Murdertown: Hitman Trailer Explores Sunny Sapienza

"That's a nice swimming pool; I could drown someone in there. What a cute caffetteria on the plaza; I wonder if I can poison its coffee. Ooh, golf; I bet I can bash someone's head in with that golf bat. Hmm boats; might I chop someone up with their propellers?"

A video showing off a sunny Mediterranean town takes on a sinister tone when it's from Hitman [official site]. It's more than sightseeing: this is here to remind us that the next sandbox stealth-o-murder simulator is supposed to offer larger levels than its predecessor, the disappointing Absolution, and with more freedom. See:

Aye, sure, that definitely seems more interesting than Absolution. Interesting options and unexpected opportunities are what makes Hitman run, rather than necessarily sheer size, but Adam's time with Hitman suggests it may have both. The level he played was set during a fashion show in Paris, where he found:

"Within the large building in which the fashion show is being held, there are backstage areas with electrical equipment to tamper with, gas heaters on balconies that could prove that smoking kills, and death from above can come in the form of light rigs and chandeliers. There are foodstuffs to poison, towers to snipe from, fireworks to cause distractions, NPCs with schedules to follow, and numerous ways to smuggle weapons into restricted areas.

"If every area in the game is as thick with potential subplots and experimental 'accidents', Hitman will be a rich game."

The first slice of Hitman will arrive in March 2016, having recently been delayed. I say "the first slice" because it'll only have half of the game's locations (Paris, Sapienza and Marrakesh). Each month through June, they'll add a new location with new missions, and all along support it with temporary 'live events' like one-off assassinations. It'll be sold several ways: $60 for the full game with new bits as they're added, $35 for the initial three-location 'Intro Pack', and $30 to upgrade the Intro Pack to the full thing. Publishers Square Enix swear blind it's not an episodic or early access game, but it seems a bit of both to me.