Hitman: World of Asssassination may perhaps be one of the most ambitious games ever designed. Told across three games and more than fifteen locations, Hitman is an ever-expanding sandbox that rewards players for learning its elaborate stages in and out. The game makes paying attention to details matter as you will become bolder and more elaborate in your high-level executions. The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally graced with a proper port of the game, after the disappointing Cloud version of Hitman 3 on the original Switch. So it is time to once again adorn the suit and adopt your killing ways as Agent 47 in this Signature Edition.

For those unaware, Hitman: World of Assassination is the collective name for the games Hitman, Hitman 2 and Hitman 3 which were released over the span of seven years. We wrote an extensive ‘Worth Considering’ video about it before, so for all the details on what this collection contains, we recommend you check that one out. Every location in Hitman sees you carrying out a mission where you’ll need to take out one or multiple targets as efficiently as possible. Whether this is poisoning the drink of your victim, or arranging an elaborate setup where you don the guise of a bodyguard and stalk them until you find an opening to push them off a ledge, or shoot them from afar with your sniper rifle.

What makes Hitman so effective is that it combines stealth elements with an immersive sim as the world around you will react and respond to your actions. Not just when you’re seen dragging off an unconscious guard, but also by encouraging you to mingle among the targets. Whether it is replacing a golf-ball about to be hit with an explosive. Setting up an elaborate trap by rigging a vehicle about to be driven by your unsuspecting victim or disguising yourself as a member of the band and electrocuting the microphone of the lead singer (Jared Leto had it coming). In-between these moments the game becomes far too often unintentionally comedic. Whether it is NPC that is too diligent at doing their job and coming into the bathroom where you’re trying to drown someone, or you simply messing up your well-prepared kill and needing to find an impromptu method of killing the target and drop a broken toilet bowl on his head. Or through the dozens of outfits, costumes, unique weapons and other methods of interacting with the world that feel rewarding.

That reward is often reinforced as replaying levels is the ultimate form of appreciating Hitman. Learning the inner workings of Berlin leads to you not only being able to optimize your run, but also to tackling higher level escalation missions. These are separate from the main story and have an ever evolving list of requirements that you’ll need to fulfill besides simply firing the killing shot. What if you’re dressed as a clown the entire time and aren’t allowed to change your outfit? You did that well enough? Cool, how about you also pop 5 balloons without people noticing? As you embrace the elaborate levels you’ll see how brilliant the game design under the hood is and perfect your skills. Where first you’ll need to don a security guard costume to delete the surveillance footage of the server, you can also open the door and in a split second aim your gun and shoot that server instead. It’s never flawless, but saving and restarting are key to becoming the master assassin that Agent 47 is. Levels are varied, gorgeously detailed and convey a sense of mystery and exploration as you find secret rooms, interconnected buildings and NPC disguises that are somehow capable of walking into your target’s room without drawing any attention. This deeply layered system is something you simply cannot get anywhere else.

So I was ecstatic when Hitman was announced for Nintendo Switch 2. While the core experience is absolutely still enjoyable, it is disappointing that this version of the game is unable to keep pace with either the Steamdeck or other releases. Framerate drops are common, especially when entering areas with a high density of NPC’s. It never drops below the double digits, but shimmering between 20 and 40 happened far too often for my liking. We did want to compare the version of Hitman for the Nintendo Switch 2 with the PC version running at 1080p on slightly outdated hardware.

I wish it were possible to toggle to a performance mode, because while the game is designed for visual fidelity, I’d rather take that consistent framerate if possible. But the game lacks any graphical settings that might’ve made this a feature. For a title that was released fully in 2022 it is kind of a shame that it still seems too much of a struggle for Nintendo’s brand new device.

I’d also be remiss to mention the Hitman server issue. See, Hitman has been required to run via dedicated servers ever since its launch. This online connection is used to keep track of your agent level and unlocks rewards for missions and goals. Without an online connection the game shifts to offline mode, where progression is not tracked and rewards cannot be unlocked, even when you do reconnect to the servers at a later time. For a single player game that has been out for literal years this is still a big miss on IO Interactive and WB Games’ part. On the Nintendo Switch 2 this is a particular problem as every time you interrupt the game by suspending your system, or simply going to the home menu, or even losing your wi-fi connection because you’re taking the system with you on the go you will not get any XP or rewards for completing certain tasks. The offline mode removes any additional modes as well that aren’t part of the main story mode. Meaning that replaying levels is quite pointless as the rewards you get for these are absolutely necessary for completing the most difficult objectives. It would’ve been fine if progression for the Elusive Targets, Hitman’s live content mode that sees you having only one shot at completing a mission with a target that escapes forever otherwise, would be locked behind an online-only mode. But the Hitman server is seeped into every little bit of singleplayer mode as well and just makes an otherwise perfect game fall flat on its face.

Hitman: World of Asssassination reaffirms that it is the quintessential immersive sim from the last generation. There is something so satisfying about exploring and understanding these worlds, how the characters and targets fit together and the sheer sandbox that it becomes when every little aspect of the game can be used to complete your objectives. It is a shame then that the Nintendo Switch 2 version has to compromise on the performance aspect too often for my liking. A choice for fidelity or consistency would’ve been appreciated in the options of the Switch 2 version. For those with a spotty internet connection, or aspirations to play this on the go when you may be unable to get online, Hitman World of Assassination can be especially tedious for its required online features. The core game, its story and worlds are absolutely worth exploring, but the Nintendo Switch 2 version is heavily compromised. Perhaps it could be more effective to complete this game and mission while donning the guise of another games console.