Before Hitman Absolution I pretty much loved every Hitman game ever made, but I was skeptical when Square Enix Montreal made a turned based puzzler out of the franchise, and then they put it on mobile devices. Still somehow this game gets to the core of what Hitman is all about. Finding a way to take out your target.
This game doesn’t have a story it has a series of boards, and Agent 47 is now a piece on that board. You need to move him from one location to another without getting killed. It is easier said than done, and a few of the boards are super aggravating. Still 47, a plastic piece or not, is up to the task.
The game is on its surface is very simple. You move 47 one space, and then the computer moves all its pieces based on their type. Blue Guard pieces don’t move, but always stay looking forward; Yellow Guard pieces move one space in a straight line until they hit a wall or something and then turn around; Green Guard pieces just spin every turn, and the Grays are back to back, so you have to stay to the side of them.
Now you will get tools to help take out these guards, and they are placed all over the game board. If it is gun it lets you shoot to a specific location, cans and rocks let you make noise one space away from you to attract the guards to that location, and costumes that disguise you as one of the guard types. Though once you land on a space with an object on it you have to use it right away, so timing is everything.
What I love about this game is that it understands what makes the Hitman games great. Problem solving. In the main line games it is how to sneak around to get that prefect kill, but in this game it is how to move your piece properly. It is pretty much the same thing, just it is a very distilled experience with Hitman Go. Now with Go there is pretty much one right way to do things, but in the big budget games there are lots of ways (in the good ones anyway). Still, it feels the same and that is what matters.
This game is always on sale for like a buck, and that is more than reasonable for what you get. If you love the Hitman franchise like I do, or you just want a mobile game that makes you think and isn’t always asking for your credit card, Hitman Go is a must own. For everyone else, you should get it anyway because it is a great game.