Hitman: World of Assassination PS VR2 Review – Immersive and Intense

Hitman: World of Assassination PS VR2 Review

The Hitman series is renowned for its open-ended sandbox gameplay, where players are given a target and an environment filled with possibilities. The recent trilogy was widely praised for its deep level design and emphasis on player creativity. Now, the VR add-on takes immersion a step further, putting you directly in the shoes of Agent 47. But does this new perspective sharpen the experience or does it miss the mark?

World of Assassination unites the Hitman trilogy in one hub, allowing you to experience the saga from beginning to end in VR. As agent 47, you are entangled in a huge conspiracy involving the International Contract Agency, which leads to you learning about your complex past and growing as a character. While the story never truly gripped me, it provides the perfect premise for a globetrotting spy-thriller.

A Living, Breathing World

Each of the 22 unique locations is a living, breathing world. Characters peruse the environment, entangled in their own lives, which allows you to observe, plan and strike when and how you see fit. With the Instinct feature, you can locate your target and investigate your mission. While you may opt for a more conventional method with a silenced pistol in a remote area or a long-range shot with a sniper rifle, there are a range of options that allow you to eliminate your target in creative ways.

As you explore, you’ll come across Mission Stories, which are focused objectives that lead to unique assassinations. Each location has a range of possibilities to initiate, which encourages multiple playthroughs. The smaller objectives help with accessibility, as without these, it can quickly become overwhelming for new players. However, you can turn all guidance off to feel like a true contract killer, working out where and how to complete Mission Stories on your own.

Hitman: World of Assassination delivers a brilliant VR experience, placing tactile interactions at the forefront to heighten immersion. As with many great VR titles, IO Interactive ensures that intuitive mechanics make every action feel natural and precise. You can accurately throw objects to knock out or distract guards to seamlessly progress toward your objective. With over 100 weapons, the game becomes a true stealth playground, offering countless ways to execute your mission.

Reach Out and Touch It

The Sense controllers further anchor you in the world, enhancing every interaction. From the tension of throttling an enemy to the recoil of a gunshot, each vibration adds to the realism. IO Interactive’s attention to detail shines through in features like manual reloading, lockpicking, and the series’ signature disguise system, where you must physically remove and put on outfits. Even small actions, like pushing open doors to peek outside, reinforce the feeling of truly being Agent 47. These thoughtful mechanics make the game one of the most immersive VR stealth experiences to date.

As this is not the game’s first VR outing, the talented team has used feedback to ensure that this iteration surpasses previous efforts. One aspect where this is evident is with the ability to use both and/or either hand to multi-task. You can now drag an unconscious guard while aiming down the sight or even dual-wield to eliminate everyone in a slick, stylish manner. While the number of physical interactions and improvements are vast, there is still some awkwardness with the controls, which can hinder the experience. At times, the game can fail to recognize your actions, that can lead to cumbersome moments where you’re wrestling with the dead body of a guard and a cupboard.

Upon completing a mission, you are given a rating based on your playstyle. This takes numerous factors into account, such as detection, completion of challenges and much more. Everything is tracked, giving purpose to revisiting locations so that you can improve your score and complete other challenges. The lack of autosaves can be a little annoying and due to this, it’s vital to regularly save your progress. However, with lots of additional modes, it is easy to lose yourself in this iconic stealth adventure.

Visually Impressive

With its densely populated world, it’s surprising how good this looks. Leveraging the power of the PSVR 2, each area looks incredible and is brimming with life. Environments pack in detail, showcasing the culture of each unique location. Although there are the odd texture pop-ins and some junky interactions with NPCs, it’s easy to overlook these minor occurrences due to how impressive the overall presentation is.

The PS VR2 upgrade of Hitman: World of Assassination is an essential purchase. Each mission is packed with possibilities, allowing you to experiment with the array of tools to execute your mission. The implementation of VR elements helps to anchor you in the world and successfully positions you in the dress shoes of Agent 47. Even though there are some awkward interactions and texture pop-in, the wealth of content and immersive tactile gameplay more than make up for these shortcomings to deliver a deeply engaging and satisfying VR stealth experience.

***A PS VR2 code provided by the publisher for review***