Hitman: Sniper Assassin Walks You Down the Aisle
Hitman 2 is officially set for release later this year, but eager players who dedicate themselves and pre-order the game now can gain immediate access to a special mode called Sniper Assassin. It’s a fun and challenging test that orders you to wreak havoc at an elegant wedding in the most creative ways you can think of, proving that whoever said your wedding day is the happiest day of your life surely never met Agent 47.
Sniper Assassin plants you on a cliff overlooking a grand estate with a trusty sniper rifle in hand. The objective is simple: eliminate the three main targets and a handful of bodyguards however you see fit. The catch is that you cannot move from your position and must accomplish everything through the scope of your rifle in less than fifteen minutes. There are dozens of tableaus and hidden secrets across the property, and exploring the mansion’s numerous rooms and scenes reveals countless ways to rain death. The wedding ceremony also plays out in real time, changing the position of the crowd and the environment to allow for different strategies.
For example, if you want to drop a chandelier on all three targets at the same time for an unfortunate, Phantom of the Opera-esque demise, you can wait patiently until the last moments of the wedding for them to gather together underneath it. If you want to shoot a speaker off the wall or drop a statue onto somebody’s head, you have the ability to time that out as well. The more basic option of picking targets off silently with simple headshots is, of course, a strategy you can take, but the dynamic map and endless possibilities encourage you to unleash your evil genius.
Currently, there is only one playable level in Sniper Assassin mode, but the various challenges and difficult nature give it a high level of replayability. Even neglecting the mission to mess with the blushing bride by destroying the wedding cake or blowing up the piano during the bridal waltz alone can entertain you for hours. You can take on the mission solo or invite a friend to play co-op online, but sadly there is no online matchmaking service at the moment. With months remaining until Hitman 2 arrives, Sniper Assassin is an extremely enjoyable and puzzling way to sink your teeth back into the series before the big launch.