Review for Hitman HD Enhanced Collection. Game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 11/01/2019
Among the most iconic video games of the Stealth genre, the series of HITMAN is next to cut the milestone of twenty years from the publication of the first chapter thanks to its ability to reinvent itself over the years, while remaining firmly linked to its origins, as recent Hitman e Hitman 2 that have fully convinced us.
Yet there is a return to the past also for the stoic agent 47, victim of the "remastering fever" that is affecting several titles this generation, with symptoms that resulted in the publication of the Hitman HD Enhanced Collection, containing two of the most popular brackets of the series, Hitman: Blood Money e Hitman: Absolution, published in 2006 and 2012 respectively.
The main addition of this collection is the possibility to enjoy the two chapters remastered in 4K e 60 FPS to fully exploit the power of current consoles. In support of this, a work of improved texture resolution, as well as some changes on the shadow front and in-game reflections.
Same checks were filed, with the analog stick that now responds better to our inputs and a slight job of remapping the controls that adapt to those of next-gen productions. The changes made are certainly nice, but they are reason enough to recommend the purchase to those who already - at the time - had the opportunity to play the two titles?
Blood Money
Initially released for PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2, Blood Money was greatly appreciated by audiences and critics, so much so that it also carves out a space in the Hitman HD Trilogy released in 2013. The story unfolds through the assignments carried out by Agent 47, which go to constitute the levels of the story mode, equipped with a rather wide setting that leaves a considerable freedom of maneuver to the player, who can aim both at a more cautious and reasoned approach, both to one more impetuous but equivalently lethal.
The scenarios are teeming with NPCs and weighing your moves carefully, meticulously studying the game map, is a fundamental requirement for the success of the contract, at least if you don't want to run into unpleasant inconveniences. Various parameters, at the end of each mission, evaluate our performance as the assassin, rewarding those who have managed to make clean kills without - possibly - having triggered any alarm. This score is then reflected on the money earned by our videogame alter ego, money that can then be spent on upgrades for our arsenal, allowing us to create guns worthy of the fame of 47.
The control remapping promised by IO Interactive isn't all that radical and some choices may turn your nose up at the surrender in the game, at the same time the defects of the original remain intact, with a physics not managed in the best way and some bugs involving the enemy AI, not very brilliant but always on the piece.
The sound sector thrives on ups and downs, with a dubbing that unequivocally feels the weight of the years, but this does not affect too much in the totality of the production thanks to the not excessive presence of dialogues. Graphically, despite the improvements, we are anchored to 2006 and we will have to make the callus to repeated character models and fluctuating environments in the overall level of detail.
Absolution
For obvious personal reasons, Absolution's glance is certainly better than the previous one, even if the finishing touches cannot hide the fact that it is a game of the past generation. Absolution does not disdain - a bit like the bald killer likes to do - a decisive change of identity and presents, in parallel to the preponderant stealth phases, also more action situations in which you do not have to skimp on the bullets exploded by the double guns of 47. The work benefits from these variations in the gameplay, while still offering a great variety of choices in the action mode that heavily affect the overall final score of the mission, with unnecessary victims that will penalize us, while we will be rewarded for original kills made similar to accidents.
The presence of numerous checkpoints for the levels allows the player to experiment, studying and learning the patterns of artificial intelligence, not always brilliant but still able to amaze in some cases. Unfortunately, the online mode of the original Contracts is missing at launch, which IO interactive was unable to implement due to server ownership problems, although a solution is being studied for the near future. At the same time one remains shooting phase not fully convincing, coupled to less pronounced sandbox mechanics than those of Blood Money, but still able to give satisfaction to those who are good at exploiting the surrounding environment in an original way.
Basically, the flash operation - announcement and release in a week - of the collection by IO interactive leaves some perplexity: there is a complete lack of additions of depth that can entice those who have already tried the two titles in due time to buy. Having brought everything in 4K and 60 FPS (granite), in addition to the graphic finishes and a filing in the controls, cannot justify an excessive price, at launch, for what is the content.
On the other side this may be the occasion, for those who have not yet played them, to recover these two chapters, smoothed to make the inexorable passage of time less clear. Novices will find themselves in front of a work with a good overall longevity, with the very essence of Blood Money and Absolution that tempts the player to try different solutions, providing very high replayability for those who want to try to have fun experiencing the limits of interactivity.
The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection contains two cornerstones of Agent 47's adventures, remastered for the occasion and still appreciable in their mechanics, especially for stealth fans who will find bread for their teeth. Evaluating the titles as such, the collection is highly recommended to those who have not yet had the opportunity to try the two games, who will find themselves in front of both a pure stealth with very accentuated sandbox mechanics, and a slightly more hybrid title that can satisfy even the less accustomed to the genre. On the other hand, however, the price of the collection at launch - for what is the content and the not so substantial finishes that have been made - is in our opinion excessive, especially for the lack of additional content compared to the originals.
► Hitman HD Enhanced Collection is an Action type game developed and published by IO Interactive for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 11/01/2019
