The game improves upon the great formula from the previous HITMAN game by adding in some nice neat features, such as NPCs being able to see you in the mirror, NPCs treating you as a guard, NPCs noticing missing guards, and other small changes.
While these are good additions, these feel like the only additions to the game. When HITMAN first launched, they were intent on providing season content and episodes. That is very much what HITMAN 2 feels like. A second season of the previous game. This is what an expansion to the first game should have been, not a £45 standalone sequel.

On top of this, the new mission designs are not nearly as involved or interesting as the previous game's. Much of the challenging aspect of the previous game no longer exists. It's very very easy to get Silent Assassin on every single one of the new levels.

The game also adds the idea of "Mission Stories" - handheld trips through assassinations. It even marks out key points in your route through it - and this is with the information being "minimal". These "Mission Stories" are independent of the actual end goal, and so if you end up at the same conclusion as one of these stories but took a different path, you do not get credit for the story. I'm not one to really care, but since unlocks are locked behind XP, and Mission Stories are XP, it's actually incredibly annoying.

The game is full of bugs on launch. Often times loading from a save will just hang indefinitely. The foliage concealment mechanics cause diaglogue loops in NPCs, and sometimes causing them to completely bug out and just become stuck. NPCs will just hover above objects randomly (sometimes happened in the previous game too). Also experienced an issue where a target came back to life after I had killed him. Comical but not a sign of a £45 game.

The audio on the game is maybe one of the most underwhelming parts. The new audio is massively lacking, and very sparse, and the majority of the tracks are taken from the previous game. When you have a series with such an iconic soundtrack, by such an iconic composer, and you mess it up once, it's bad, but twice in a row, and only getting worse? Again, not a £45 game.

Finally, the game does not look good. There appears to be some strange filter removing colour from the game. This becomes very obvious when playing the legacy levels. The bloom levels are also ridiculously high, and frequently blinding. This looks very unpleasant visually.

I cannot recommend this game at any price point above £20 for all the content ("Gold Edition").

The game improves upon the great formula from the previous HITMAN game by adding in some nice neat features, such as NPCs being able to see you in the mirror, NPCs treating you as a guard, NPCs noticing missing guards, and other small changes. While these are good additions, these feel like the only additions to the game. When HITMAN first launched, they were intent on providing season content and episodes. That is very much what HITMAN 2 feels like. A second season of the previous game. This is what an expansion to the first game should have been, not a £45 standalone sequel. On top of this, the new mission designs are not nearly as involved or interesting as the previous game's. Much of the challenging aspect of the previous game no longer exists. It's very very easy to get Silent Assassin on every single one of the new levels. The game also adds the idea of "Mission Stories" - handheld trips through assassinations. It even marks out key points in your route through it - and this is with the information being "minimal". These "Mission Stories" are independent of the actual end goal, and so if you end up at the same conclusion as one of these stories but took a different path, you do not get credit for the story. I'm not one to really care, but since unlocks are locked behind XP, and Mission Stories are XP, it's actually incredibly annoying. The game is full of bugs on launch. Often times loading from a save will just hang indefinitely. The foliage concealment mechanics cause diaglogue loops in NPCs, and sometimes causing them to completely bug out and just become stuck. NPCs will just hover above objects randomly (sometimes happened in the previous game too). Also experienced an issue where a target came back to life after I had killed him. Comical but not a sign of a £45 game. The audio on the game is maybe one of the most underwhelming parts. The new audio is massively lacking, and very sparse, and the majority of the tracks are taken from the previous game. When you have a series with such an iconic soundtrack, by such an iconic composer, and you mess it up once, it's bad, but twice in a row, and only getting worse? Again, not a £45 game. Finally, the game does not look good. There appears to be some strange filter removing colour from the game. This becomes very obvious when playing the legacy levels. The bloom levels are also ridiculously high, and frequently blinding. This looks very unpleasant visually. I cannot recommend this game at any price point above £20 for all the content ("Gold Edition").