Information:
Game: Hitman
Launch Date: March 11th, 2016
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Square-Enix
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Price: $59.99
Official Website: http://www.hitman.com
Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/236870/
Beta Launch Trailer:
World of Assassination Trailer:
