Hitman is one of the big name brands in gaming and provided one of the smash mobile hits of last year with Hitman Go, and now Square Enix Montreal brings Hitman Sniper to the small screen.
Sharing similarities with the PC game of the same name and taking a very different approach to Hitman Go, Hitman Sniper presents you with a real time shooting challenge as you try and take out a named criminal target whilst also achieving specific criteria.
Steady Aim Required
Presented through a first person view you are positioned overlooking a target area, which is an executive luxury apartment complex, and although your initial view is from distance a swift double press on a region of the target area will activate your rifles powerful sights.
Control of the game is straight forward. Dragging your finger around the screen moves the sites accordingly, whilst a press on the fire button sends a bullet firing towards towards your target.
For tricky shots at non-static targets, you can hold your breath for a limited time, which gives the perception of slowing down time in a similar fashion to bullet time on other shooting games.
A Strategic Challenge
From this initial description it may sound like Hitman Sniper is a straight-forward shooting game, but Sniper cleverly introduces puzzle challenges by setting you specific challenges with increasing difficult throughout each level.
Tough Challenges
For example, different ways of killing targets or security guards which bring different scores and it’s possible to lure guards into isolated positions. You can make executions look like accidents or hide their bodies in pools. The game takes a simple concept and really makes you think about how to approach each mission within its allocated time limit.
You can see how some of the in-game challenges work in the video below.
As you progress through the game you unlock upgrades to your weaponry which enables extra features to help you progress through the challenges. Trust me, it may not sound like muchn but increasing the amount of bullets your gun can cope with in a singe round feels like a godsend.
Visual Appeal
As you can see from the screenshots, Hitman Sniper is an attractive game, and it’s clear from the visual style of the game that Sniper is part of the Hitman series, with a familiar looking cast. On the larger screen of the iPad, the graphics look highly detailed with lots of enriched character and smooth animation.
Great Visuals
Does it play well….
When I first played Hitman Sniper it was on my iPhone 5s, and it’s fair to say that the screen size wasn’t ideally suited which made the experience a little fiddly at times.
However on the iPad the game comes into it’s own and plays very well, as you get soon get used to planning the timing of your shots, and learning when to bide your time and reload.
Being mission based the game is suited to either being played in bite sized chunks or for a longer session, be warned though the strategy elements make the game quite addictive and you can soon find an hour flying by.
You can purchase the iOS version of Hitman Sniper by clicking Here
