While the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy has been a stand-out success across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC its transition from flat gaming to VR has been a tough ride. Exploring IO Interactive’s sandbox levels in virtual reality has its charm, graphics woes, lacking motion controls, and general bugginess have negatively impacted prior releases across PSVR, Steam, and recently the Meta Quest 3.
But fourth time’s the charm, so to speak, as with the latest Hitman: World of Assassination release on PSVR 2, IOI has seemingly cracked the VR formula – at least based on my experience in a roughly hour-and-a-half-long demo.
I’ve been looking for an excuse to get back into Hitman, this is it – it really could be the next best PSVR 2 game.
Getting to grips
My day started off smoothly. I was whisked away to Sapienza – a fictional Italian coastal town introduced in Hitman (2016) – with the goal of eliminating Silvio Caruso, Francesca De Santis, and the biological weapon they’ve created, with me taking out the human targets with an exploding golf ball and sniper rifle respectively.
Here I got to grips with developer IO Interactive’s ultimate take on what a VR Hitman should be. As expected you’re thrust into a first-person view, with this PSVR 2 interpretation featuring a suite of motion controls to replace the usual button prompts. Reloading a firearm is an involved process – you have to manually eject the empty cartridge, grab and insert a new one, then cock the pistol to be able to fire again – and to break into areas you aren’t allowed to enter you’ll need to pull out your lockpick, the stolen key card you swiped, or your trusty crowbar to physically crack open the barrier in your way.
The only time you don’t have to manually do Agent 47’s job for him is when you’re blending in or climbing.
IO Interactive told me that while some players say they want to stay in first-person the whole time and perform 47’s blending-in techniques for themselves, that doesn’t work for the gameplay as a whole.
Blending in is a time for players to catch their breath, take stock of their situation, and watch out for people hunting them or those who could rumble their disguise – a third-person view facilitates this in a way a first-person one can’t, and from playing the game I can see what they mean. Climbing in third-person also has the added benefit that it’s less nauseating for many than the first-person alternative.
However the team has found ways to use VR in other ways to make this PSVR 2 version more than a simple port, such as with dual-wielding. Obvious applications are that you can go into a mission with dual-wielded guns blazing and forgo Agent 47’s ‘Silent Assassin’ reputation, but others include new takedown techniques.
With a blunt object in each hand, you can knock out two guards simultaneously, making it easier to sneak around undetected and complete a mission with that important Silent Assassin, Suit Only rating.
A whole world to explore
Speaking of Hitman: World of Assassination as ‘just’ a PSVR 2 port, this is the (almost) full-on World of Assination package but in VR.
Some missions have been cut (at least for now) such as the bonus Patient Zero campaign (I say for now, as the IOI team gave me the impression it wanted to bring these levels to VR eventually), Hitman 2’s sniper missions, and some of the more elaborate Elusive Targets – like the recent The Splitter mission featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Otherwise, everything’s there. In Sapienza, I was delighted to see the Kraken easter egg was still present – even if I didn’t quite have the time or aim to solve it – and in Berlin, I took on The Drop Elusive Target mission starring real-world DJ Dimitri Vegas.
I also noticed that everything ran fairly smoothly. Even on Berlin’s crowded dance floor and at Miami’s packed car race event I didn’t experience any noticeable stuttering. Graphics-wise it’s a step down from what you’ll be used to on the PS5’s flat game, however, it didn’t look bad by any stretch – though I’ll want to test the game out further before passing a final judgment on the performance.
And returning to the Hitman PSVR 2 experience is something I can’t wait for. I love the Hitman trilogy and this PSVR 2 version has truly done it justice in a way I’m sure many players feel the other VR attempts haven’t quite managed to.
The full VR game releases on March 27 as a $9.99 / £8.99 add-on to the original PS5 game (which you’ll also need to own), and I’ll be one of the first in line.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
