I know the levels from the first are in Hitman 2 with some enhancements, so is it worth playing them in Hitman 2 first? Are all the cutscenes intact? Would i be missing anything by not playing the original release first?

I think you need to get all the unlocks from the first game again in the second game. So even if you played 3000 hours of Hitman 1, you'd still have to do everything again in Hitman 2 if you want to play with all of the toys.

If you have the updated maps in Hitman 2, there's really no reason to go back to the previous game. The new maps act just like the old ones when it comes to playing through the story, so you can just play the whole thing through Hitman 2.

I would recommend playing through them in Hitman 2. They're great, and, as mentioned before, no progress carries over - so you may as well go through them in this. They are still great levels (some exceptions), so it's worthwhile doing it that way. I intend on revisiting them all again.

Thanks, that's probably how i'll do it.
Despite being a huge Hitman fan i fell off of 2016 straight away, the series kept getting better and better up to Absolution (which i loved), then 2016 turned it into a flukey episodic sandbox devoid of narrative, ironically the design choice which brought so many new fans to the series, and even garnered it some game of the year awards, is the thing that pushed me away, but i'm due to give it another go... again... this will be the third time...

Been playing this song in my head for 14 years.

Literally all that's currently missing is the special holiday mission which is just a reskin of the first map but christmas stuff on it. The escalations are also gone FOR NOW but IOI confirmed those are going to be rolled out over time.

Get hitman 2 and get the GOTY Legacy pack or whatever and go nuts! Play everything in order. No need to get the first game by itself.

@dudeglove: I can definitely get behind the small bits of fan service or references, it just feels a little hollow compared to prior games.

Do the two training stages from Hitman 1 (the boat and the airfield) come over into Hitman 2? I'm guessing not?

@cloudymusic:
Yes they do.

@frytup: Oh neat, thanks for the confirmation.