Hitman: Episode 4 - Bangkok (PC) Review

Paris: a trendy fashion show and an enormous, labyrinthine mansion. Sapienza: a gorgeous, luxe Italian beach resort, another mansion (less enormous, far better-looking), and a high-tech lab underneath it all. Marrakesh: a city at the state of civil war, war-ravaged districts, overcrowded bazaars, plus an out-of-place, Swedish embassy/fortress. Bangkok? Just a simple five star hotel… *wah, wah, wahhhh!*

"Hey there, buddy!" says the angry reader, "Hotels are always cool in Hitman games." Indeed, they are. However, while this is beautiful, big, quite detailed, and full of people, it also feels like Paris all over again, only lit by a beautiful sunset, and less clean due to many "customers" being members of a rock band's crew. Oh, and yes, everyone sports, once again, perfect English/American accents, not to mention that, while past flaws have been ironed out, the level is somewhat poorly optimised, leading to some annoying stutters and framerate drops.

The point that is made here is simply, why? Why not something more original, like how the Sapienza level had a laboratory underneath the Mediterranean landscape, or something far more striking? It's Thailand, for Hanuman's sake! Why not explore something less squeaky clean? Why not the criminal Asian underworld, a drug factory, a VIP-only brothel (just saying), or a highly secured, Illuminati-like gathering of powerful folk?

In fact, even the - once again, only two - targets are nothing special. A spoiled and super-rich alt-rocker, and his corrupt lawyer? Huh? Where are the NWO guys and gals of past missions? Oh, well. At least the hipster look of the first one is a good enough reason for some slaughtering (hair bun and scarf? Really?) Joking aside, the problem is that this mission feels pretty straightforward, as if it was the very first one. It's just: find them, stalk them, and kill them. Nothing fancy, no weird scenarios or surprises. Nothing, zero, nada!