What's Next For Hitman? Disc Release Due in January 2017

After stalking the corridors of Paris's Palais de Walewska in Hitman's first episode and rinsing everything that Hitman's Intro Pack has to offer, what's next for Agent 47? Well, the next five sandbox locations, of course. IO will be whisking players away on a globetrotting killing spree, heading to Italy next month, before taking you to the streets of Marrakesh and then to Japan, USA and finally Thailand.

We've recently seen and played the game's second Sapienza mission, and the location couldn't be more of a departure from the bustling crowds of the Sanguine fashion show in Paris. A sleepy coastal town, Sapienza is a sun-drenched environ in which citizens slowly go about their business, while you formulate a plan to enter the mansion house, where one of your targets awaits.

A celebrated scientist, Silvio Caruso is your primary target, as the mastermind behind the synthesis of a deadly virus, which you also have to track down and destroy. Naturally, a number of opportunities and approaches are open to 47, some of which you might find tucked away down the serpentine alleyways and side streets of the town, or perhaps in one of the shops, by the piazza or in the confines of the rustic church nestled by the idyllic sandy beach. As you progress, you can also visit an observatory, a network of catacombs and a secret biohazard lab where the virus is being stored. It's a pretty expansive level.

From the sunny climes of Sapienza, Hitman will then be journeying to Marrakesh, Morocco where unrest on the streets is indicative of a military coup about to erupt into chaos. Buzzing with people roaming to and fro between the Moroccan market stalls, Marrakesh brings about a wholly different kind of energy and atmosphere to the Prologue, Paris and Sapienza contracts, demonstrating that IO is taking steps to ensure that each location looks and feels like something fresh and new.

Marrakesh also presents a range of interesting challenges to tackle with a location that's larger in scale than anything else revealed so far. Factor in some of the high security facilities you'll have to infiltrate, like the consulate where a Swedish banker convicted of fraud that you need to bump off resides, and Marrakesh is going to be a potentially tough contract that Hitman purists should relish. Just wait until you have to take down the Army General too. That almost definitely won't be a cakewalk.

While we're unable to talk specifics regarding any of what we've seen or played thus far until next month, you can rest assured that Hitman is heading in the right direction. The episodic structure may be an annoyance for some, but it looks like it's all going to be well worth the wait. And if you want the full Hitman experience on a disc, you'll be waiting until January 2017.

The Sapienza contract will be coming to Hitman in April. You can read our review impressions on the Hitman Intro Pack here.