Much has been said about Hitman's unorthodox episodic release schedule, but we reckon that – the aforementioned aside – the game's really shaping up great. We were lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes demo of the assassination sim's Paris stage late last year, and we think that franchise fans are going to be really happy with the reboot – assuming that you can get beyond the roll-out model.
Either way, Square Enix has confirmed that the title's beta will be launching first on the PlayStation 4 next week, with those who pre-order either the Intro Pack or Full Experience from the PlayStation Store guaranteed access from 12th February. If you're getting the physical Collector's Edition, then you'll be eligible as well. Remember, the standard retail release won't arrive until later in the year. Keeping up?
There's more good news for PS4 players in the form of six exclusive contracts. These – dubbed The Sarejevo Six – will see you assassinating former members of a paramilitary unit called CICADA, and there'll be one in each location. This means that the first bonus contract will be available alongside the main game on 11th March, with the rest being rolled out alongside the extra locations.
Trying to explain this game's launch model is a legitimate nightmare, so we apologise if you're a bit confused; we rarely pass the buck, but this is Square Enix's fault. One final easy thing to explain is that all pre-orders will come with the Blood Money Requiem pack, which bundles a chrome weapon, white suit, and explosive rubber duck. How could you possibly resist?
[source blog.us.playstation.com, via blog.eu.playstation.com]
Comments 9
The problem is like with star wars Battlefront and all telltales games; the whole game will be available at a discounted price before all the content is released, why would anyone want to pay full cost up front. I still want it at some point obviously.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Yeah, agreed.
I will pass on games released in episodes. There is the issue of continuity and i want the game on a disc. I waited for the complete RE Revelations 2 on disc, ps3, and i am glad i did. Ps4 titles can have huge file sizes that i do not want the long download times with my slow internet speed.
Hitman may not have continuity issues as each hit may basically be a seperate story unlike games like Life Is Strange which also suffered from long times between release dates.
I don't even think I know how to buy this game so I'll probably skip the beta and possibly the game, well until they just release the whole thing
You can stick the exclusive content, such a sleazy practice
By not playing the beta or purchasing the title early, your showing Square Enix that you do not support this copy and paste mentality of episodic releases.
If you want to buy it, wait until everything has been released in some kind of single release retail / digital edition.
I'll just wait until the full game is released...maybe a game of the year edition down the road?
I want to be hyped but the stupid release schedule is preventing that from happening. Typical dumba$$ SquareEnix messing up the releases of its only franchises worth a damn, they are 3-for-3. Rise of the Tomb Raider's timed-exclusivity crap, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's 'Augment Your Pre-order' bullcrap and this. There's also the fact Sleeping Dogs was turned into some mobile nonsense. Utterly pathetic. The best thing that could happen is SE cuts ties with these Western studios,(who actually make good games unlike SE's Japanese teams) so they can work with real publishers again.
Whilst I don't have a problem with episodic content in general - Hitman has really botched this up. It didn't start out that way but after various delays they seem to have settled on this. I can't help but wonder if it was damage control on Square Enix's part for a delayed game, or for other backstage reasons, but it doesn't inspire much confidence in the end game.
And then we have the usual pre-order b*llocks. If they just gave a Beta away for free, it might actually benefit them. But it's locked behind this pre-order - as well as other content.
I'd like to hope this game is good - the concept behind it is great - but it's weird release structure will put a lot of people off.
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