Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

You know how in most game series there's always that one title that is the/was the high point of the series, one that, even though maybe lacks all the best and whistles of the latest release, still improved a ton its predecessors and kind of set the tone and is perfectly playable to this day? Like Need for Speed 3, Ultima 7, Morrowind? That game is Hitman 2. I would easily recommend skipping the original and playing this one instead.

This definitely manages to improve on a number of things from the first. The stealth is somewhat more logical. You’re less likely to be confused by someone seeing through your disguise though it does still happen. The UI is better. This is when we get the introduction to the titular rating and most levels can indeed be completed in a way that earns you Silent Assassin. A number of them you can still shoot your way through if that's what you feel like but it is much more rewarding to play it the way it's intended. There's a lot of variety to the levels you travel in a number of different parts of the world that look and feel very different and they tend to be executed rather well. I don't love that there are levels where you’re basically just going from the start of the level to the end of the level as you gradually make your way towards an area where your actual target is several levels ahead but I will be honest and admit that while it's worse here this problem was also present in the first one. There are some levels that are quite large andor allow you to choose between different sometimes equally compelling ways to carry out your mission and I don't think this one has any of the fakeouts that make it look like you can do a thing but then when you try you just run your head into a wall. The final level does expect you to handle yourself well at something that you haven't been expressly made to up to that point which I think was a mistake. I appreciate the attempt to make the plot more engaging, consistent and clear. I don't think it completely works but certainly it is difficult to tell an overarching story whilst also delivering a series of at first seemingly unrelated, individual contracts. I really wish this allowed you to turn off this thing 47 will do where if you are very close to an enemy and you press fire he will pistol whip instead of shoot which is obviously significantly less effective. The graphics are immensely upgraded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W-vbcDNJfI&t=67s Press the link in the description that reads: IF You Don't Know How to Download From GitHub This an Instant Download Link : https://github.com/fkortsagin/Himan-2... download that link and then copy and paste those files in your Hitman 2 folder then in your hitman 2 folder go to where it says config, should be right under the scenes folder. I had to set my resolution to 1280 1024 for the to be no lag.

I have no doubts that, at the time, this game was a hit (hah). It was building on the success of the first game, and managed to improve on a lot of things. However, not every lesson was learned. I can take boring missions. What I cannot take is inconsistent AI and... missions that are essentially impossible without gunning down at least a few henchmen. The Japan missions are one such example: starting out with a banger, only to flip the script and make the disguises essentially useless, only to make them useful again in the castle. I had my fun playing this, but I think it'll be better for me to play Contracts and onwards.

Hitman 2 is the first real Hitman game in the series. (Codename 47 is more of a prototype than an actual enjoyable product in my opinion.) Hitman 2 is a great game, albeit it leans on the more trial and error side of stealth games; which in my opinion is just fine. All that saving and reloading does lead to assassination mastery to the point where you will know the game like the back of your hand by the time you are finished. I would say IO was on point with almost everything this time around. Music is some of the best I have ever heard in a video game. It brings an unbelievable amount of atmosphere to the game and it always seems like it know when to kick in to make you feel really good about sneaking past a room of guards or accomplishing a task. It's the kind of music you will want to listen to in your free time and speaking of. I use a hifi solution to sound when I play and the sound quality is really superb. I never noticed any crackling or muffled sound. It's crisp. The graphics hold up so well. Applying some supersampling to the graphics really cleans up any aliasing. It honestly looks like a game that could release today at times, hard to believe for a game that is almost 20 years old. The gameplay is trial and error based, but when you are pulling off a mission flawlessly, it feels amazing. That said, the nature of how disguises work can be a bit wonky. For example if you run while disguised, guards will shoot you, no questions asked. A bit silly in my opinion but it just reaffirms something that is very core to Hitman 2. This is a very slow game. You need to walk almost everywhere. Sneaking up on moving targets is near impossible and waiting is often key to completing missions cleanly. I can see how it would be frustrating to the modern gamer, but there is something to be said about how playing so slow makes you really get into the mind set of a cold blooded killer. That's all I really got to say. It's not for everyone but it's a classic nonetheless.