HITMAN: The Complete First Season is the revitalization of the once mega-popular stealth franchise, Hitman. Although the series has waned in popularity over the past few years, the Hitman franchise was once a powerhouse in stealth gaming for both PC and console players.
How to Download Hitman
Hitman can be downloaded from Steam. You should also have a look at our review of Hitman 2 (2018).
The Game Review
Originally released as episodic map packs, this complete collection includes all of the content of this assassin’s reimagining. As you travel from location to location collecting bounties and executing kill targets, you’ll start to feel like a true stealth master. But is that feeling of mastery worth the patience required? If this modern HITMAN is worthy of its namesake, then the most likely answer is a resounding “yes”.
The story of HITMAN once again follows Agent 47, a mysterious assassin with an unknown past. Arriving at the International Contract Agency, a secretive organization that carries out hits for various clients, 47 attempts to complete the rigorous training courses. Surprised by his aptitude for stealth and assassination, the leaders of the ICA grow cautious of 47’s abilities.
Despite this, he becomes an ICA assassin and sets out on his first mission of murder. In many ways, HITMAN completely reboots the origins of Agent 47, but it doesn’t stray too far from the established lore. The experience is much more focused on gameplay than a story, but the narrative in HITMAN is well written and worth your attention.
Whereas previous Hitman games would play out over a number of linear missions and levels, HITMAN: The Complete First Season takes players on a trip to six different environments, setting them loose on the land and giving them a lot of creativity in how to complete the mission. The first level, Paris, takes place at an expensive fashion show, where you must take down the husband-and-wife organizers.
A later mission sees 47 in Thailand, making a visit to a luxury resort where a spoiled and rich indie rocker plans on recording his latest album. Each level and environment is packed with characters, hidden weapons, and a large variety of collectibles. Although the game lays out a few paths to success, it’s ultimately up to the player on how they want to execute their target.
Since each of the six locations are quite large in size, it would be a bit of a waste to only have one mission per map. Luckily, the game makes great use of the maps, providing a near endless amount of missions to take on. Besides the story missions, each map plays host to numerous targets that 47 will have to eliminate.
In addition to the handful of bonus missions per stage, you can also try out custom online Contracts, created by other players. Finally, “illusive targets” pop up from time to time, providing a decent stealth challenge. These target assassinations can be attempted only once before failure, and taking them down will test your abilities of disguise and wit.
Together with an interesting progression system and tons of unlockables, the title gives players more than enough content to enjoy and experience. The changes to the fundamental gameplay of HITMAN (open-ended maps, Illusive Targets, etc) feel warranted, and add a level of polish to the already-great gameplay.
The multiple difficulty modes and post-mission rating systems provide an even great level of replayability, provided you have spent the dozens of hours to uncover everything on a single map. There are truly hundreds of hours of stealth and action gameplay to be had in HITMAN: The Complete First Season, and it’s one of the best Hitman titles to date. It’s packed with creativity, dark comedy, and interesting design. If you’re interested in taking up the mantle as the world’s most deadly assassin, don’t delay; grab HITMAN: The Complete First Season.
