Hitman World of Assassination: VR Access PSVR2 Review

Hitman World of Assassination: VR Access for PSVR2 is by far the best way to play IO’s venerable stealth sim (in VR at least) and shows what a huge generational leap Sony’s latest headset is compared to its previous iteration.

IO’s previous attempts to bring Hitman to VR were serviceable at best and limited by the hardware they were tethered to. The previous PSVR version in particular ran poorly and only let you use one hand. As such it was more of an experiment than a legitimate way to experience Agent 47s latest adventure.

This latest add-on for Hitman: World of Assassination for PSVR2 finally fulfils the promise of IO’s previous VR efforts by letting you play through the whole trilogy with a new sense of immediacy, decent motion controls, and both of your hands.

Revolutionary, I know. But being able to drag a corpse and shoot guards at the same time is an absolute godsend at times.

Shooting in general is greatly improved as well. With you being able to aim down the sights and accurately take out targets from afar, and dual-wield for when you want to go John Woo on someone’s ass. Yes, I know getting into gunfights and blasting your way to your target isn’t really in the spirit of the series, but it’s great to let rip occasionally and cause as much chaos as you can, and VR facilitates that brilliantly.

When you’re not pratting about though, VR does help to make you feel like a more active part of the world, and you feel incredibly badass sliding through crowds, eavesdropping on useful conversations, and waiting for your target to have a terrible accident, you may have had a hand or two in causing.

Not only does it make the world feel more tactile and the action more immediate, but VR helps to give the game a grander sense of scale too. When you’re put into the shoes of Agent 47 proper, some of the grander areas, thanks to the much improved rendering of the PSVR2 sing, with Dubai and Dartmoor clear highlights.

That being said, there are still some moments that will drag you out of the world. Whenever you end up on a ledge, climb a ladder, or blend into the environment, the camera shifts to third person, its a slightly disorientating but understandable considering how fiddly going up ladders and trying to stick to ledges can be in first person, and especially in VR. the blending in is a bit of a headscratcher since it sacrifices immersion for scouting the environment, which is a shame because its that greater level of immersion and immediacy that makes the VR mode so compelling to begin with, and going in blind adds to that feeling. .

There’s also some inevitable VR jank. I don’t know what it is with VR and sticking weapons on your hips with fiddly holsters, but like Resident Evil 8 before it, putting your guns away can be a right faff in Hitman. (It also makes noise every time you do.) Likewise, trying to use motion controls to strangle guards with the piano wire doesn’t always go as smoothly as it does when you’re just holding a button.

On the other hand, though, the radial menus to select your various murder tools are very slick and make effective use of the PSVR2s eye tracking, and for the best part, interacting with the environment is fairly effortless.

It’s worth noting that not everything is playable in VR mode, at least for now, Freelance mode and the DLC aren’t supported. But regardless it’s still a massive chunk of content for your PSVR2, especially if you are the kind of completionist (read: sadist) that loves exploring all the different ways Agent 47 can dispatch his targets.

Final Thoughts

Hitman World of Assassination: VR Access on PSVR2 is well worth the price of admission for both fans of Hitman and those looking for their next VR fix. The shift from third person to VR is a small change that makes a huge difference to the game’s flow and feel, offering a level of immediacy and immersion not seen in the series before. While the PSVR patch for Hitman 3 was little more than a curio, the generational leap in both graphical fidelity and control offered by the PSVR2 makes it not only a legitimately fun alternative way to play, an already superb collection, but a must-have addition to any PSVR2 library.