‘Hitman: Sniper’ gets plenty of zombies — human and otherwise — in free update

By Gabe Gurwin June 2, 2016

Hitman: Sniper - Death Valley Challenge Mode Launch Trailer

March’s Hitman reboot and its ongoing episodic releases may have gotten Agent 47 the most attention this year, but Square Enix is hoping you haven’t forgotten about last year’s mobile shooter, Hitman: Sniper. If it has been a while since you’ve opened the app, the new “Death Valley” update should get you back in the headshotting spirit — only this time, you’re shooting zombies.

“Set in an abandoned military base, players will have to defend lone survivor Ben (named after the winner of the PAX East 2016 tournament) from a swarming horde of undead,” Square Enix says in the official announcement.

The launch trailer is appropriately cheesy, with a goofy movie narrator explaining that you’ll die “every time” — you never really win the zombie against zombies. It’s not actually you who will be dying, though, but the aforementioned Ben Randomoff as “random car guy.”

He has not a care in the world but fixing his broken down automobile, and seems completely oblivious to the dozens of zombies moving in to eat his brains. These include not only zombies and “bigger zombies,” but also “monkey zombies.” This isn’t the first time a game has given us undead primates: Call of Duty: Black Ops II featured the terrifying creatures in 2012.

While the update is free, you’ll also be able to spend some real cash if you want to get the Jaeger sniper rifle seen in this year’s PC and console Hitman. Its blue-gray finish is certainly enticing, but we suggest you try out the free guns, first.

It’s content might be completely different from anything the Hitman series has offered to date, but the level of cheese still feels like a perfect fit for the series. After all, you can’t take these games seriously, nor should you try, when they let you kill a target with an explosive golf ball.

Hitman: Sniper‘s “Death Valley” update is now available on iOS, with an Android release to follow shortly.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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