Hitman's episodic plot is inspired by 'contemporary TV series'

Agent 47 will become embroiled in an all-new episodic story of death and deception as he chokes and poisons his way through Hitman's five major locations. Developer IO Interactive has said that Hitman will be the "first game in a storyline which will continue and expand with future Hitman games," and that all starts by introducing you to the World of Assassination.

Hitman's story will start off with a broader story and individual missions running in parallel, "but as the first season progresses, the tracks will merge and become one," according to IO Interactive. Inspired by contemporary TV series (probably more like The Wire than Parks & Rec), the story will follow the work of Agent 47, his longtime handler Diana Burnwood, and "an entirely new main cast" across multiple seasons.

That's a big change, since overarching narratives and characters tend to be all or nothing for Hitman. Usually you have a few reminders of bigger events sprinkled between discrete missions, like how the whole "why was 47 dead at the beginning?" question fades into the background once Hitman: Blood Money gets rolling. Or the narrative thread binds each part of the campaign together much more tightly like in Hitman: Absolution, sacrificing some of the human-trafficker / drug-lord / corrupt-politician monster of the week fun.

As long as the story keeps doling out murder puzzle boxes full of interesting people to kill, I'll be happy. The beta is set to begin on PS4 on February 12 and the first episode of Hitman will be released on March 11.

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