Technology
The mobile version of the stealth action game is now coming bak to roots, albeit with its new look aand feel.
Updated : Mar 12, 2018, 04:22 AM IST
Stealth action game franchise Hitman enjoyed a successful Android and iOS debut in 2014 with custom-built title Hitman GO, and it now joins a number of other board-game inspired experiences on PC and console with a February 23 release across PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and Windows PC.
Hitman GO is one of a number of recent releases that, without being direct conversions of board games, make use of very similar foundations. The tell-tale layout of a play area, the reproduction of tactility, the retention of dice, cards, and counters to indicate movement and progression are all hallmarks of a video game with overtly traditional roots. Hitman GO, for its part, acknowledged these factors with a skeuomorphic design reminiscent of vintage game compendiums, packaging, and architectural scale models. Detailed art and kinetic sound effects contrasted with a more minimalistic approach to animation and movement, as players sneak around luxury locations, closing in on a well-guarded target.
Armello, a 2015 release that launched not only on Android and iOS but also PC and the PS4, took a similar idea even further. Set in a fantasy land populated by animal serfs and kings, a lush landscape complimented rather than obscured its board game foundations, as players trotted around each kingdom, picking cards and throwing dice as they went. Card Hunter, first available as a browser game before a mid-2015 release as a Mac and Windows standalone, committed even further to the board game aesthetic. As its title indicates, the collection and dispersion of cards was central to the dungeon-crawling adventure but, in mimicry of a Dungeons & Dragons tabletop setup, each level is shown as an isometric, tiled board, its characters closely modelled on the plastic-and-card counters that role playing gamers would easily recognise.
For a different approach, see Nintendo's Mario Party series, which reached its tenth edition in 2015 with a Wii U release. Its Party Mode has up to four players -- each a franchise Mario character -- travelling around a board together, venturing into a panoply of mini-games that prefer frantic, button-pummeling action to dice, cards, and static counters.
And speaking of action, Hitman GO, a well-received success on Android and iOS, is the first of Square Enix's console and PC franchises to have been transformed into something a little more sedate, but not the last.
Lara Croft GO, based on the Tomb Raider franchise, picked up the baton in August 2015, and the award-winning mobile download may yet see an even wider release should Hitman GO be welcomed on console and PC as it was on more portable formats.