An insanely impressive step up from Codename 47, I felt child-like wonder at the amount of improvements made to this game. Every clunky, unreasonable design choice from the first game was uprooted and replaced by a cohesive game that just clicks many, many times.
The greatest improvement is the save system that replaces the odd continue/restart system of the first game. With 7 saves allowed in normal mode, what's immediately communicated to you is "it's okay to experiment and mess up". I can't understate how great of an improvement this is from the first game.
The levels themselves feel less like puzzleboxes with a series of steps that need to be followed and more like the open playground of the modern entries. Guard alert states feel more natural, it no longer feels like they just laser towards you the moment you've blown your cover. You're given a better idea of what disguises work and don't with the addition of the detection meter, and you're no longer punished for getting a terrible rating on a mission.
It felt like Codename 47 was still trying to find its footing on whether it wanted to be a "thinking shooter" or a "play-your-way" social stealth game, and I'm glad they figured out that the latter would shine. This is an excellent game to play around with and feels like the proper start to the Hitman series.
The greatest improvement is the save system that replaces the odd continue/restart system of the first game. With 7 saves allowed in normal mode, what's immediately communicated to you is "it's okay to experiment and mess up". I can't understate how great of an improvement this is from the first game.
The levels themselves feel less like puzzleboxes with a series of steps that need to be followed and more like the open playground of the modern entries. Guard alert states feel more natural, it no longer feels like they just laser towards you the moment you've blown your cover. You're given a better idea of what disguises work and don't with the addition of the detection meter, and you're no longer punished for getting a terrible rating on a mission.
It felt like Codename 47 was still trying to find its footing on whether it wanted to be a "thinking shooter" or a "play-your-way" social stealth game, and I'm glad they figured out that the latter would shine. This is an excellent game to play around with and feels like the proper start to the Hitman series.