Hitman 2 preview: New sniper co-op mode is both tactical and fun

Released back in 2016, Hitman was and still is considered to be one of the best stealth assassination games ever in gaming. Fans will be pleased to know that recently, Hitman 2 was announced and has a November 2018 release date. Alongside a brand new campaign, Hitman 2 also brings a cooperative sniper mode to the table, called Sniper Assassin. Here's what you can expect.

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Plan your attack

In the current playable version of Sniper Assassin, you and a friend can select various different assassins to use to play through a single assassination mission. Each one has a different type of sniper rifle with their own advantages and drawbacks; for instance, one has incredibly fast bullet velocity, but high recoil, while another has low bullet velocity, and low recoil.

Once you select your character, both of you will load into the game and you'll find yourselves in a position a far distance away from a wedding in which three priority targets are in attendance, surrounded by fifteen bodyguards. Your job is to work together in order to take them all down.

Using a targeting camera to highlight all hostile units, you and your partner can mark your targets and await an opportunity to take them out. Ideally, waiting for guards to become isolated is the best route to take, as they will raise alarms if they see a dead comrade. In addition, there are also numerous different environmental objects that you can use to your advantage. For this mission, these include explosive canisters and wall-mounted speakers. Shooting these can kill enemies nearby without raising an alarm; it will look like an accident to the wedding personnel.

Executing your strategy

When the time comes and both of you are ready to open fire, you can adjust both your scope magnification and ammunition type in order to line up the perfect shot. Again, each rifle has its own mechanics to learn, so they won't fire in the same ways. This means that one of you will need to aim higher or lead your shot more than the other. Both players have silencers, so as long as your rounds hit home, you won't need to worry about sound. However, if you miss and your bullet ricochets off the ground, bodyguards will become suspicious and think something is up.

Once the shooting starts and numerous enemies are taken down, your primary targets will start making a run for it. In this scenario, both players need to immediately split their attention and take down all three of them between themselves. If you planned correctly and figured out where their escape routes are, you can usually line up a shot without much trouble. Once each main target is dead, your only job is to clean up the rest of the bodyguards. Leave no witnesses, and you'll rack up a pretty big score.

Your thoughts

What do you think of Hitman 2 having its very own cooperative mode? Did you like the first game and will you be getting this one? Let me know.

If you'd like to try out Sniper Assassin for yourself, you can currently get it now and play the wedding mission by preordering Hitman 2, which comes out on Xbox One and PC on November 13 for $59.99.

See on Microsoft Store