About

Hitman is a stealth combat video game series centered around the protagonist Agent 47, a cloned assassin who sells his services to the highest bidder. The games are known for allowing the player to use a variety of assassination techniques and stealth mechanics to complete missions. On January 20th, 2021, Hitman 3, the latest installment in the series, was released.

Gameplay

In most games in the series, players advance through levels in a third-person perspective by eliminating specified targets in a variety of ways. The game provides players with increased rewards for successfully using stealth mechanics and avoiding unnecessary combat. Players can use disguises to blend in with crowds but must keep track of their "tension meter" and hide any dead bodies to prevent being discovered.

History

On November 19th, 2000, IO Interactive released Hitman: Codename 47. Published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows operating systems, the character plays the role of cloned assassin Agent 47 who escapes from a mental institution and is sent on various missions to eliminate a team responsible for his cloning project (shown below, left). On October 1st, 2002, IO Interactive released the sequel Hitman 2: Silent Assassin for Windows, PlayStation, Xbox and Gamecube systems, featuring the return of Agent 47 who returns to a life as a hitman after his mentor Father Vittorio is kidnapped by mobsters (shown below, right).

On April 20th, 2004, Hitman: Contracts was released for Windows, PlayStation and Xbox systems, in which Agent 47 relives previous memories after being shot on a mission in Paris, France (shown below, left). In May 2006, Himan: Blood Money was released for Windows, PlayStation and Xbox, featuring new game mechanics that penalize the player for noise and indiscriminate killing (shown below, right).

In 2012, the games Hitman: Sniper Challenge, featuring sniper-only levels, and Hitman: Absolution (shown below, left) were released. On April 17th, 2014, the mobile game Hitman Go was released for iOS devices, followed by an Android version in June. On June 4th, 2015, a second mobile game Hitman: Sniper was released for iOS and Android devices.

Hitman (2016)

On March 11th, 2016, the first episode of Hitman, the first installment within the soft reboot World of Assassination trilogy was published^[11] by Square Enix for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems (shown below, right). The episode contained the prologue and the first episode set in Paris, with additional content released each month. On October 31st, 2016, the fifth and final episode of the game was released.

Hitman 2 (2018)

On November 13th, 2018, Hitman 2, the second installment within the World of Assassination trilogy was released^[12] for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Unlike Hitman (2016), all missions were available immediately upon release.

Hitman 3 (2021)

On January 21st, 2021, Hitman 3 (stylized as Hitman III), the third installment within the World of Assassination trilogy was released^[13] for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Stadia.

Reception

The series received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. Hitman: Codename 47,^[14] Hitman 2: Silent Assassin,^[15] Hitman: Contracts^[16] and Hitman: Blood Money^[17] maintain a 73, 87, 74 and 82 critic score and 7.5, 8.2, 7.7 and 8.8 user scores on Metacritic, respectively.

Hitman Absolution^[18] received an average 79 critic score and 7.1 user score, while the PC versions of Hitman (2016)^[19] and Hitman 2 (2018)^[20] maintain 83 and 82 critic scores and 7.5 and 7.4 user scores, respectively. The PlayStation 5 version of Hitman 3 received an average 87 critic score on Metacritic.^[21]

Online Presence

On April 8th, 2008, the Hitman Wiki^[4] was created, which gathered upwards of 980 pages related to the video game series over the next eight years. On April 2nd, 2010, Redditor redrumspecials launched the /r/Hitman^[3] subreddit for discussions about the video game series. On November 28th, 2012, YouTuber Videogamedunkey uploaded gameplay footage of Hitman: Absolution, gaining over 1.4 million views and 2,200 comments in the next four years (shown below, left). On March 8th, 2016, the RealmPictures YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Real Life Hitman," in which players dictate commands to a person in real-time in a live action version of a Hitman mission (shown below, right). In the first two weeks, the video gathered upwards of 1.5 million views and 2,500 comments.

Controversies

Feminist Frequency Episode

On June 16th, 2014, the web series Feminist Frequency published an episode titled "Women as Background Decoration: Part 1," which criticized violent video games for encouraging players to "treat female bodies as things to be acted upon" and that "players are meant to derive a perverse pleasure from desecrating the bodies of unsuspecting female characters" while showing footage of female NPCs being killed and dragged in Hitman: Absolution (shown below).

The episode was widely criticized for misrepresenting the game, with many noting that players are penalized for killing female NPCs that are not the target of an assassination mission. On September 29th, 2014, YouTuber Toalbiscuit posted a TwitLonger^[2] blog post commenting on those who "inject gender politics into articles about games," which argued that Feminist Frequency "factually misrepresents games like Hitman."

Related Memes

Hitman 2 Briefcase Bug

On November 9th, 2018, the video game Hitman 2 was released in the United States to those who pre-ordered the game's special edition.^[5]

Three days later, on November 12th, Redditor^[6] venomousbeetle posted a video of a in-game glitch, which shows the playable character throwing a briefcase that can follow targets around corners. The post received more than 73,000 points (94% upvoted) and 1,000 comments in two days (shown below).

That day, Twitter ^[7] user @CreamyElephant tweeted the video and added more examples of the glitch. The user's second post received more than 1,800 retweets and 4,400 likes in two days (shown below).

Several media outlets covered the glitch, including Kotaku, ^[8] PC Gamer,^[9] The Daily Dot ^[10] and more.

Search Interest

External References