For years, IO Interactive developed numerous titles for its beloved Hitman franchise. Its latest title, simply called Hitman, is a reboot of sorts, focusing more on a sandbox approach to each level rather than creating a story spanning multiple locations. The game was officially revealed just three months ago at E3, and it was slated for a release date of December 8 for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Unfortunately, the game won't be coming out then, with a new release date set for March 2016.
The developers stated that the reason for the delay was to have more content available at launch. Hitman's release strategy took some flak when it was revealed that the full game wouldn't be accessible on day one. Instead, IO Interactive would have a small amount of content available at that time, with the rest trickling in during the following weeks and months. The three-month delay is to add more to the initial offering so that players will pick it up on launch day instead of waiting for the entire game to come out down the road.
It's unclear as to what the additional content contains, as it could be more assets in a level, additional methods of infiltration and assassination, or it could even be multiple installations of levels. IO Interactive continued to boast that while there is a delay in release, the sheer size of each level will justify the wait. Using its "Streets of Hope" mission from Hitman: Absolution, the team compared its size to the "Paris: The Showstopper" mission we've seen in recent trade shows such as E3 and PAX Prime.
The latter level is six times larger than the former, with 300 targets to choose from for Contracts Mode, a customized experience introduced in Hitman: Absolution, where players choose a random target in a level, perform the assassination through their desired methods, and then challenge other players around the world to do the same, following strict mission parameters. In addition, the Paris level has 100 scenes of opportunities to gain access or create distractions as well as 70 challenges littered throughout the map.
For all we know, the developers could be adding even more depth to a jam-packed level, but we'll have to wait until March to see if the series reboot is worth the wait.
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