Hitman Episode 5: Colorado – Review

In the latest instalment of Hitman, IO Interactive could have simply stuck with what they know. For the best part of the year, the studio has successfully re awakened their sandbox stealth game, polishing up the gameplay and opening up the scope of the levels.Episode 5, set in rural Colorado, could have offered standard Hitman : infiltrate public place, find disguise, kill two targets, exit mission, and that would have been fine. But instead, IO have been brave enough to throw a few changes into Agent 47’s trip to the US of A. By nudging the core Hitman experience towards more full on stealth, and advancing the overarching plot threads, Episode5 stands as a strong contender for best in the series.

In the mission “Freedom Fighters”, 47 is tasked by the ICA to infiltrate a terrorist training ground and eliminate four key members, whilst also unearthing their links to the enigmatic “Shadow Client”. It’s a dangerous task in a dangerous location. The muddy farmyard compound is vast, a tumbledown selection of buildings, alone in the middle of a drab, grey mountain wilderness. Whilst not the prettiest of Hitman locations, (the overriding colours are brown and grey), it offers up a lot in the way of variety. It’s a huge map with lots of twisting outside areas (a old orchard, an explosives range) snaking their way around several huge, and complex, buildings. The main farmhouse is a particular joy to explore, several floors of dilapidated American architecture converted into a server hub. The classic red barn is also a cool location, that houses a shooting range and manoeuvres training ground for the militia soldiers. It’s another nicely expansive and detailed location to add to the collection, but it never quite hits the quality of level design displayed in series standout Sapienza.

Instead of newly intricate levels, Episode 5 offers a simple way to freshen up the Hitman experience, which is made clear when you first hop that barbed wire fence. In a complete contrast to the corridors of the Himmapan Hotel or the beaches of Sapienza, the entire map is a hostile, enemy patrolled area. There are no true safe zones to hide in, which means that stealth is the key here. The process of carefully infiltrating a hostile compound reminded me of the classic Hitman mission “Rendezvous in Rotterdam”, which tasked 47 with taking out the leader of a vicious biker gang. Along with the new remixed soundtrack, Episode 5 created the tense clandestine atmosphere of a political thriller, and for once, made me feel vulnerable as the usually in control contract killer. It’s a nice change of pace and tone,  swapping fiddling with disguises for slipping through the shadows. It’s a testament to the games’ design that the mechanics work well enough to incorporate both styles of play.

And play you will, as the Challenges and Unique Assassinations are back in full force. Carrying on from the darkly amusing kills of Bangkok, Colorado offers up loads of different ways to make your targets go splat. You are after four key members of the militia, each with their own personalities, patrol routes, and, if everything goes to plan, their own unique demises. It’s in this area that Episode 5 truly delivers, offering up some of the most creative and challenging methods since Episode 2. Each one consists of several appropriately difficult steps, and, as usual, it’s a joy to watch a violent plan come together, especially when it involves an exploding watch battery, a pit of slurry, or a stolen scarecrow costume. Fans of the series thus far won’t be disappointed with what they can pull of in this new playground of destruction, as it’s definitely the hardest one yet.

Episode 5 also pushes the overarching story of “The Shadow Client”, drip fed to us since March, into the forefront. A final post kill objective and climatic cutscene not only tie up loose ends from past episodes, but also from past Hitman games. If you are a long time fan of the series (like me) then you may let out a little gasp of comprehension when you finally complete that last, brilliant objective. As usual, the new map means reams of new content, with a large amount of Escalation Contracts already available, and I’m sure many exciting Contracts will be created by the player base before too long.

It’s not all smooth sailing however. Possibly due to the boring colour palette, some of the textures of Episode 5 are often a very low resolution. With the move into pure stealth gameplay, cracks often begin to show in the enemy AI. Countless times I was unfairly spotted from a distance and immediately gunned down, or my thrown objects did little to distract any of the tightly patrolling guards. When there is an ever present danger of being seen, the controls for flipping between cover and clambering through windows can often feel wonky and imprecise. The now infamous “Accent” debacle (everyone living in Marrakesh is American, are they?) has been somewhat subdued by the American setting, but it can still be odd at times. I get that the militia hires people from all over the world, but a crazy amount of them seem to be the same English guy.