Back to Basics
This game is not a technological showcase of the next generation gaming exerience.
Then again Hitman shows no implication of those aspirations.
Hitman is one thing and it exells in its purpose exelently.
Hitman is a toy.
Simple.
The game itself from the outset is well presented, with that particular flair for style and elegant presentation previous Hitman games have set in place. 47 himself, despite his ruthless hitman status is a character that you can emathise with. He holds that certain unstated sense of depth that some characters can pull off so effortlessly.
The real meat of the game however are the missions. Each mission within itself a self contained experience, a toy to be played with as you see fit. You see the level design is extremely competent within Hitman the ability to solve any problem with so many given soloutions allowing a real feeling of replay. Its not often that I find myself wanting to play a level again straight after completeing it to see how I could have done it differently. Hitman captures that very well.
There are a few niggles I have with the game however. The main problem with Hitman is the fact that it was developed for last generation consoles aswell, and as with other multiplatform game this realy shows in the visuals. They are good they just lack that nextgen feel that games like G.R.A.W and PGR have captured, the art style realy is what carrys Hitman through. Not the visual flair in itself.
The other gripe I have can also be attributed to its multi platform status. The controlls do seem a little awkward at times. Dont get me wrong they are fine and easy to get used to, but the game just has that slightly clunky feel to its movement that shows that IO havent realy been able to refine the controls quite like they would have had they not been catering to multiple platforms.
Finaly the AI. Now this is an interesting point and not realy a complaint. The AI in Hitman is not good. The AI controlled characters react in a very predictable manner and if provoked will run straight at you guns ablaze.
However...
The limited AI almost adds to that sense of basic problem solving, that sense of playing with a toy, a maliable predictable toy but nonetheless a very fun one. You know hoe the AI are going to behave, you have seen it a thousand times before, but in a way it is an integral part to the experience.
If you are looking for the next groundbreaking experience that will change the way you play games then look elsewhere my freind.
However if you want an adictive problem solving fun toy that you can play time and again experimenting with different methods just to watch the effects. Then here you are.
Oh and finding out just how many people you can kill in the huge crowds before being brought down is brilliant fun. :)