Developer IO Interactive spent the last nine or so years turning Hitman into one of the most well-realized franchises out there. It blossomed from a promising first episode to a whole stealth sandbox platform through careful curation and thoughtful additions. But virtual reality has been the series’ sticking point over the last four years.
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Various studios have tried to translate Agent 47’s bald head and Silverballers to VR with little to no success. The PSVR, PC VR, and Quest have all had different versions that fell massively short for multiple reasons, be it sloppy controls or atrocious visuals (or both). But the new PlayStation VR2 port is a different story, as it is the best way to play Hitman World of Assassination thus far.
This doesn’t mean it’s the best way to play Hitman in VR — although it certainly is that, too — it’s the best way to play Hitman, full stop. This PSVR2 version maintains the freedom that flat Hitman is known for but uses the immersive qualities of the medium to enhance what was already there.
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A lot of this comes from how throwing works. While chucking objects in past VR iterations was pretty finicky, the PSVR2 version gracefully gives players plenty of aim assist, which opens up the opportunities for some incredibly slick (and hilarious) kills. It’s possible to steadily aim objects for more finesse, but it’s easier to waltz into a room with a fire extinguisher and axe and fling them like Bullseye from Daredevil without breaking stride. It’s a new playstyle that just isn’t possible in the standard version and is an absolute blast every single time.
The other less flashy VR interactions are mostly decent but leave room for improvement. Manual reloading and inventory management mostly work well, but it can be easy to mix up the two since both require grabbing from the chest and pulling out. Pulling the trigger on a gun halfway down for a laser sight is a nice convenience, but the dot doesn’t actually show up on the target, which makes it a little less helpful. Stealing disguises is also usually simple — just reach at their waist and pull — but the ways limp bodies contort can sometimes make it difficult to actually see where to grab for the new duds. Other interactions, like poisoning and choking people out, are done manually and are pretty intuitive, as they should be.
However, the level of bother can vary since many of these actions require precision where time isn’t always a luxury. Trying to choke a guard may just lead to a gentle slap if the triggers are pressed too early, or attempting to pull a pistol out from its way-too-small and non-adjustable holster may whiff entirely and turn a firefight into a one-sided finger gun duel. It’s mishaps like these that highlight how Hitman on PSVR2 currently lacks features that would let players customize certain options so they can more clearly focus on the game and not finagle with some of its VR-exclusive eccentricities. Some of these hiccups fade over time as new actions become second nature, but it still needs more tweaks and options.
When it’s not intermittently crashing and causing annoying restarts, Hitman does work rather fluidly most of the time on PSVR2 and is more than carried by how engaging the game is at its core, and there is a lot of game here. This PSVR2 add-on lets players experience the first three Hitman games (unlike the Quest port) and the stage-based DLC all in VR without sacrificing a ton of visual quality — it still looks beautiful and is a high mark for the headset.
It thankfully works with existing PS5 saves, too, meaning players can jump back and forth between the VR and non-VR versions as they gradually check off the exhaustive list of challenges. This is seemingly an obvious feature, yet Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake strangely kept their VR and non-VR saves separate. Even though it is disappointing that sniper missions, Contracts, and the roguelite Freelancer mode aren’t available in VR, the scale of this DLC is wide enough to significantly add to the replay value that is the lifeblood of this World of Assassination bundle.
Hitman thrives when it receives new ways to play, and this great VR add-on is a versatile tool that fits right into — and expands — its existing toolkit. The VR-exclusive perks change how players can approach assassinations, and they seamlessly work with the freeform approach at the game’s well-designed core. It can be a little cumbersome at times and lacks some VR-centric options, but those shortcomings melt away as the bricks and butcher knives go flying.
