Hitman Go: Definitive Edition (PlayStation 4) Review

The gameplay of Hitman GO is a drastic change from what previous Hitman iterations offered. This time around, Agent 47 must navigate around a "stage" that is akin to a chessboard of sorts. The stage or table displays a map made of lines and nodes, and Agent 47 and other people on the board must walk from node to node. The game plays in a turn-based way, meaning that once Agent 47 has moved to the next node, the other people on the board make their moves. This simple game mechanic is a welcome departure from the steep learning curves of previous titles in the franchise.

Within each level, there is always an end node, which is the destination that Agent 47 must reach in order to complete the stage. However, it is not always as easy as it seems. Stages are riddled with obstacles in the form of various people and soldiers, as well as police with guard dogs. If Agent 47 walks onto a node that is right next to any of these obstacles, he will be taken out, similar to how a Rook can take out a Pawn in a game of chess. It also works vice-versa, as Agent 47 can eliminate the obstacles by moving onto a node that they are currently occupying, thus rendering them "dead" for the rest of the level.

The level designs are simplistic, with many features sharing the same colour palette. There are no highly detailed grass leaves or facial features on the people, but rather, everything is clean and crisp. It all looks like it has been created for a real life chessboard. Even Agent 47 looks like a chess piece rather than a living, breathing person. Some of the stages seem to have drawn inspiration from dollhouses, with their plain colours giving off a breath of sophistication and elegance to the game itself.

The game contains five campaigns that each have 15 levels, with two additional campaigns based on stages from past Hitman games. While they are nice throwbacks with their play on nostalgia, these two campaigns only have eight levels each. Unlike what fans of the franchise have been accustomed to, Hitman GO doesn't feature a "target" to be killed in each level. Rather, targets are spread out over the campaigns, and are set apart from the other stages due to the change in background music, which is, quite fittingly, "Ave Maria."

The various stages are sometimes littered with objects and weapons that can be used by Agent 47 in order to dispose of or distract his obstacles. While these tools are progressively introduced, there is never any explanation given as to how they should be used. Everything in the game is left there for the players to explore and discover for themselves. Coloured doors with matching keys also make frequent appearances, further complicating proceedings and raising the challenge of the game.

While most of the levels are quite easy to complete, Hitman GO offers additional objectives that need to be met in each stage. Meeting these conditions lifts the difficulty quite dramatically and generates replayability. Completing these objectives will open up more stages, giving players a reason to dive back in. These objectives can range from trying to complete a stage in the lowest amount of moves as possible, to collecting a briefcase, to trying to complete a level without killing anyone.

One of the only major downsides to the game is that the solutions to the levels are linear, and there are no different paths to completing a stage. Despite the Hitman franchise being known for having multiple paths to completing a level, Hitman GO only really has one way to do it. While it is an understandable limitation due to the small-scale size of the game itself, not including that feeling of choice does hurt the replayability of the game.

While there is hardly a musical score to accompany the levels, each stage instead has lots of background noise that help bring the setting to life. In a neighbourhood setting, chatter between people can be heard in the background, as well as cars driving past and dogs barking in the distance. Not only does it help bring the neighbourhood to life, but it is quite an eerie backdrop to what is otherwise a lifeless game of chess pieces. The contrast works quite well, and can be unsettling when nearby neighbours are chattering to each other, unbeknownst to them that Agent 47 is about to murder someone.

A nice little touch to the PS4 version of Hitman GO is that, in addition to using the left analogue stick to control Agent 47, the touchpad on the controller can also be used to move the assassin from one node to the next. It makes controlling him a lot easier, especially because the game was designed with swiping in mind, due to its release on mobile devices.