Having been underwhelmed by Hitman‘s last episode, Marrakesh, my motivation to play Episode 4: Bangkok was at an all-time low. This time, the two targets up for killing are famed rock star Jordan Cross, and his family lawyer Ken Morgan. Cross was suspected of murdering an actress one year ago, but was acquitted. Now, her family has enlisted the ICA to take him, and the family lawyer, down.
By doing this, Agent 47 checks in to the Himmapan luxury hotel resort in Bangkok, where Cross is recording his band’s next album with his lawyer present. It’s also the day of his 27th birthday, and we all know what happens to rock stars at THAT age!
For starters, the setting to this level is beautiful, with warm tones- inside and out- thanks to the sunset. It may not be Sapienza, but it’s a huge step up from Marrakesh. Once again, however, the immersion is broken once the NPC’s start talking. You are greeted by Thai hotel employees with accents ranging from American to British. Consider it a nitpick of mine, but is it too much to ask for some accurate voice acting? Thankfully, it’s easy to ignore.
When it comes to assassination opportunities, Bangkok has some of the most fun and satisfying methods in this episodic series, so far. Maybe it’s because I was more patient with this level than Marrakesh, but I received some massive enjoyment out of killing these targets! By using room service, I stole an employee’s uniform after he tried to make my bed, then I found out I could kill Cross by simply poisoning his birthday cake. I sloppily managed to steal a chef outfit (after shortly being compromised by a cook in the storage closet) to get Cross’s cake-topper to put on his cake. After looking some time for some rat poison, I poisoned the cake right after I set the cake-topper.
Of course, the rat poison only makes the target nauseous, so while he was hurling, I snapped the poor guy’s neck. My only wish is that the kills, themselves, would have more variety; there were so many times where I choked a target out because it was the most subtle. Oh well, next time I’ll just use a silenced bullet.
Then comes the blood-sucking lawyer, Ken Morgan, who wants to buy an old tuk-tuk (motorized vehicle) as a souvenir for an obscene amount of money; all the owner has to do is fix the engine. After I gave him a helping hand with a wrench, he went over to the lawyer, giving me enough time to poke a hole in the gas tank right next to it causing a leak. When Morgan got inside to start the engine, the flames hit the gasoline, and boom went the dynamite!
At the end of every episode, a cut-scene ensues. The first few after the prologue haven’t been engaging to me in the slightest, but Episode 4‘s did.
Final Reaction
I am extremely pleased to report that Hitman Episode 4 is a major improvement over the previous one. There are a few minor flaws here and there, especially with the voice acting (I doubt that problem is ever going to go away) but fans will be more than pleased with what the Himmapan hotel has to offer.
Rating: 4/5 Atoms
*Hitman Episode 4 was reviewed using a retail download code provided by by Square Enix.
from Nerd Reactor
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