S&S Review: Hitman HD Trilogy

Title: Hitman HD Trilogy
Format: PS3(reviewed), Xbox 360
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Io Interactive
Price: $39.99
ESRB Rating: M

The Hitman HD Trilogy is the first of possibly many HD remakes we'll be getting this year, and it looks to start off the year on a high.  It brings together three great Hitman games, and gives it the HD modernization that many other classic franchises have received, what more could you want?


Story and Presentation:

I'm sure that veteran fans of the huge franchise have already experienced the three games' seperate stories, so I'm not going to go over each game's individual narrative.  I've never really been a big fan of the classic games' stories.  The gist of the older games were, you get a contract, and you carry out that contract.  That was basically all that I got from the older games, and I was just fine with it.  Hitman Absolution was a big departure from the the classic titles in terms of storytelling, the latest game was a lot more personal, while the older games just weren't.  The visuals in the Hitman HD Trilogy are a good improvement from the original games.  Given, Hitman 2 and Contracts were released a while ago, so you really can't do much with the visuals set by the original Xbox and PS2.  Hitman: Blood Money is the best out of the trilogy, gameplay wise, and visually as well.  Although the visuals in the three games won't blow you away, the games definitely look a lot crisper.  The first two games really didn't age all that well, but Blood Money can stand in with the crowd.  I think this is because of the game's overall visual style.  HD remakes like Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank may look better, but that's because of those games' visual style.  Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank have a lot more color than Hitman, so that can make those games stand out when you play them on the newer consoles.  Getting back to Hitman, Agent 47 has gotten a lot smoother, and so as the environments he kills in.  The game definitely looks a lot better than the PC, PS2, and Xbox versions, and that's all you can really ask for.  The games are old, so you can't really expect anything miraculous.  The audio is great, just as before.  Voice acting has never been weak in any Hitman games, so this isn't surprising.  I always enjoyed the music as well, giving a lot dark tones that fit well with Agent 47's overall mission.  The HD remake improved the games look, but it doesn't make the spectacular breakthrough that other HD remakes accomplished.

Core Gameplay:
When you bring back games from 10 years ago, you also bring back outdated game mechanics that game developers have ditched for basically, better mechanics and gameplay elements.  The most prevalent of this being in Hitman 2. A lot of the gameplay mechanics featured in the game may have been a good idea back in 2002, but it's only a headache when you play it now.  Each game has a basic concept, you receive a contract, you enter a level, you kill your target(s), and then you escape.  This formula is what made the franchise so popular.  Having come right off of playing Hitman Absolution, where levels are broken up into sections, having basically no checkpoints really threw me through a loop.  What hasn't changed though, was they endless possibilities you had to kill your targets.  This is one of the main reasons why I love these games so much, your creativity can directly change the way you play through it.  The 40 levels that span across each game will challenge you, and will make you think.  You can't just walkthrough every level and have a massive shootout with every armed guard you come across, that just won't work.  Physical combat is just as awkward as before, this was one of the only things I ever complained about the game.  If you could get past the combat before, you'll be able to get past it now.

Final Thoughts:
The Hitman HD Trilogy is another great HD remake for the current generation of systems.  It may not be the best we've gotten, but it's definitely a good one.  If you're looking for another way to play three classic Hitman games, this is the best way.

S&S Rating: 8/10

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