Can the Nintendo Switch 2 handle Hitman: World of Assassination?

Of all the games being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, there are perhaps a handful where there is a degree of skepticism about how they run and perform on the hybrid successor system. Cyberpunk 2077, Street Fighter 6, Hogwarts Legacy, Batman: Arkham Knight, Split Fiction, and even IO Interactive ‘s stealth action whopper, Hitman: World of Assassination. It’s the latest game to be the topic of conversation today, a project I’ve enjoyed working on again to put Agent 47 through the ringer on his new home.

First of all, I want to gloss over the fact that Hitman: World of Assassination constitutes Hitman 1, 2 and 3, meaning there is content here from nearly a decade of video games. This does mean it’s a bit more forgiving, since we’re not talking about a game made only for consoles of the current generation. Still, anyone who has played Hitman on PC knows that this series can be quite demanding from a performance standpoint, as IO likes to push the limits visually and mechanically. Also, Hitman 3 has previously launched on Switch, but that was a Cloud -version of the game, so this native edition, running on the Switch 2 architecture, is a completely different beast…. And it shows.

The big question going into Hitman on Switch 2 undoubtedly surrounds the performance. Obviously visuals will be a point of contention, but you can cram a lot of stunning visuals on screen and balance it with poor performance, and this is probably a fear many would attribute to this port. Those fears are misplaced. Hitman runs like a dream on Switch 2, both in the dock and in the handheld. No, it’s nowhere near as smooth as running at 180 fps on a battlestation PC, but you do get a mostly consistent frame rate of around 60 fps, combined with visuals that don’t betray the excellent game on a TV or on the smaller handheld screen. Sure, it sometimes lacks a bit of depth in color and in the HDR range, but this is not nearly enough to make this feel and look like a bad port from a performance perspective.

In terms of gameplay, on a Pro Controller and or using the Joy-Cons controller attachment to play when docked, Hitman also works like a charm. There’s never a problem with steering Agent 47 around, and since this game tends to play slower, you don’t have to worry about missing a bit of precision and speed when aiming at distance, as it’s usually not necessary. Other aiming systems, for throwing objects and the like, and every other interaction mechanism work smoothly and never betray the fact that you are playing on a console that can also just be lifted out of the dock to continue elsewhere. In the handheld, the mechanics are a bit stiffer and more challenging to master, especially since Hitman requires patience and hits when the moment is right, and this means that carrying the weight of the Switch 2 for hours on end can get a bit tiring, while aiming at Joy-Con’s joysticks while supporting the Switch 2 is a bit of a nightmare. But this is more of a handheld problem than a Hitman -specific one.

As for what you get in this version of the game, it is perhaps one of the most stocked titles on the eShop to date. Again, World of Assassination is not just Hitman, it’s all three games and all the DLC they offered as well. It’s also the addition of the online suite and that means new Elusive Targets and quests, such as the recently launched Mads Mikkelsen LeChiffre mission, are accessible to further fill your time. There is frankly a terrifying amount of content to chew through, so much so that in a £70 world of games, Hitman: World of Assassination priced at £55 is almost a bargain for anyone who has never experienced this epic series.

It’s worth saying, however, that Hitman can be quite a thirsty game. The Switch 2’s battery life is good at the best of times, so much so that you can traditionally expect about four hours of play time when on the go. When playing Hitman, this seems to drop further, as the hardware needs more juice to support the intricacies of the project, which can sometimes, as in the gameplay below, have hundreds of NPCs on screen at once.

But this aside, the Nintendo Switch 2 actually handles Hitman: World of Assassination with grace and general ease. Again, we’re not talking about a brand new game here, but Hitman has never been a breeze to run, and the fact that Switch 2 can support and play the game smoothly when both docked and handheld is also a triumph for both IO and Nintendo. I wouldn’t regret recommending this game to Switch 2 fans who want to live a day in Agent 47’s shoes.