So far this season, Hitman has taken us to the most exotic places. From the peaceful town of Sapienza to the luxurious Himmapan hotel resort in Bangkok, you might think being a hitman is a paid vacation of sorts. Well it’s not, and nothing proves that more than Episode 5, which is set in some dirty farm in Colorado.
This farm was set up to be a training ground for a private militia, now with FOUR targets to assassinate instead of two, the likes of whom are Sean Rose, Maya Parvati, Ezra Berg and Penelope Graves. You might think this would make the mission longer than it needs to be, but if you use your opportunities wisely, it’ll only make your experience easier and more fun.
First thing I noticed upon booting this level up is how different it is from the previous missions: it’s smaller, there are no civilians, and the only way to move freely throughout the farm is by equipping a disguise as soon as you can. Unlike before, this is not a place where Agent 47 can come off as a tourist.
There are three key areas on this map: the greenhouse, the barn, and the house. Even though the majority of the militia soldiers are on the same team, only elite soldiers are allowed in the house because it serves as the central hub and it has a few little secrets of its own. The barn is used as the training grounds, equipped with target practice, a simulated battering ram, a limo with crash dummies, and a giant pit of acid for some reason (but hey, whatever keeps your kills interesting).
I find the small size and tight spacing of this level to be relieving. Every level before this one I have always felt more overwhelmed at the sheer vastness of space and overabundance of people. I know that’s what most Hitman fans like about the series, but it’s nice to take a break from all the hectic missions. Not to say Colorado isn’t hectic, not by much anyway. The tight spaces make it easy for certain enemies to recognize your faulty disguise, so I found myself jogging fast all throughout.
The opportunities in this mission continue to give players creative and exciting ways to take out their targets, one of which can be use to kill two birds with one stone (literally, but replacing the birds with humans and the stone with a battering ram). I disguised myself as a soldier trainee in a simulated run of a heist. The battering ram would hit the limousine in the barn, I would have to shoot the dummies in the limo, and steal the briefcase inside. After the simulation, I turned the safety off of the ram (which allowed the ram to not go off with people in front of it), and then I turned the ram off with two targets standing in front of it. Hilarity ensued, mainly because the two soldiers they were talking two were totally oblivious of the fact that I turned on the ram because I was standing next to the button.
Colorado doesn’t just differentiate itself in design and opportunities, but story as well. This is the second mission since the prologue that features an in-game cutscene revealing more answers and questions about the mystery of the man we’ve been seeing in the scenes that play after each mission.
Final Reaction
Episode 5 of Hitman is definitely the most unique mission of the bunch so far. The tight level design adds a new approach to maneuvering and taking out targets, and the new opportunities only make them more exciting as well. Also, it serves as a catalyst for the story to progress even further than it has in the past 3 episodes. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this one, especially with Season 1 ending after Episode 6.
Rating: 5/5 Atoms
Hitman: Episode 5 was reviewed using a retail code provided by Square Enix.
from Nerd Reactor
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