It’s serious if they want it to be serious, but it’s also incredibly silly if you’re in the mood for that. Which ever way you choose to play it, though, it’s consistently fun, and that makes Hitman 2 well worth checking out.

Hitman 2 is possibly the best version of this darkly comic murder simulator we’ve seen in quite some time.

It might not propel the series forward by leaps and bounds, but it takes small meaningful steps that improve the formula nonetheless.

With Hitman 2, IO Interactive didn’t take much risk. The team simply and smartly refined its formula, rubbing away some of the first game’s flaws. And it works: Hitman 2 is a generous and fun game.

Hitman 2 complies with what is expected of a sequel: greater and better content. IO Interactive does not try to revolutionize its formula, simply presents more killing opportunities on each map.

Hitman 2 feels like a slightly improved content pack over the previous game, with new missions and locations but not enough innovation or meaningful changes in gameplay. If you liked the previous game, though, it won't disappoint you providing many hours in its quality stealth sandbox experience.

Hitman 2 doesn’t add much of note to the structure of its predecessor and thus feels more like Hitman 1.5 than a full-blown sequel. But that’s not a bad thing. By offering more of the deepest, fullest stealth sandboxes in gaming in one single package rather than six episodic ones, it earns its keep. The inclusion of Hitman (2016) is a bonus for those that didn’t catch the reboot initially. Here’s hoping they put more effort into the plot next time.