wfmag.cc \ 63Hitman 2 puts a lot into its story; Ian wonders why
t felt overwhelming: these massive
levels full of all manner of different
approaches, where you could succeed
in a dozen different ways and fail in a
few dozen more, all backed by a vague
cynicism you only find in European-made games.
The Hitman series is a personal favourite, and
Hitman 2 seemed like it would be the pinnacle- at least until the inevitable sequel – ramping
all those dials up a number past where you’d
usually expect them to stop. But that was the
problem: it’s too much. I don’t have time. There
are other, less daunting things
to be getting on with.
I’m sure we’ve all been there,
increasingly so as you get older:
there isn’t enough time to play
everything, even the stuff you
know you’ll love. As such, it did
take me over a year to actually bother starting up
the latest wacky adventures of Agent 47 and his
rubber duckies. But I got there. I’m in. I’m working
my way through things, trying to take it as slow as
I always do, on the path to that oh-so-wonderful
sense of achievement on landing a Silent Assassin
rank for completing a level nigh-on perfectly. It’s
great, I love it, I wish I’d started sooner.
And yet. What’s with all this focus on story?
I know it’s always been there – I’ve been knee-
deep in the series since the first time a game
called Hitman 2 came out, all the way back in
2002, and there’s always been the mystery of
Agent 47’s origins, his ever-growing friendship
with handler Diana, many international
conspiracies and everything else. But this time
around, I’m actually finding it quite grating.
Is it the fault of the game? Absolutely not. It’s
the fault of life. It goes back to that delay – that
need to get on with other things in life before
settling in to something seriously meaty, that you
know you’ll love. I took time getting there, and
when things felt right I dove right in, knowing
what I wanted. That being: playgrounds of pain,
sandboxes of surreptitious behaviour, and...
courtyards... of clandestine dealings. Story?
Pah! I don’t have time for that
nonsense, even if I did before.
What has Hitman 2 done
wrong? Why am I so enraged?
Well, it hasn’t done anything
wrong, and it’s not rage – it’s
just a frustrated jab of the skip
button every time more exposition rears its
head. I no longer want to know the whys and
hows of a particular mission. I don’t care about
the needs of the people behind these things,
I just want to get in there and figure out how to
murder someone in the best way. Or the most
efficient way. Or the funniest way.
So yes, video games in isolation don’t make
you violent, that’s a given. But combined with
age, a lack of time, and the desire to just get on
with things, they do seem to have made me a
remorseless killing machine, bereft of a need for
any reason as to why these folks need to die.
Touché, Hitman 2.I
“Story? Pah.
I don’t have
time for that
nonsense”That sneaky,
naughty man
Dishonored
PC, PS4, XBO, MULTI
I can’t recommend the
sequel as, well, I haven’t got
around to playing it yet, even
though I know I’ll love it. Sigh.
Regardless, the first game
is still a brilliant take on
sandboxy murder.Metal Gear Solid V:
The Phantom Pain
PC, PS4, XBO, MULTI
It’s been recommended on
these pages before, but
it’s worth repeating for this
particular tie-in: the sandbox
freedom offered in MGSV is
absolutely, unquestionably,
magnificent. The game is a
pittance these days. Buy it.Sniper Elite 4
PC, PS4, XBO
A sandbox gem that flew under
the radar for many on release
in 2017, Sniper Elite 4 offers an
organic level of freedom that’s
utterly intoxicating. Oh, and
massive gun-based violence
too, of course.Hitman 2Now playing
Wireframe
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