chaos after stealing a bunny suit from
a pair of incompetent bank robbers.
The bank is fairly small, with only 15
mastery levels, while the other new
location weighs in with the full 20. It’s
set on an island resort for wealthy
criminals, and is notable for a storyline
that only reveals its twists if you keep
the three targets alive long enough.
Do you kill this one now, or should
you let them live and see
what happens if you can
figure out a way to make
them all meet? It has a
different sort of vibe to
the previous levels, in
that after you’ve heard
enough of their story it’s
almost tempting to let a
couple of them escape (you
can’t, at least not as far as I can
tell). But there are more than enough
amusing fatalities to banish any
thoughts of pacifism. Luxury beach
huts with trapdoors leading straight
into the sea? Oh, if you must...
As well as the more obvious bonus
content, most levels have been quietly
augmented with sets of challenges
themed around particular disguises
or items. It’s a cool way to encourage
the kind of experimentation and
sightseeing that epitomises Hitman 2,
and there’s always some sort of
collectible item for completing the
full set. For example, a unique sword
for completing some ninja-related
challenges on the first level, or a
blueberry muffin for finishing a
set of bakery-themed tasks
elsewhere. Best of all,
there’s an elaborate
in-joke related to a
much-mocked glitch
from an early version
of the game, in which a
thrown briefcase would
fly comically slowly as it
homed in on its target. A few
tricky briefcase challenges later,
this physics-defying piece of luggage
can be yours once more.Do over
New escalation contracts keep
popping up, too. They’re the ones
where you finish a mission in a
particular way, then repeat it again
and again with slightly more difficult
conditions attached each time. There
are some weird ones to be found, for
instance arming yourself with cans
of soda and ‘pacifying’ joggers in the
park while avoiding the gaze of their
personal trainer.As well as all that, there are special
assignments – full missions with
alternative stories and characters
set in existing levels. There was one
in Mumbai and another in the jungle
level, and I honestly thought that was
it until I stumbled across a couple
more that had somehow escaped
my attention. Okay, so they were
probably well signposted when they
first dropped, but it says a lot when a
committed Hitman player like me can
miss a fairly major new feature amid
the sprawling array of murder-related
fun vying for my attention on the menu
screen. They even keep adding new
stuff to the old levels from season
one. It’s hard to keep up, and that’s
part of the charm.
If I was stranded on a desert island
(with my Xbox and a serviceable Wi-Fi
signal) and I could only choose one
game to play forever, it would have
to be Hitman 2. It’s as fresh now as
it was when I first played it, one year
ago, and unless there’s a Hitman 3
that totally blows it out of the water,
it’s something I just can’t imagine
getting tired of. Q“Most levels have been quietly
augmented with sets of challenges
themed around particular disguises”
PLAYED ANYTHING GOOD RECENTLY? COME SHARE IT AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK
ABOVE An Easter
egg secret turns
every non-
background
character into
a fluffy
flamingo mascot.
FAR LEFT This
guy’s mystery
tropical disease
means you
probably won’t
want to touch
him to kill him.
WHAT IS IT?
Take control of a master
of murder and enter a
world of assassination- stealth, disguises,
sniper rifles and wholly
inappropriate humour.
More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 097