IO says next Hitman will go back to the sandbox
IO Interactive wrote an open letter to Hitman fans this morning, detailing the direction for the Agent 47 game the studio is working on. Doing everything next to apologize for Hitman: Absolution, the studio said the next game will go back to Agent 47 at the "prime of his career" (in gameplay terms that should mean Blood Money), with the support of his handler Diana Burnwood and the shadow organization she works for.
"We've adopted an open, non-linear level design approach to the game, ensuring the game will play out across huge, checkpoint-free, sandbox levels," the IO letter notes. "Our aim is to create living, breathing and believable levels which will allow gamers to play around with the AI to create those unique moments every fan of the Hitman franchise loves."
Absolution's clever Contracts Mode will return, which allowed players to challenge friends to different level scenarios, but Agent 47's Mary Poppins-like bottomless "magic pockets" featuring an entire arsenal won't. The studio plans to share more "further into 2014."
