Initial impressions after a handful of levels are:
- I can see what people are talking about in certain reviews, it's very un-Hitman like level setup. You seemingly have 3 or 4 sub levels making 1 big level.. essentially you have to get from A to B in order to get to C then get from C to D etc & you've maybe 2 or 3 ways of doing as such. To explain it's kinda how something like Max Payne or Assassin's Creed is set out as opposed to previous Hitman game were you are seemingly dumped in a map & you could go from A to your target directly. It's kinda difficult for me to explain.. however it's not a massive deal as I've played the likes of Assassin's Creed, Max Payne, Batman Arkham City/Asylum & not disliked them, however it isn't something I'm used to in a Hitman game & it does kinda take something away that made the Hitman series great & unique.
- The AI, instinct & detection. So far I've only done a handful of levels, however I'm not a massive fan of the direction they've taken it. Generally I do understand the logic that if a Police officer is walking past another that he doesn't recognise he may question them, however for the most part it seems like everybody is suspicious of you regardless of what disguise you are using. However unless I am behaving oddly like creeping around or heading in a direction I shouldn't be, from a game perspective I want to be able to move about in a crowd & act as if I'm a Policeman, guard or whatever I may be dressed as. Having to walk about oddly to break line of sight or using instinct which basically just uses his hand to cover his face would be more odd behaviour than just walking about as if you know what you are doing but whatever. However if the system was set up to correct/adjust those things the opening few levels regarding avoiding the Police would be incredibly easy so fair enough.
- Story. I didn't think I needed a story to play a Hitman game as generally I just want to get in & create perfect hits, however I do have to say it is quite nice having abit of a story.. but I do find the idea somewhat silly that a guy is seemingly trying to frame a Hitman for a murder. It's a little odd considering the amount of murders 47 should be connected to by the police over the years that all of a sudden they give a massive **** about a random maid than anyone else he's killed.