• Store
  • Home
  • Discord
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
Green Man Gaming Blog
Green Man Gaming Blog
  • Store
  • Home
  • Discord
Home
Articles

State of Play – Hitman and Episodic Content

June 23rd, 2016 Suraya Adnan Articles, Features

Share

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr
State of Play – Hitman and Episodic Content

Adding to an already explosive E3 last year, many stealth gaming fans rejoiced as a brand new entry to the Hitman franchise was announced. Yes, lots were excited to see where the series would head after the middling response to Hitman: Absolution, many more were skeptical about what could come next. Would this latest Hitman entry, known only as Hitman, implied to be a soft reboot of the franchise, be a return to form and reprise Hitman: Blood Money? Or would we see another continuation of the disappointment in Absolution?

These worries were festering on forums and discussion boards across the Internet, dissecting videos and developer statements alike to try and find some semblance of a hint of how the game was going to play, and it was looking like yes, new Hitman would be like Blood Money! We’d have freedom to explore maps, multiple assassination methods, and a working disguise system. What made Hitman unique would be back, and we wouldn’t be playing a generic stealth game once again. As if a joke from some mighty trickster god, it was at this time that IO Interactive revealed that Hitman would have an episodic release structure.

While in line with a recent trend in Square Enix games, with Final Fantasy 7’s remake and Life is Strange both being episodic releases, fans of the Hitman series didn’t take this change as a positive one. Understandable, since episodic games haven’t always been successfully done.

During the run up to Hitman’s release in March with a single map, audiences were concerned, considering all the changes and announcements. This first map would set the audience perception for the rest of the game, and set expectations on what to expect from future maps and episodes.

Set in Paris, Episode One set the bar for what fans will now come to expect from Hitman going forwards. With the challenge of having to keep players entertained until the next episode released, IO not only provided a huge sandbox featuring the opportunity for different assassination styles, methods and approaches but also introduced a series of challenges outside the main level.

Built upon highly replayable levels to create new environments and problems for players to solve, Episode One lead to very creative solutions to assassinations. You’d also gain experience from each solution, providing a very real progression and motivation to keep going. Anything gained from finishing these challenges would translate into gear for your next mission.

What this leads to is players being able to spend as much time as they’d like in a set location, without feeling pressured to complete the whole game, and move on to the next area as soon as they’re able to. With new content coming out at a steady pace, fans have something to look forward to, while being provided with shorter form levels for those that can’t pull themselves away. With the elusive targets, which are limited 48-hour long events, we’re given something to do that engages players for a short amount of time, again tiding over the waiting period. This is
similar to MMORPGs in how we get huge content patches, with smaller content being drip fed to us through the expansion, to keep us engaged. For a game as devoted to experimentation and exploration as Hitman is, giving players this much time without pressure is the perfect use for episodic content, and shows that the often-maligned distribution method truly can have merit, in the right case.

In a world where big budget games are continuously filled with bloat and which have less of a focus on delivering a truly tight gaming experience, Hitman’s use of episodic content provides players time to explore and enjoy what the team at IO have lovingly put together. With the success of both Hitman and Life is Strange, it’ll be interesting to see what Final Fantasy 7 does with its episodic structure, and how it uses that to its advantage.

Hitman is a wonderful experience so far, and with still four episodes still to go, is one of my favourite games of the year. Getting to go back to a much-loved series from my school days, in such a polished and pure package, is a wonderful thing. Based on how successful both the game and it’s method of delivery have been, I can’t wait to see where the series, and other Square Enix games, go next.

Share

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr
Previous article #FreebieFriday - Two Copies of Umbrella Corps Up For Grabs!
Next article #FreebieFriday - Win 1 of 5 keys for The Black Death!
Avatar

Suraya Adnan

Suraya has been writing on a wide range of topics in the tech and entertainment space for over 10 years. Her favourite all-time games are Theme Hospital and Prince of Persia. When she’s not playing toddler app games with her daughter, she likes to steal a bit of time playing GTA and The Witcher. Follow me on the community

Related Posts

The Best Indie Stealth Games

The Best Indie Stealth Games

September 20th, 2023
The Best Indie FPS Games

The Best Indie FPS Games

September 20th, 2023
Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech

Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you're a frog on a mech

September 20th, 2023
Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

September 20th, 2023
Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

September 20th, 2023
Indie Game Roundup - September 2023

Indie Game Roundup - September 2023

August 31st, 2023
Timeline
Sep 20th 4:49 PM
Articles

The Best Indie Stealth Games

Sep 20th 4:47 PM
Articles

The Best Indie FPS Games

Sep 20th 4:44 PM
Articles

Shoulders of Giants is an incredible roguelike where you’re a frog on a mech

Sep 20th 4:43 PM
Articles

Superliminal Will Bend Your Brain Into New Shapes

Sep 20th 4:41 PM
Articles

Orx is a tactical roguelike tower defence game filled with cool power ups and interesting decisions

Aug 31st 4:06 PM
Articles

Indie Game Roundup – September 2023

Aug 31st 4:05 PM
Articles

All Robocop Games Ranked

Aug 31st 4:03 PM
Articles

Hunt: Showdown Is Five Years Old – Time to Revisit It

Archive
About us…
GET TO KNOW US

About Us

Careers

Refund Policy

Help & Support

Terms and Conditions

Need our help?

Open a web ticket to contact our Customer Support team. We’re here to help!

Copyright © 2022 Green Man Gaming Blog All Right Reserved