How Hitman 2’s developers turned its gigantic levels into ever-evolving playgrounds

2016’s Hitman reboot was a fascinating experiment in reviving a classic formula with a new twist. IO Interactive, the developer behind the assassination sandbox series, decided to combine the best efforts of 2012’s more linear but highly polished Hitman: Absolution with the open-world spirit and heavy experimentation of the series’ first three major entries. The result was one game with just six levels and a loosely woven story linking them together. But each one of those levels, released in episodic installments over the course of many months, was a staggering achievement in scale and realism, sending players everywhere from a complex re-creation of a Paris art museum to a seaside Italian town housing an underground bioweapon plant.... Continue reading…