The Hitman series is one of the most beloved stealth game franchises around. Agent 47 is the master of disguise, the king of the sleight of hand and the prince of improvisation. He’s been around the world, seen it all and killed them all. What more is there for everyone’s favourite bald man with a barcode on his head to do? He should just retire and take it easy right? Maybe play some board games?
It’s funny you should say that, because that’s what Hitman GO kind of does. It takes Agent 47, makes him into a cute board game figure and has you progress through a bunch of intriguing levels. Think Hitman with an emphasis on chess. Pieces have their certain ways of moving and it’s up to you to spot the pattern and complete the level. Sometimes that can be as simple as reaching the end marker on the level, other times you’ll have to assassinate a target.
It’s something that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but the way the game was received on portable devices when it released in 2014 proves that it does. Its sprucing up for PlayStation devices bundled up with all of its DLC into one handy collection. It also removes the micro-transactions from the game without losing anything. This is a difficult task to achieve and a lot of games fail with that transition. It’s good to see that Hitman GO: Definitive Edition sticks the landing.
Where it begins to come unstuck however is if you spend too long with it in one sitting. The game was designed for handheld and, because of that, was designed for short bursts of fun. I found myself burning out at first because I was trying to complete as much as possible, partly because some of the boards earlier in a stage are a bit basic. There’s some variety in puzzles and the gradual way of teaching you works well, but the repetitive loop is something that some will get bored of quickly.
This shouldn’t dishearten you though and you may be someone that can sit down and playthrough the entire game in one sitting. With the PlayStation 4’s suspend mode and the PS Vita’s soft sleep, it means you can play a few boards in between Netflix binges, or on your commute. The game also has a Cross-Save function on the PlayStation devices, meaning you can carry on your progress wherever you are.
It’s something I was not able to try out in practice, due to the review copy I received only being for the PS4 version, but the version seemed perfectly fine (the Cross-Buy PS Vita version is now available). There’s a small load-screen between restarts, but it’s not long enough to really cause an issue. The only time I began to find problems was the implementation of the aiming mechanic with weapons. If there’s only one or two targets on the screen it’s fine, but trying to pick one out in the middle of a row of three was surprisingly fiddly.
This could be because of the fact the game started life as a touch game. You can use the DualShock 4’s touch-pad to move Agent 47 if you really want to, but it doesn’t feel natural. Luckily most the time you don’t have to aim and issues with controls are fairly minimal, although some camera angles may see you moving the wrong way. In fact, it may highlight how tight the rest of the game is that you notice these small blips.
Hitman GO: Definitive Edition is reasonably priced at less than £8 and shows that it is fully aware of what it is. This is not always the case with ports of mobile games and it seems a smart move by Square Enix. It works well as a hype piece to the new instalment in the main franchise whilst giving a new lease of life to a two-year-old game.
If you’re a fan of puzzle games, then Hitman GO: Definitive Edition is definitely something to consider if you haven’t played the mobile version. If, however, you’ve had your fill of the mobile version it might be best to give it a miss. There’s not really anything new to experience apart from some shinier graphics. The challenges on each board help add to the longevity of the game, but overall Hitman GO: Definitive Edition is a game best enjoyed in short bursts.