As Hitman’s first season draws to a close, it’s a little funny to reflect on the skepticism that met the game’s original announcement. You can call it cautious optimism if you want to be diplomatic, but I recall being one of many shaking my head and wondering how exactly IO Interactive and Square Enix could possibly pull off an episodic Hitman game.
It seemed improbable at the time, but they succeeded. And they did more than just succeed; they succeeded with fireworks and fanfare. They made one of the most surprising and fascinating games of 2016, and in it one of the best examples in recent memory of how to make an episodic format work--really, really work--because it does something that most other episodic titles completely neglect...
Specifically, Hitman gives players a reason to keep playing.
If you think about it, it’s a little weird that games imitating a TV show-esque episode structure really started to take root in the age of binge-watching. Not only is it easier than ever to bury yourself in entire seasons of a TV show at once, but some are even released in binge-ready batches, rather than being meted out episode by episode over the course of a few months. You can swap from screen to screen without losing your place, curling up in bed or cooking dinner at the same time. It used to take a hundred dollars, a 12 DVD box set, and a living room set up like a fallout shelter to burn a weekend as thoroughly as you can with just an internet connection and a device of your choosing now. And it’s not just easy, but common to do so. Binge-watching has woven itself into the fabric of contemporary life, as evidenced by the number of companies clamouring to cater to the just-douse-my-weekend-in-gasoline-and-light-it lifestyle.
Games have almost always been binge-friendly, typically released as whole products that are ready to be played start to finish at the player’s discretion. There have been exceptions and variations on this over the years, from games whose “true” endings were delivered through later-released DLC to games released almost as prologues or initial chapters in a planned (but not always completed) franchise. And then there have been the episodic games, some of which were similar to the format we recognize now, albeit not as common. Telltale Games didn’t invent this model, but they did breathe new life into it, heavily influencing the way it’s come to be used and understood.
The thing is--and I can only really speak for myself here--I could not be less interested in most episodic games at this point, and that’s part of why I was skeptical that IO would be able to make Hitman work. I say this as someone who respects the quality of Telltale’s storytelling, who has enjoyed their work in the past, who thinks games like Life Is Strange, which were inspired by the Telltale renaissance, are invaluable additions to the landscape. I’m just done, and I didn’t fully understand why that was until I started playing Hitman and realized that the episodic format can do narrative games a serious disservice.
Consider the things that make Hitman so good. The episodes themselves each comprise a sprawling map, a handful of different opportunities to assist in completing it, and copious unlockables (which often circumvent potentially repetitive areas), which are drip-fed to players as they gain experience in replaying that map.
Players aren’t left to just repeat the same mission ad nauseam, though. Escalations provide an excuse to dip in and out of levels in shorter sessions, exploring corners of the map and mechanics couched therein that they may not have come across during the original missions. Then there are the elusive targets, high-stakes one-off missions that have made revisiting and replaying maps into a real-world event for the community.
Season one of Hitman demonstrated that its developers were undeniably invested in keeping its players engaged between episodes, and that kind of momentum is crucial for any kind of game, action or otherwise. But there’s seldom any incentive to replay a chapter of a Telltale game unless a player made a mistake they feel compelled to correct. So momentum dwindles, excitement wanes, and some players may even end up flaking on a game they were initially enjoying rather than returning to it after a month or two when the next chapter comes out. (I can’t be the only person whose mind is guiltily wandering to Kentucky Route Zero right now, right?)
Games aren’t TV shows. It’s not feasible to put out an installment every week or even every other week, and the longer that gap is the harder it can be to come back. I would love to know how many people who start an episodic game before it’s complete manage to finish it compared to those who start after every episode is already available. It’s just so damn easy to lose the plot, the controls, and the interest when there’s a forced break between each session. Consequently the best time to get in on a Telltale (or Telltale-style) game that interests you might be right after the final episode comes out, not engaging with the format at all and instead treating it like a whole. The exact opposite is true of Hitman. With every chapter available, it’s always going to be tempting to hop from one to the next without taking the time to savour its massively detailed maps and the buffet of goals and objectives provided within them. Spaced out, Hitman feels like a vastly larger, more substantial game; it expands like an accordion where other episodic games only break apart.
There are huge advantages to employing an episodic format and release schedule; sales can help fund continued development, developers can more easily respond to player feedback going forward, and a drip-fed release schedule can extend publicity and press coverage dramatically just to name a few. But there are also some massive disadvantages, too, and the difficulty of maintaining player interest and momentum is at the very top of that list.
Hitman’s foray into episodic action was a big risk, but the end result teaches us a lot about what it takes to keep games delivered in this manner fresh and exciting for players, from start to finish. One issue that remains, however, is just how much of that freshness and excitement should be preserved for those playing through it in the future. Those of us playing now likely have many more elusive targets to look forward to, but will people coming back to the first season a year or two from now have the same option? The problem with live content (as is specifically the case with the elusive targets) is that it inevitably has to dry up. Eventually the people creating, dispatching and supporting that content get assigned elsewhere, and just like that a big piece of what makes this game unique will vanish. Collecting the targets as DLC or repeating them on a calendar schedule could undermine the urgency of past (and upcoming) elusive target events. Yet if it means preserving the experience in some way for future players—or encouraging them to explore and savour each of the maps just as those who played concurrent with the releases could—then walking that exclusivity back would be worth the heat.
Janine Hawkins is a games critic based in sunny Canada who enjoys Style Savvy and third-person shooters with equal gusto. You can find her on Twitter @bleatingheart, or catch her on video at streamfriends.tv.
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