Hitman

HITMAN I & II are amazing, overlooked games that aren't like any other big ('open world') games. The maps may be a lot smaller, but playing HITMAN was the only time I truly felt free (apart from maybe Fallout New Vegas).

Super fun sandbox game with so many different ways to kill people.

Maybe just because I know I can play 2 and 3 now, but I didn't feel like going back and replaying many levels. I kind of just figured out good ways to get the kills and moved on.

I liked the mission stories, but I would prefer a mode where I have to figure stuff out on my own a bit more. Maybe some assistance from your partner, but not so explicit with waive-points and all that.

I had a blast wandering around trying to find the perfect way to get the kill and get out without being spotted.

After Absolution, it was nice to return to the sandbox style of Blood Money.

Still the best spy/stealth game I've played since the Splinter Cell trilogy.

The Hitman franchise has gotten a little lost lately. This feels like its peak to me, not just feeling like endless season-based DLC or giving into silly gimmicks. But this one has the little goofs seasoned in nicely. Throwing a heart in a trash can. The Texan. Nobody cares about the story cutscenes, that's just how it is, the only bits of story that matters are the hilarious bits of dialogue you eavesdrop on.

Among the "Hitman" games I happened to try so far, this is definitely the best. It's a collection of huge and highly detailed sandboxes where your only aim is to find new and creative ways to kill the same targets. How can somebody not like it?

The stealth mechanics used to be too clunky and highly frustrating in the previous game, but this time everything has been smoothened out to make gameplay simpler but far more effective. The most significant addition to the mechanics is the addition of "opportunities", which are basically ways to approach the targets you can choose from. These can easily turn the whole experience into mechanically following preset objectives with little input from the player, but at least help players discovering all available options without leaving them completely in the dark.

If you liked "Hitman: Absolution" for the story, this game might be a letdown. There are cutscenes in between levels, but I found it hard to find their connections with the gameplay. None of us is probably playing "Hitman" for the story anyway.

The online-only stuff sucks a lot. Episodes being whole levels works totally fine for the established Hitman framework, and 2016 blowing that wide open to make each level an emergent playground and tying unlocks to level mastery was the right way to go. But the elusive targets, though slotting into the difficulty of the franchise, are a gaping wound for late adopters, for whom that content is just gone. The menus also seem a little slow and I would ultimately have rathered less levels for more varied setpieces than a few somewhat linear methods to get Silent Assassin across all levels. The last one, in particular, is no problem. But other than that, it's Hitman, which means it's awesome. It still fills a niche and feels more like a longstanding social puzzle game than a stealth-action suite.

With its huge levels and insane amount of interactions and opportunities, i have no doubt that this is the best Hitman game so far. They took the basic concept of Blood Money and just made it even better, along with the rare few additions that Absolution did right.

Its so fun to mess around with the AI, to discover brand new ways to eliminate the targets and the sweet dark comedy of the game. The game gets no points however due to its story, and some levels are noticably weaker than others, in particular Morocco and the ranch. Even at its worst, its still a highly entertaining stealth action game. Hitman does stealth like no other game does, and likewise offers freedom in how you tackle your objective that makes it extremely replayable.

One of the very best of 2016 - and all time actually.