“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.”
- Frank Lloyd Wright
The
Hitman Series is a weird one. The first game came out over a decade
ago, and there’s been four sequels since, all with interchangeable
subtitles like “Absolution”, “Blood Money”, and “Silent Assassin” that
conjure up a mind’s eye view of generic power fantasy blech.
In
reality Hitman games are pretty heady - or at least want to be. From
all kinds of religious subtext and orchestral arrangements, to trippy
content and no-win plot scenarios, Hitman’s failing seems to be one of
half measure. It can’t be the post-modern, dour, slow-burn thriller like
the movie “Drive” is, and it doesn’t want to be the ballsy over-the-top
campy game like “Max Payne” either. As a result the games live
somewhere in the middle; truly bizarre titles with a variety of
interesting - if not completely compelling, narrative ideas.
I
bring this all up because despite what you may think, it has quite a
bit to do with Hitman: Go, a simple, addicting, challenging, elegant,
board game recently released for tablets.
First
impressions are interesting. Without a tutorial, welcome message, or
blinking cursor, Hitman: Go settles on its splash screen with quiet
confidence. Upon hitting “Go” and selecting a board, the design will
strike you immediately.
Imagine
if Frank Lloyd Wright designed a board game where everything looks
modern, retro, and minimalist all at the same time - it’s like you’re
exploring a scale model of a house he was intending to build. It’s wild.
It's
this presentation that solidifies the fact the folks making the Hitman
games are brilliant cats. This *is* a board game first, and a videogame
second, and the details are sublime.
Guards
all appear connected to some underlying mechanical device that moves
them across the board on a track. Rocks you pick up for distractions are
buttons you stand on to activate. Moving your character results insults
in a satisfying click and clunk like you’re moving a high quality chess
piece.
Video
game concessions are of course made - guards will turn around on their
own with a little black question mark above their head, and hiding in
bushes completely hides your character from view - all largely
unrealistic things that couldn’t happen in a board game. But at one
point toward the end of a tricky level, “The Ave Maria” kicked in and I
was hooked by this game's....well...everything.
But
what about the game part? Well, like the best board games, playing is
simple in theory, but wonderfully complex in action. Each level presents
a board, guards, a set few paths you can traverse, a goal, and often
times a bonus objective like a suitcase.
Getting
around guards lethally or non-lethally requires thinking two or three
steps ahead, with many levels giving bonus points for minimizing your
moves. The key to all this is interrupting the movement patterns of the
people in your way. If you can find a way to get a single step ahead of
them via backtracking, throwing a rock, or simply taking an alternate
path, you’ll often break the level right open and be able to progress to
the end - and feel instantly compelled to go back and do it again for
an optimal score.
Completing
a level feels quite a lot like solving one of those tinker-toy puzzles
where you have to twist the interlocking bolts in just the right way to
separate them and feel like a super genius. You naturally do it again
and again so you can perfect it.
It’s
quite soothing, and playing through a level or two of Hitman: Go is a
wonderful stress reliever from a long A/V heavy work day, and a nice way
to get your brain cranking in the morning on the train commute in
without bombarding your eyes with bright colors and fast paced actions.
It’s the kind of game that pairs well with a cup of coffee and bemused
existential ponderment.
The word that enters my mind when I close my eyes and think of Hitman: Go, is elegance - so much so that I've chosen to write this review in the more elegant of fonts, courier.
This game's choices in music, art and music direction, and gameplay and menu design show remarkable class and maturity. It’s wonderful that a game on a platform not particularly well known for its mature experiences, has such an unassailable identity - so much so that attempting to describe it feels futile - the experience is in seeing it and playing it and half-smirking the whole way through.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be struck by the screenshots and check this game out for yourself and find yourself happily engaged in the first Hitman game that truly feels at home.
-Rating-
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