Title: Hitman GO: Definitive Edition
Platform: PC, PS Vita, PS4 (reviewed)
Developer: Square Enix Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date: Feb. 23, 2016
Price $7.99, £6.49 (US/UK)
Family Focus: Click here for more information.
Hitman GO puts a unique spin on the franchise;the look and feel of the game makes for a perfect combination of puzzle and strategy, especially in quick bursts. But don’t be fooled by the game being a mobile-port, with it’s amazing design and puzzles it easily stand with some big consoles puzzlers.
I’ve always had a problem keeping my attention for long periods while playing puzzle games, and with Hitman GO, the pick-up-play formula makes it perfect for quick burst that you can keep coming back to.
Hitman GO is staged like a board game. Each chapter is different and has a unique theme and target with different rules, pieces, and options. Some offer guns, other offer traps, and enemies all change up their pattern or behavior. Yet everything is done on a grid like system and calculated. When players move their piece, so do the enemies. As you go along the playing it feels a lot like a game of cat and mouse. It’s not exactly hard at the start, though as is with every puzzle game, the slow start soon becomes a distant memory.
Each board consists of a different theme with added mechanics as the game goes on, with each chapter offering various different elements. All have a number of bonus points which are obtained via side objectives. Killing all enemies, picking up collectibles, and completing a board in a certain number of moves are some of the combinations that the board deals. These offer great replayability and require players to go back to go back and obtain in order to progress into the later boards.
Don’t expect Hitman to go above and beyond with it’s presentation. After all, the game is based of on a mobile release, and the team didn’t exactly polish this version to take advantage of the hardware. Nevertheless the game boasts strong level design with excellent dioramas and guard movement. There’s even an option to look around the board, if you feel like you need to plan your moves more effectively. It may not wow you like other Hitman games, bit it is satisfactory.
As for the audio, the soothing music that plays throughout isn’t all that bad, except for the fact that the same tune plays constantly. Whereas the Hitman series is known for its exquisite soundtrack, Hitman GO kind of runs on the basics. You may find yourself reaching for the volume control and blaring your own soundtrack to cancel out the game‘s everlasting loop, although the announcer is a redeeming factor.
There’s one other thing worth mentioning: the consistent loading. I can understand new levels taking a little time to load up, but when you need to restart the one you’re on, it really doesn’t need to take as long as it does. Maybe it’s something that can be patched at a later date, but for now it’s a small gripe in a game that makes mostly the right moves.
While the new Hitman will no doubt get greater attention, GO isn’t a bad option for those looking for quick strategic bites. What it lacks in bloodshed, it makes up for in it’s intuitive level design and the creative challenges to overcome, it’s certainly something that’s brilliant to kill time with.
VERDICT
Good
- Plenty of challenging levels to get through, and the gameplay offers creativity for all ages.
- Stellar level design
Bad
- The music repeats all to often
- Earning all three stamps on a level can be a real time sink
Family Focus
A beautiful puzzle game with thought provoking puzzles, though at times the complexity could be to much for younger audiences.
Code provided courtesy of Square Enix
