Sure, no one was surprised by the announcement of Hitman 2. Brazen or not, IO Interactive had no one fooled; their latest Agent 47-related teases would blossom into a sequel of 2016?s iteration of gaming?s favorite prototypical assassin. That said, I?m not sure anyone saw coming the inclusion of Sniper Assassin, Hitman 2?s co-op sniping simulator.
On the face, the game mode is rather odd. ?You mean you?re just sniping"? Not only that, Captain Skeptic, but you actually can?t even move. You?re rooted on a hill overlooking an area of several targets in need of killing. And while my first attempts at the game mode went about as well as could be expected (terribly and without much depth), I soon realized how many layers are baked into what could otherwise have been a low effort add-on. Hitman 2: Sniper Assassin has Echoes of Arkham Asylum

Yes, on one hand, you are ?just sniping,? in that you perch yourself up in a luxury sniper?s nest at the start of the mission and only reach the end of the mission when all the bad guys have either died or fled the scene. (For the record, I choose to call them ?bad guys? out of a need for the moral high ground, and I won?t be told otherwise).
On the other hand, you can do a surprising amount to increase the depth of Sniper Assassin, and you will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts. For the record, while this mode can be played co-op, and that?s nice, I was only able to play it solo, as you need to have a friend online to play with ?...