For those of you that are new to the website, I’ve spent 2018 ranking games for my “best of” end of the year ranking. With every review, the ranking is subject to change. What may end up being my “game of the year” today, could easily change with the next review. Something else that’s important to note is that I try and write my reviews a little differently. With every game, I try and find a way to write an article in a creative way that mirrors the actual game. Some games are easier than others so when reading these, be gentle with the criticism. I’m trying my best. Either way though, whether it’s a trainwreck or something you end up enjoying, I just hope you have fun reading it.

Hitman 2 is one of the most entertaining games of the year offering tight stealth gameplay, a surprisingly memorable story, and so much replayability that finishing the campaign is only the first step to revealing just how much is in IO Interactive’s incredible game. I know you guys might be expecting Chris, but today I thought I, Matt (Secret Thoughter M) might take the reigns and talk about not only one of my favorite games of the year but one of my favorite series.

It’s been nearly 7 years since the release of Hitman: Absolution and it was with that release that I fell in love with the series. For so many years, Hitman was always a series that seemed too daunting. Something that someone like myself could never get into. It wasn’t until I played Absolution though that I realized just how good the series could be. With a mix of humor and intense stealth gameplay, I found myself not being able to put the game down. It’s been a while since I last played Absolution but I’m pretty sure I killed a guy by blowing up a pig… WHAT?! And what makes Hitman 2 so impressive is how IO Interactive has managed to continue making a game that offers that same type of humor and tight gameplay but now with a really interesting and compelling story.

No longer was I jumping back and forth between levels only because I wanted to find the suit of armor that’s hidden somewhere in the castle or because I wanted to see how many different ways I could blow up that old man, but now I found myself wanting to experience all of the “story assassinations” that the game already has set up in each level so that I could actually experience the interesting story that was being told.

Even more impressive is that on top of the assassinations set up for players to try and pull off, each level is filled with hidden areas, items, and outfits just waiting to be found. All of this results in the ability to go back into a level after it’s already been completed on multiple occasions and still have entirely new ways to accomplish an assassination. Yes, maybe the last time you took out that movie director was with a remote detonator, but now that you’ve unlocked the ability to walk around with that giant fish in your hands, an entirely new way to approach the same mission is presented to you. Constant challenges like this just continue to be presented after each successful run.

The replayability that the campaign manages to bring to players would be more than enough to earn a high recommendation, but that isn’t all that Hitman 2 has to offer. With the returning mode of allusive target, a challenging mode that gives players only chance to take down their target before they’re gone for good and the newly added Sniper Assassin Mode, an almost game of Where’s Waldo but with a Sniper Rifle, players will have even more content at their fingers if they somehow manage to get tired of replaying the levels in the main campaign. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, every level from Hitman 1 is in Hitman 2. So if you somehow manage to get tired of unlocking everything in Hitman 2, killing the latest elusive target, and sniping folks, you can go back and experience one of the best games of 2016.

“The review is complete. Well, done 47. Head for ‘final thoughts’ and we’ll speak again soon.”

Final Thoughts:

As you might have guessed, my friend Matt did not actually write the review, but he did make the art that appears on the Games of The Year board down below, so make sure you show him some love. As for my final thoughts on Hitman, I really don’t have much to add. Between the tense gameplay moments of trying to sneak around an environment without blowing your cover and the then hilarious times when your cover is blown and your knocking out 15 guys with a frying pan, Hitman 2 really does offer everything that a long time fan could want while still doing it’s best to accommodate new fans to the series.

Final Score: 9.25 (Amazing)