Sneaking out from the shadows, Hitman 2 will be the latest entry in the series of sandbox assassination games when it comes to Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. We’ll once again follow the missions of Agent 47 who works for a contract agency of assassins known as the ICA. In Hitman 2, 47’s quest to protect his organization will bring him against a vindictive and capable man who claims to have ties to 47’s past.
Agent 47 may have a mysterious and muddy past, but thankfully the Hitman 2’s development is much more forthright. We’ve collected all the available information on Hitman 2’s story, the state of its studio, and how Hitman 2 will improve itself on its best-selling predecessor.
Hitman 2 Story
Agent 47 Takes Aim in the Middle of a Race – One of many unique challenges in the game
IO Interactive wants you to Think Deadly with the latest in their long running series. Hitman 2 will continue the story of its predecessor with Agent 47 traveling the world to hunt down the mysterious Shadow Client. In the events of the previous game, Agent 47 traveled the globe as he completed contracts on behalf of the ICA for various clients with their own unique motivations. However, unbeknownst to 47 and the ICA, there was a Shadow Client acting as puppet master to motivate and manipulate these clients for his own purposes.
The Shadow Client, with some mysterious link to Agent 47, is on a mission to take down an unseen force of kingmakers. This organization, Providence, is an ancient cabal of elite individuals who have manipulated the world from behind the scenes. Having seen how Providence controls the fate of the world, the Shadow Client aims to eradicate them and hand the world to the chaotic freedom of the wills of its people.
The Shadow Client with his private army have already taken the attack to Providence, but the ancient group is not so easily beaten. Having been hit by the capabilities of Agent 47, Providence has formed an alliance with the assassin’s handlers, the ICA, against their common enemy. In exchange Providence has promised to deliver information on Agent 47’s past, but whether the truth comes from them or the Shadow Client’s link to 47 will be seen.
Hitman 2 Release Date
Hitman 2 was teased, and promptly announced, with its trailer in early June by developer IO Interactive. After the previous publisher, and property owner, sold IO Interactive last year it looked like the series might be dead, or at best developed by someone else. In one of the more shocking announcements of 2017 IO announced that they would become independent and were being given the rights to Hitman in an agreement with their former publisher.
Development of Hitman 2 is being led by director Christian Elverdam. Elverdam had also worked as director for 2016’s Hitman and as assistant director for its predecessor Hitman: Absolution. Hitman 2 is confirmed to have been in development since August 2017, and in the following April the developer partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to publish the title.
Hitman 2 will be released November 13, 2018.
Hitman 2 Gameplay
Miami Gameplay - Agent 47’s first stop in his hunt for the Shadow Client.
Hitman 2 follows the form of previous titles of stealth/action within an open sandbox. Players are rewarded for creativity in replaying maps to find new ways to eliminate targets and complete objectives. The hallmark of the Hitman series is donning disguises to fool guards and gain access to previously restricted areas.
Agent 47, being a genetically engineered clone, is designed to be the perfect assassin, able to complete even the most difficult contract. With all of his enhancement 47 is more than equipped to tackle any contract in any style befitting the player.
Before each mission Agent 47 can choose what weapons and tools he wants to take with him as well as where to begin on the map. Items and starting locations are unlocked with Mastery over a map, awarded for replaying maps to complete unique challenges. As expected, each mission involves completing an assassination with some other objectives occasionally added. The method of these executions is up to the player with the engine supporting the options such as being a silent assassin, planting explosives, or an all-out assault on the target.
Since Hitman: Blood Money, orchestrating accidents for the target to be eliminated without 47 present have been a standout feature of the franchise. These options let 47 complete his contracts without ever setting off suspicion of his involvement in the crime. Taking the time to set up these accidents will often allow 47 to complete his contract without ever having to fire a shot.
The Opportunities system is designed to guide players through the scripted accidents present in the maps. When 47 uncovers the beginning to one of these plots, an on-screen notification will ask if you want to track the opportunity, if opted in to it will guide you step-by-step to completion. While most of the Opportunities end with eliminating one of the target, some simply grant 47 access to areas that would have been difficult to infiltrate otherwise.
While there are many systems and options for 47 to have a stealthy entrance and exit, his resiliency and access to heavy armaments make a more action-oriented approach just as viable. As 47 progresses through the game he’ll unlock explosives, automatic weapons, rifles, and shotguns. Hitman 2 will broaden the scope of what can be a deadly weapon in 47’s hands by continuing to expand the number of nontraditional weapons.
Hitman 2 Trailers
Announcement Trailer - Numerous opportunities await to complete the contract.
Hitman 2’s announce trailer showcases some of the options for its first map: Miami. Agent 47, tasked with eliminating a driver in the race, has a wealth of opportunities to complete the job cleanly.
Accidents often prove the best way to complete a hit with no one being wise to the perpetrator. The trailer showcases how disguising as part of the pit crew can give 47 access to multiple setups to complete the job by virtue of the equipment that he has available.
In addition to map specific options, such as the case of planting C4 on the car or sabotaging its suspension, maps contain standard options such as setting up a sniping point or poisoning food and drink to lure a target away from a crowd or outright eliminate them.
The trailer closes with the secondary announcement of Hitman 2: Sniper Assassin as a preorder bonus, for the first time giving players a co-op mode. In online co-op players control Stone and Knight as they use their aim and vantage point to interact with the map to take out three targets and their bodyguards. The game can also be played solo in which Agent 47 fills the role of lead character.
Hitman 2 Developer
Hitman 2 is once again being developed by IO Interactive though now no longer as a part of publisher Square Enix. This will be the first Hitman game developed as an independent studio since 2002’s Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.
With the runaway success of 2016’s Hitman a Season 2 for the game was highly anticipated, however in May 2017 it looked as though the franchise was going to be lost. Square Enix, who had bought out Eidos and acquired IO Interactive with it, had announced that it was going to withdrawal from the developer. For most developers, the creative rights to their properties goes back to the publisher, it was expected that with this splitting IO would no longer be able to develop Hitman games.
However, in a surprise turnabout of June 2017, IO Interactive announced that it would perform a management buyout, meaning that they would become independent and would no longer be waiting to be acquired by another publisher. Along with this buyout came the rights to Hitman, as explained by long-time fan of the series and Squire Enix president Yosuke Matsuda, that it wouldn’t be a Hitman game unless it was developed by IO.
Hitman 2 News
Miami’s Racetrack - One of six playable maps available at launch.
While the drip-feed of content that was 2016’s Hitman episodic format proved to be an effective measure to ensure players got the most content out of each map, IO Interactive has decided that format is no longer necessary and will be launching Hitman 2 as a complete release. At launch, Hitman 2 will contain all six complete maps for players to explore in depth.
It was also confirmed that Hitman 2 will be supported post-release with two expansions, though the nature of these expansions was not elaborated upon. Its predecessor was heavily supported with both free and premium content for the game which kept bringing gamers back to 47’s world of assassination.
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