Hitman Has Become My Latest New Old Classic

Much has already been said about comfort gaming, especially in the last year. I wasn't surprised by my own trends - JRPGs, 2D platformers (linear or open-unlock map style), a smattering of Fallouts and a hearty slathering of the Outer Worlds. The list goes on; I'll spare you the rest.

The modern Hitman trilogy has been especially, dare I say it, engaging for me in a way that a lot of modern games can't seem to do without a story or concept that interests me. For the record, that isn't a dig on modern games - how and why I play is changing. As a serial self-analyst, it's really exciting to be aware of it as the process is happening. But Hitman!

My history with the franchise prior to the modern games was brief - I played the hell out of the original on PC when I was a freshman in high school. And then didn't come back until Absolution. Which was fine, but it didn't grab me. I think I'm still chipping away at that one on Steam.

Giant Bomb's coverage of Hitman was, of course, what brought me back. I didn't see any of it until the game was already out on disk (I am, unfortunately, a sucker for steelbooks). Now I'm on Hitman 3, banging out escalations, some new, some old. All of these clockwork sandboxes are still enjoyable to me, from Hokkaido to Dartmoor. I'm still awful at the sniping missions, but enjoy playing them nonetheless.

I was initially a bit put off by the sniping missions. I think it may have been the timer. A ticking clock automatically bumps up and maintains my anxiety. But in time, I believe it was at the gulag map, I started seeing the clockwork ticking and gears turning. And then I started seeing the nudges, that lovely piece of design, the invisible hand, sometimes almost completely transparent, others at like 5% transparency and giving a wink and nod along with the wanking motion.

There it is. It's the balance. Though, isn't it always? That probably says more about my outlook on life than anything else. These games know exactly where and when to best take themselves seriously. And to not take themselves seriously. I think that's a very important thing to have when you realize how much fun a clockwork sandbox murder simulator can be.