While certainly a breakthrough in their own right, for bringing another dimension into the world of VGs, for some years after FPS's came to, not very much was done with it. Touch-ups. Change of setting. Overall, it stayed the same, in particular once the climbing/jumping was settled. Then 3rd person view was introduced. And then this. From the get-go, you can tell that this is different. Stealth, which thus far had mostly been a possibility in certain titles, now became an integral part. Not only is shooting everything in sight not encouraged, it's just about invariably punished. This took a realistic and stylistic approach that I've not seen in any release predating it. I do not know why this seems so widely disregarded. What there isn't in this that's in the later in the series usually exists here at least as an idea, and this oozes the awesomeness and need of planning(yes, the later ones got bigger than this, but that would not have happened without a start-off point) that the franchise is so loved for. This begins with a concise and marvelous training portion, which can be returned to at any time, and that ranks rather far up on the list of the best introductions to a game, both as an opening and as a course in the basics. The camera in this is cool(and affords reasonable control to the player), throughout the entirety of this, with the known over-the-shoulders angle being the main one, outside of the atmospheric, well-done cut-scenes(some animated, most are well-scripted, in-engine ones) and an alternative to it, that I consider an experiment that perhaps didn't work out as hoped(mind you, you're never forced to use it). There are arguably a handful of unlikely things in this, but they're easy to ignore. The cinematic feel of this is omnipresent. The controls are simple whilst allowing plenty of freedom(and for my money, this has bar none the greatest, as far as quality goes, action interface and weapon choosing setup of the bunch). This is more limited in the amount of approaches that can be taken to the tasks than its sequels. The missions are diverse, interesting and well-done, and no two are completely alike. They're well-crafted with gorgeous visuals, as well. The locations that they take place at span the globe. You'll get to eliminate targets in a variety of ways, covering the full range of the professional killer's preferred choices. The guns are excellent, well-selected(there aren't many, if really any, neither as far as kinds nor as specific picks, that leave anything to be desired) and lots of fun to fire. Included are side-arms, assault rifles, snipers, SMGs, to name a couple. The depiction of them is fairly credible, as well, with ROF, recoil and aim vs where the bullets actually wind up. You also cannot carry all that you might want to, nor conceal(!) all. You can, however, wield two pistols at the same time, and they don't even have to be the same type. Yes, that does in fact mean that you can have a Desert Eagle in each hand, a Beretta, a Hardballer, or any mix of those. Granted, it can be slightly glitchy, but it's so darn fulfilling to do, and it does work. The bugs are few in number, and even less in the scale of their impairment. The difficulty is relatively high, for all of the three levels. This doesn't let you get away with mowing down everything in your path, and it is the last of the Hit-man efforts to enforce that, at the time of me writing this, out of four. The length depends on how skillful one is. It can be as little as five hours or so. That is when you know what to do, and nothing slowing you down apart from failed attempts. The save system... is that every completion is stored, and nothing else. Between starting and finishing the separate hits, you're on your own. Well, almost. There is an admittedly awkward "resurrection" feature for several of them. The audio(and music!) is top-notch, everything sounds the way it ought to. The voice acting is a mixed bag, and a lot of it ranges between passable and "not quite". Bateson, however... why was this man not cast in the film? He brings the lead to life impeccably well. The writing can be clever, and the overarching plot is well-thought out and unfolds well. It, and the tone of this, is dark before it is funny. You do need to pay attention, and piece together what happened, but it does all come together and make sense. And if you intend to figure out what goes on in the others, as well, you might as well get used to it... it sure is not going to get less complicated, and if you only count this, there shouldn't be numerous theories that contradict each other. ... but I digress. The graphics are near-perfect, with well-designed characters all-round. This contains a rendering method that can handle vast, full areas that are revealed as you come closer to the unseen. It is utterly devoid of lag, and it is well-achieved. The game-play is entertaining, for those who like the concept and genre, and challenging, for all, if the good people at IO Interactive did their job right. I'd say so, definite confirm, in a heartbeat. Before you remove the person you've been paid to, you have to scope out the surroundings, pick what you'll use to instill the untimely demise, the exact time and place. There is a bit of sexual material in this, but little of it is gratuitous. It's about the only stuff to avoid or take note of in this as far as such goes, provided the violence, which is by no means gruesome or brutal(in spite of the plentiful death found in this), doesn't bother you... there's no language that I can think of. I recommend this to any individual whom all this appeals to. 8/10
Review of Hitman: Codename 47
