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Usually we'd say that Telltale Games, famed for The Walking Dead, Minecraft: Story Mode, Wolf Among Us, Batman and other series, was the king of episodic games, but IO Interactive has very much stolen that crown with its novel take on the Hitman franchise.

When developer IO Interactive announced that the next Agent 47 adventure would be fully episodic, the gaming world took a sharp intake of breath. Hitman? Episodic? How's that going to work?

It's fair to say that the fans were sceptical of the box-set approach, especially off the back of a game like Hitman: Absolution, which had received a lukewarm reception at best.

Square Enix

And yet here we are, at the close of the first series and a new physical release dubbed Hitman: The Complete First Season like it was The Sopranos, and the entire thing has been quite the success. Yes, it may have taken a few months for people to realise and understand exactly what IO Interactive was trying to do with it, but once it clicked, everyone was hooked – and now all episodes and DLC are in one place, there's really no excuse for not tooling up.

What we ended up with was six separate chapters released over nine months, each one set in a different location with its own unique feel, set of challenges and opportunities, and each requiring a very different approach by the player in order to take out the required targets.

Each location also comes with a selection of Escalation contracts, where you have to take out the target using a certain weapon, wearing a specific disguise and by following a very strict set of instructions. They're tricky, but hilarious fun when you've got everything in place and finally get that kill – in a slightly sadistic fashion of course.

And if you really love Hitman, which we do, you can take part in the Contracts Mode. Many of you will be familiar with this from Hitman: Absolution, where you play-to create, mark your own targets, choose how to kill them and then share your Contract with your friends.

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Episode One is a Parisian chateau, and although it felt large at the beginning of the Season, it turned out to be the smallest level, and a great setting in which to play with the new tropes of an episodic Hitman. With that comes an understanding of the various Challenges embedded into each level, and the realisation that the Opportunities are merely hand-holders to give us a taste of the disguises and other options available in each level.

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With the second chapter, we move to Sapienza, Italy. The change in venue brings a change in scale, transitioning from the tight, densely-packed spaces of a fashion show to a whole Italian coastal village, complete with a lookout tower and underground laboratory.

Not only did it make us want to immediately book a holiday, it also opens up the game, allowing players to showcase their creativity, mess about with the vast number of disguises on offer and even take in the sights... of a sniper rifle. The potential to cause large-scale havoc is fantastic.

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But with the third chapter, the game changes again. The wide open spaces of Sapienza are traded in for the bustling marketplace of Marrakesh, Morocco, full of watching eyes that monitor your every move – and crime. That sense of tension combined with a strong military presence makes things very tricky indeed.

Quite a test for the skills you've learnt so far.

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Things kick back when Agent 47 is tasked with taking out two targets in Bangkok, Thailand, in a hotel full of minor celebrities and band members – the kind of place where you want to get your sarong on and kick back by the pool. But, as ever, our barcode-tattoo-sporting assassin is all business.

It's here that you discover what limited disguise options will do to your assassination attempts, with the fancy hotel a maze of locked rooms and cordoned-off areas.

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But once you've done a spot of murder there, it's time to get a little more Metal Gear Solid than Hitman. Agent 47 has to take out four targets in a heavily guarded military camp settled at a manor in Colorado in the US. The guards there are on high alert, skittish and ready to notice anything that's out of place.

So it's stealth tactics here on out, as you squat behind crates of apricots and don the garb of a torturer and other previously unexplored guises. There's still plenty of room for creativity, but it's a little more gently-gently here, otherwise you'll have the full military force on your arse.

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The closing chapter of the First Season of Hitman is set in a high-tech, private hospital in the mountains of Hokkaido, Japan. It's as clinical as you'd expect, but with patients, doctors, armed guards and a few drug addicts floating about, there's plenty of fun to be had.

It's certainly a very different feel to the other chapters, but it plays out like a culmination of all your skills – stealth, deception, disguise, puzzle-solving, infiltration and more.

The way IO Interactive has designed this episodic release means that each level feels worthwhile. Perhaps if all the content had been released in one go, you'd have breezed through each level, not appreciating the smaller areas and the potential in each ridiculously well-crafted location.

But having a month or so focused on each location meant that you got to appreciate all the hard work that goes into the game. And the additional content IO Interactive released only served to help that.

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On top of the location itself, with its opportunities and its challenges, IO periodically released elusive targets into the world. These timed exclusive targets were given a brief description and a photo, but also a timer – and you only got a single attempt. Die in pursuit and they're gone forever.

These elusive targets were often hidden in areas of the map not often explored by the challenges or main quests of the area. But they also caused the community to surge up, rallying once more around a level that perhaps they'd lost interest in.

The constant attention from the developers is a rarity even with full releases, but IO Interactive proved that it's the new king of episodic. The wealth of content, the creativity and fun that you can have across all locations is staggering and anyone who hasn't yet played it should treat themselves to the boxed edition as soon as possible.

Square Enix

And we haven't even touched upon the actual storyline that weaves its way through the entire season, like a good box set. After all, Agent 47 isn't just killing willy-nilly, there's a higher purpose here, a plan. We won't spoil it for you, but it's a thrilling tale – even if it does take a backseat to the action of the gameplay itself and the stories you tell yourself with your assassinations.

Verdict

Although the road may have been initially bumpy, we've been won over by IO Interactive determination and conviction. They've managed to prove to the rest of the industry that AAA games done episodically can work, and can work incredibly well.

Constantly released and evolving live content kept the community interested in the game, and will continue to do so going forward, but the fact they've now squeezed it all in to one easy-to-pick-up package may widen the audience even further.

We just can't wait until we see what IO Interactive does with Season Two.

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Hitman Complete First Season release date: Available digitally now, boxed copies arrive January 31, 2017

Available on: PS4 (tested), Xbox One and PC

Developer: IO Interactive

Publisher: Square Enix

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