Hitman Go review: mouse trap

Cue Square Enix's announcement of a successor to 2012's Hitman Absolution — but for iOS.

Previous action games' transition to iPad and iPhone have been minimally successful, frequently attempting to shoehorn console-game mechanics onto a touch device. But Square Enix has gone a different way. Hitman Go reduces the series to its most basic ideas and expresses them brilliantly, all through the lens of an impossibly sophisticated board game.

Hitman Go still places you in the shoes and well-cut suit of Agent 47, the bald, bar-coded star of the series. And, like previous Hitman games, you're flying all over the world, visiting exotic locales in order to ... kill someone for money. Except in Hitman Go, each of those exotic locales are boxed sets of dioramas, filled with tiny figurines of NPCs, guards and your targets. And, of course, an adorable little 47 figure to go along with it.

Each of these boxes is comprised of a series of levels that walk through a wordless, voiceless narrative. Along with ambient noise and an often moody but low-key score, the box set idea makes Hitman Go's visual presentation remarkably effective — even when the intro scene-setting for each level pulls out to reveal the deceptively simple mechanics in play.

Hitman Go takes the overarching concepts of the Hitman series and draws up for a thousand foot view — every environment is a puzzle to solve via navigation, every hit a methodical application of problem-solving skills. This is done via a turn-based system that plays out on a limited grid for each level. 47 can move one space up or down, right or left per turn. Moving into an enemy in any direction other than the one they're facing will kill them, depicted in game by knocking their figure over and moving it off the board.

47 isn't without other options. The mechanics of distraction and murder have been cleverly translated to the board game setup as well. Some boards include rocks or even weapons for 47 to use, though even these can only be employed with careful consideration. A rock can be used to cause a radius of noise that will draw enemies to it, but it can only be thrown within one move up, down, left or right, and only at points that aren't occupied by another character. Weapons only have very specific applications. Complicating the situation even further, equipment must be used on the turn it's activated — there's no hoarding options til the perfect time.

After 47 moves, remaining enemies on the grid take their turn. This continues until 47 has completed his objectives, or is killed by security.

At first, Hitman Go seems simple. Enemies stand in place or move on a specific line back and forth, one space at a time. Conflict is easily avoided. But Square Enix Montreal deftly folds in new challenges regularly. Each new guard type added creates new considerations. Teal-jacketed guards rotate 180 degrees each turn, changing the angle from which you can safely approach, while elite guards patrol a loop on each board, and so on.