The Hitman franchise has been going strong for almost 17 years now, and last year’s entry sure was loved by the hardcore Hitman crowd, while it was also warmly received by the gaming press worldwide too.
So it came as a shock to many that Japanese publisher Square Enix decided to dump Hitman studio IO Interactive in May this year, this likely having to do with their latest game’s not so great sales (which may have been related to Hitman 2016’s episodic release).
But now IO Interactive has a chance to redeem itself before its fans with the recently-released Hitman Game of the Year edition. This edition of the game includes all content that was released episodically last year, including the bonus episodes which came out in summer 2016.
Hitman fans will also be pleased to know that this GOTY edition includes a brand-new campaign taking place across four missions, but does not feature any new locations, though. This campaign is likely to play like the ones in earlier Hitman games, and be less like the murder sandboxes seen in last year’s episodes, something which hints that the next Hitman game might not actually be an episodic release.
Aside from a bevy of graphical improvements, this edition of the game also features a reworked user interface (a much-needed feature, no doubt), plus improvements to enemy AI amongst other things.
Also noteworthy is the fact that developer IO Interactive will be bringing back the game’s Elusive Targets missions too, giving you another chance to play any you might have missed last year (this will allow players to have another shot at taking down renowned Hollywood actor Gary Busey too…).
Those who’ve played through last year’s episodic game and already own all the content will be able to upgrade to this edition for $20 US dollars, while newcomers will be able to acquire the entire GOTY edition for $60.
So hopefully this GOTY edition of last year’s Hitman will offer that satisfying stealth and action gameplay fans of the franchise have come to love over the years, and also be the start of great things to come from Danish studio IO Interactive in the future.