Those of you who have pre-ordered Agent 47′s latest game, you’ll get a nice little surprise in the form of the Hitman Sniper Challenge. Having got to play the pre-order bonus early thanks to the good people at Xtra-Vision, I thought I’d give y’all a quick review of it to whet your appetite for Tuesday when the main event comes out.
The Sniper Challenge is a simple premise: Agent 47 is on a mission to take out a target and his many bodyguards. You’re sent to the roof of a building to survey a nearby roof part on the building where the target lives. The target arrives at the building with some of his many, many bodyguards and you’re given your mission: take out the target and as many of his bodyguards. Like I said, simple premise.
Once you get to play it a few times, Hitman fans will really start to feel at home. Even in this simple pseudo-mission, the freedom the player gets is significant. You decide what order to kill everyone in, you decide if you just want to take out the target (though taking out more bodyguards gets more points and unlockables) and you decide what parts of the environment to use to your advantage. Want to be patient and clever? Take your time, survey the guards, use the environment. Want to be ruthless and efficient? Keep a steady hand and pick all the guards off in quick succession. Want to kill a bunch civilians? You won’t get many points, but that’s still an option. Sicko.
Graphically, there’s a big leap from Blood Money, even in the small area you see during this bonus mission. The models look better, the animations look more realistic and the environments look sleek and cool. The voice acting is as solid as ever, from the small amount I was able to experience through this. The mission gives you such a sweet taste of what to come in Absolution with it’s sense of freedom and solid aesthetics. It’s just a pre-order bonus, so it’s nothing to wet yourself about but for simply pre-ordering the game, it’s kind of a bargain to get this addictive little gem. And suffice to say, Tuesday can’t come soon enough.
