Hitman - Where to Begin?

Hey Everyone!

I'm a long time Hitman fan but just havent gotten around to play anything passed Blood Money, so I've been absent the entire console generation.

I've recently picked up Hitman 2 on PS Plus and want to make the dive but... where do I begin?

As I've come to understand it each of the recent 3 Hitman games are iterative and you can play the missions from previous games in the newest one. Is that correct?

Do I need to go out and buy Hitman 1 first if I want to play through the Story or can I somehow buy a DLC pack for the missions to play in Hitman 2 which I now own.

Thanks!

Read the book in Italian first.

I was actually recently wondering this myself. Interested to see duders' thoughts.

Either will work. I'd suggest buying Hitman 1 as it's more likely to be on sale than the DLC and it transfers to 3 a little more cleanly. Also, I'd import 1 into 2 and play it there because of the engine/mechanical upgrades.

I think Hitman 1 was on PS Plus at one time so you may have it if you claimed it.

I would skip the opening cinematic of 2, play the first level and if you enjoy it, I would go hitman 1, though not especially for the story, just because some of those levels are amazing! If you download the hitman 3 demo for ps4/ps5 you can also pull the hitman content from 1 or 2 into that and get upgrade to hitman 3 graphics for free.

Here are my recommendations as someone who's played all the new games and has been a fan since the first game back in 2000.

Option 1: if you just want to see what The Hitman is up to these days and dip your toe into the word of assassinations.......you can jump into any of the 3 games in the trilogy. There are gameplay and graphics improvements later, but all three modern Hitman games are cut from the same cloth. I always recommend people start with the story missions as they're a guided experience that lets you learn the ropes of what the game is. After that, you can work your way through some escalation missions and Elusive Targets to REALLY see what each level has to offer.

Option 2: if you want to follow the story and are a completionist.....start with Hitman 1 and work your way chronologically through the missions. Progress carries over from one game to the next, but not in reverse (so you can carry your progress from H2 into H3, but not from H2 into H1). Also, progress carry over has to stay within your platform of choice - so if you start on a PS4 for hitman 2, you can carry that over into hitman 3 on either the PS4 or PS5, but the progress would not carry over to a PC or Xbox version of the game.

Option 3: if you want to play the game knowing you have the best gameplay and graphics experience and just gotta have it all............. get Hitman 3 and then buy the content bundles for Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 and their respective DLCs (I think they're called the gold editions or something) as these get imported into the updated game engine for Hitman 3. The older levels look best and play best in the newer game.

Just an FYI if you end up buying additional content - that process is completely messed up. They made it really hard to understand what editions contain what content and it can be confusing as to exactly what you are buying.

Start with the first one of the reboot series assuming you can get it for cheap. Still looks and plays great. Sure you can get the levels in later versions but I'm not sure if the minor engine upgrades do anything meaningful or if it comes with all the extra content and challenges. I have over 50 hours in the first game alone just doing challenges.

I'd arguably say you should pick up Hitman Series 1 because they haven't really topped those maps.

I'd play the first mission of 2 to see if you like how the games work now (it's basiclly a tutorial mission). If you like what you played, pick up hitman 1 and play it first. 2 and 3 are great but kind of play off mechanics and level design ideas of the first game.

Additionally, if you get all the content in one place, you can just start up hitman 3 and play all hitman 1, 2 and 3 there.

Hey guys! Thanks for all the tips/suggestions. Appreciated!

Play all hitman 2 because you already own it, if you like it, get hitman 1, or the dlc that adds it to 2, or if it's cheaper get 3 and the dlc that gets you all of one. Just by having 2 already, you shouldn't need ever pay for it again (other than maybe the season pass levels, which are BTW very worth playing.)

And if you want to wait on buying Hitman 3 but would like to play in the Hitman 3 engine, IO has a starter pack for Hitman 2 and 3 for free that will still let you import the previous games levels. Haven't played them yet so cant comment on how you should play story wise, but i assume start from the first game.

I did just buy Hitman 2 and getting all the Hitman 1 maps as DLC. Pretty good way to go about it, if you ask me.

Buy the Hitman 1 map DLC that integrates into Hitman 2. Can't remember if it's 'Gold Edition' or something of the like, but it imports all the first game's maps into the same launcher.

If/when you get Hitman 3, you can import that data and the unlocks into the final game.

This has been answered already, but just to add, whatever game you have is fine. I will say 1 and 2 have the best tutorials. 1 has the boat and The Final Test, while 2’s intro level has you break into a place and how to deal with a target in a hostile zone. The free form training in Hitman 1 and the first level in Hitman 2 cover everything about that game, although they guide you to different things.

Knowing how to play the game allows you to get the most out of Hitman. Replaying levels, setting stuff up, how to break into a place, what you can get away with, and how to get out of trouble are good skills to learn early on. From that perspective, 1 or 2 are probably a better place to start than 3.

I think it is worth seeing it all, if people ever get those games for free or discounted (if you don’t want to pay full price for it all). So my personal recommendation would be to start with 1.

Just play through the series in order on psvr, its the only real way to play those games.