Hitman: Sniper Rekindles Fond Memories of Blood Money - Preview
by Jake Weston , posted on 11 June 2014 / 3,171 Views
Triple-A console franchises often make the transition to mobile to mixed results, usually by trying to replicate the "core" experience for mobile and tablet touch screens (see: Deus Ex: The Fall), failing to capitalize on the platform's strengths. Square Enix recognized this with Hitman: Go, transferring the tenets of the Hitman franchise but transforming them for genres more suitable to touch screens. As a result, Hitman: Go's board game-based gameplay helped make it one of the surprise mobile hits of the year, and if my time at E3 is any indication, Hitman: Sniper could be another hit in the same vein.
Like Hitman: Go, Sniper takes the franchise's core values and puts them into a new genre. In this case, Hitman: Sniper takes place entirely from the perspective of a sniper's scope. Indeed, you don't actually visit the locations in which the game takes place, but instead view them from hundreds of meters away, safely perched in your sniper's nest.
That does not mean the game is a shoot 'em up, however, as remaining silent, undetected, and anonymous is still the most important aspect. The game awards extra points for dispatching enemies undetected, and many patrolling guards highlight opportunities for "body disposals", in which sniping them at just the right moment causes their corpses to naturally fall into hidden locations. In the case of my demo, falling into a pool or off a balcony.
My demo tasked me with assassinating a playboy at his mansion, difficult doing undetected amidst the plethora of guards patrolling the compound. My first few attempts were simple headshots, resulting in detection and low scores (and thus low payouts, and thus worse equipment loadouts). In repeated attempts, I bided my time and observed my target, seeing that he enter his bedroom with a woman and close the blinds, obstructing my vision. Thankfully, "Instinct" Mode, returning from 2012's Hitman: Absolution, allowed me to see them through the blinds, seeing what transpired. Unexpectedly, the woman turned out to be another assassin, strangling the target with fiber wire. She had done my job for me! Panicking, I ended up dispatching the other assassin as well, but in turn alerted the guards of the compound to my presence.
Hitman: Blood Money is one of my favorite games of all time. I love the countless strategies and emergent gameplay that many felt took a step back in Absolution. Hitman: Sniper rekindled fond memories of Blood Money during the time I had with it, and if the rest of the game does the same then I am sold. I was a little bummed that I was unable to get a perfect stealth run during my attempts on E3's show floor, but I still had a blast trying. Hitman: Sniper will be releasing free-to-play for mobile phones and tablets later this year.
