With the release of Hitman 3, the gaming landscape is experiencing another entry in this long-running series. Unfortunately, the franchise still hasn’t reached the level of popularity others have despite its staying power and dedicated fanbase. It’s clear that the series as a whole is underrated, although there are aspects that its fans and the developers overstate a bit too much.
While certain points are definitely quality material, these are promoted in such a way that one would think they’re wholly original when that’s not the case. Due to this, the overrated and underrated aspects of the series might just be split, and it’s worth checking out what these points are.
10 Overrated: The Execution Of The Weapons
Across the breadth of the Hitman games, there have been some really useless weapons, especially those to be used in straight-up shootouts. And yet the series likes to tout how these can be used in a number of ways — which really isn’t the case.
Shootouts are boring since they essentially just entail spamming lead into a pile of enemies who tend to drop like flies. The execution of both long and short-ranged guns is relatively the same, with nothing to distinguish one firearm from another.
9 Underrated: Stealth Aspects
It’s a shame how the Hitman series delivers massive stealth games only to play second fiddle in this regard to other franchises like Metal Gear and even Splinter Cell. Its execution of stealth deserves more credit due to the many ways this can be done.
Gamers can choose to enter locations using secret entrances or steal access cards to do so. Then there’s the fact that you can infiltrate areas by listening in on conversations and orchestrate events to make the target come to you or reach the target through intel.
8 Overrated: Agent 47’s Disguises
Of course, disguising oneself as pretty much anyone to access areas is a staple of the Hitman series. However, this has become too much of an indulgence in the “World of Assassination” trilogy, where the games have become rather lazy by forcing the player to find multiple disguises.
This aspect dominates trailers and highlight reels, making it a point the developers have milked in order to sell the games to fans. While it’s not a bad gameplay move by any means, it’s still not as big a deal as it’s made out to be.
7 Underrated: The Thematic Quality Of The Games
Those who have played through the best levels in Hitman are aware of how these tend to range in themes. Sadly, the series has been given the tag of being a spy game when it’s a lot more, as areas are designed to portray a particular backdrop.
There are horror-driven missions along with those that have a lighter theme. At times, the story takes more focus, and levels are executed with quests that need to be completed without interfering with the plot. This kind of quality is overlooked in the series, which is a shame since it really is a multifaceted franchise.
6 Overrated: The Threat Of The Antagonists
A long-standing issue with the series is how it introduces new villains. Ultimately the baddies are put away quite easily, turning all the hype about them meaningless.
Other times, the antagonists are set up in such a way that they seem like a real force, only for them to either become 47’s ally or their threat to just be phased out. The series tries to make these villains look legit, but that’s really not the case.
5 Underrated: The Way It’s Evolved With The Open-World Aspect
A lot of praise is given to games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for being creative with elements of RPG and their incorporation into the open-world stealth format. Yet the Hitman games have done just that without much notice, all the while creating open-worlds that can be used to carry out assassinations.
The franchise has truly evolved with the times, as gamers are now keen on sandbox-style titles. To this end, the Hitman series offers multiple times the map size from earlier games and given a lot more freedom to where players can go within gameplay.
4 Overrated: 47’s Stereotypical Characterization
The developers’ push toward promoting 47 as a badass has worked, but it’s become so excessive that fans have created memes about the character and his tendency to be stereotypical in the ways of an assassin spy. After all, 47 hasn’t really displayed much character development for years.
More so than the games, though, 47’s characterization has become overrated due to the film adaptations turning him into a no-personality killing machine. Due to this, his stoic nature has become so-so now that his overtly violent side has been exposed.
3 Underrated: The Theme Of Honor
The popular notion is that the Hitman games don’t have much of a story to follow and are geared towards delivering assassination missions as its true focus. It’s too bad that the plot is so underrated, as there’s a genuine theme of honor lying underneath.
It escapes most people’s notice that the stories of the games tackle issues like ethical boundaries, the impact of criminal organizations, and how even an assassin like 47 has a moral code. A deeper look into the series will uncover a lot of nuances that aren’t clear at first sight.
2 Overrated: Graphics
The release of 2016’s Hitman had a clear focus on the updated graphics, with several teasers focusing entirely on 47’s facial model and not much reveal of the gameplay. The graphics have certainly gotten better, but they still aren’t up to the mark of other games like God of War and The Last of Us.
In fact, graphics tend to be forgotten by fans once gameplay begins, as the in-game effects don’t really have the same impact as cutscenes. The developers made the mistake of thinking graphics were a big deal by making Hitman 2 cutscenes entirely out of still images, which hurt the eventual storyline as the presentation wasn’t immersive at all.
1 Underrated: The Replay Value
While there are always things fans wish for in future games, the question of better replay value doesn’t really come up. That’s because every mission in each entry is loaded with so much material that playing through again multiple times is a given.
It’s a shame this point doesn’t come up when a general discussion of games with best replay value comes up, which Hitman fans will find totally unfair since these titles never leave one feeling unsatisfied.
