Hitman for Xbox One, PS4 will Feature Agent 47 At His Prime, Massive Open-Ended Levels

IO Interactive has just published an open letter to all hitman fans to let you know that they're hard at work on the next Hitman game. They're working on it for Xbox One, PS4 and PC and they claim it's going to be the pinnacle of the series. How's that? By showing protagonist Agent 47 at the prime of his career and by offering massive, open-ended levels. This will be much of a sandbox game that offers areas larger than ever before in the series. 

This will be the good old days- Agent 47 will be in the ICA and have his long-term handler Diana Burnwood helping him out on missions that span the entire globe. While many people (this author included) loved Absolution for its simplicity, which allowed you to concentrate on the action rather than the planning, many long-time fans complained that it lacked the open-ended feel of past games. They've taken that into consideration and will be combining what they've learned across all the titles into the best possible package. 

"The game concentrates on the core Hitman fantasy of using a wide range of tools to take out a diverse group of targets across expansive, exotic locations around the world," they say in the letter. "We are building this game on the backbone of the Glacier 2 engine, using the best parts and what we have learnt through Hitman: Absolution and drawing inspiration from past titles like Contracts and Blood Money to fulfil the core Hitman fantasy. That means we're packing in an extreme level of detail on the largest levels we have ever built for a Hitman game. We've adopted an open, non-linear level design approach to the game, ensuring the game will play out across huge, checkpoint-free, sandbox levels. Our aim is to create living, breathing and believable levels which will allow gamers to play around with the AI to create those unique moments every fan of the Hitman franchise loves."

Another bit of realism that's been added back in is the removal of Agent 47's so-called "magic pockets". "You will also be glad to hear that we have removed 47's magic pockets. We believe that's all we need to say about that subject." This means no more hording dozens of weapons on your body- if you use a sniper rifle to kill someone you better be prepared to stash it somewhere, because you aren't going to exactly blend into a crowd carrying one. 

One aspect of Absolution that will returrn is Contracts mode. That mode let you build your own challenges each level and share them with friends or the world at large and that will return, taking advantage of the new, larger levels. 

Read the full open letter here and get excited- our next visit from ol' baldy should be an epic one.