Check out our review of Hitman GO.
While the Io Interactive team works quietly on a Hitman: Absolution follow-up, the Square Enix Montreal team has been busy with a very different take on the series. Hitman GO, freshly announced on the official Hitman website, is a turn-based strategy game that adapts the basic tropes of the stealth series into a new format for a smartphone/tablet release. As you can see in the image above – the sole screenshot released thus far – there appears to be a strong board game influence in the way that paths are laid out, and characters look like plastic game pieces.
There aren’t many details at the moment on how Hitman GO works. Here’s how the update from Square Enix Montreal describes it: “You will strategically navigate fixed spaces on a grid to avoid enemies and take out your target or infiltrate well-guarded locations. You really have to think about each move and all the Hitman tools of the trade you would expect are included; disguises, distractions, sniper rifles and even 47’s iconic Silverballers.”
The game was developed by a small team, and it won’t interfere at all with plans for the next console/PC Hitman game (especially since different studios are working on each). There’s no release date for Hitman GO, but the announcement notes that it is “almost ready for launch.” There may be more soon, too. The post teases something else from Square Enix Montreal that “fits perfectly within the Hitman fantasy.”
Hitman: Absolution was a killer game (pun definitely intended), and it’s good to see that we won’t have to wait multiple years before we hear another peep from the series.
