Hitman: Sniper Challenge (HSC) is a surprise gem in a package that originally incentivised the pre-order purchase of the much bigger Hitman: Absolution title. HSC is a great example of a simple game design that draws on the USPs of the Hitman franchise to create an addictive, beautifully detailed and perfectly executed title worthy of full game status in its own right.

Notably, the purging of player movement reduces the complexity of this setup as you are left with the barebones of a point-and-click style game. This new emphasis on targetting and timing creates an incredible level of satisfaction when successfully executed targets drop to the ground. The inclusion of a suspicion system which hastens your main target's evacuation and the ability to conceal bodies around the environment is still hugely valued even though you're sniping hundreds of meters away from your targets. The Challenge targets also maximise the value of this game style in a "Where's Waldo?" fashion that heightens this title's sense of fun.

We've seen point-and-click sniping games before but this one works perfectly within the bounds of the Hitman universe. If IO Interactive do make more content, a 2-player cooperative mode where each player has different view points of the same environment could be very interesting. HSC definitely deserves more levels to make it feel less like a demo and more like a full game, and misses a rating point because of this.

My rating: 4/5

Hitman: Sniper Challenge (HSC) is a surprise gem in a package that originally incentivised the pre-order purchase of the much bigger Hitman: Absolution title. HSC is a great example of a simple game design that draws on the USPs of the Hitman franchise to create an addictive, beautifully detailed and perfectly executed title worthy of full game status in its own right. Notably, the purging of player movement reduces the complexity of this setup as you are left with the barebones of a point-and-click style game. This new emphasis on targetting and timing creates an incredible level of satisfaction when successfully executed targets drop to the ground. The inclusion of a suspicion system which hastens your main target's evacuation and the ability to conceal bodies around the environment is still hugely valued even though you're sniping hundreds of meters away from your targets. The Challenge targets also maximise the value of this game style in a "Where's Waldo?" fashion that heightens this title's sense of fun. We've seen point-and-click sniping games before but this one works perfectly within the bounds of the Hitman universe. If IO Interactive do make more content, a 2-player cooperative mode where each player has different view points of the same environment could be very interesting. HSC definitely deserves more levels to make it feel less like a demo and more like a full game, and misses a rating point because of this. My rating: 4/5