If you’ve ever had the inexplicable urge to tool up and hunt down Gary Busey – and apparently a lot of people do – then IO interactive and Square Enix have got you covered with Hitman.
There was a fan vote-off between Gary Cole and Gary Busey among Hitman fans as to which one of them would make an appearance as a rare assassination target in IO Interactive’s action game; Busey won. Now, starting at 14:00 CEST / 05:00 PDT on Thursday July 21st, Hitman will be updated to include the new contract. Appearing as an Elusive Target in-game, Gary “The Wildcard” Busey will be in the cross-hairs.
He will be thrown into the Hitman’s second level, the beautiful Italian coastal town of Sapienza. Players will have seven full days – 168 hours in total – to take Busey down. You will have to be well prepared for the task at hand; there will be no second chances at the mark. If you fail, if he runs, he’s gone forever. The Elusive Target system effectively acts as the highest difficulty challenge run in Hitman.
This sort of playful engagement with the community is precisely what Square Enix has been keen to engage in, and it is something that stems from their episodic approach. The format has allowed the developers at IO to ensure that people make the most out of the levels, trying multiple solutions and being encouraged to explore.
Events like this breathe some interesting life into the game. It is easy for core series fans to feel hard done by given the new structure: being used to having an entire game to play around with and then being spoon-fed content is a tough sell for the converted. So it’s nice to see the format being played around with and to have creative new ways to play is reassuring.
