With Hitman: The Complete First Season, the disc-based release of IO Interactive's successfully-rejuvenated stealth/assassination/goat rodeo game, now just two weeks away, the studio has released a new "Hitman 101" gameplay trailer examining some of the many ways you can get your dirty work done—and how easily it can all go a bit wrong.
What I like most about this trailer is the way it immediately acknowledges how Agent 47, especially in the hands of a newbie, isn't especially good at his job. He's dangerous as hell, but more in the way of an out-of-control Greyhound bus than a deadly ninja hiding in the shadows: It gets the job done, but it's not exactly professional, and certainly not worthy of an intimidating, bar-coded man dressed in a fine suit.
Of course, it's not a start-to-finish gong show, and 47 does demonstrate some elegance in the trailer, such as when he snipes a man through the telescope he's looking into. As a player, I'm sure that sort of skilled kill is much more satisfying than, say, setting up a toilet-bomb and hoping the right person sits on it. But as a spectator, I'm all about the shenanigans, and the uglier, the better.
Hitman: The Compete First Season will come with everything released during the game's episodic first season including new content and updates, plus three bonus missions, the original soundtrack, a "making of" documentary, and the Requiem: Blood Money Pack. First season elusive targets won't be accessible (they have eluded you), but a new batch are on the way for season two, so you can try your luck with them instead. It will be out on January 31.