Since the franchise was rebooted a few years ago, Hitman has been going from strength to strength. With Hitman 3 surging past its predecessor in terms of sales earlier this year, it seems as though there is still a lot of life left in the series, even though the studio is taking a break from the capers of Agent 47 to concentrate on a new IP. However, despite the popularity of the reboot, there are some gamers who have been less than pleased with the 2016 installment, and have been making that known.
In a recent report from PC Gamer, users of Good Old Games, commonly known as GOG, have taken to the platform to express their frustration over Hitman, particularly the Game of the Year edition. Gamers have been review bombing the stealth title over the title's use of DRM. The issues stem from the fact that the game requires an always on connection, even when playing single player offline. As of this article going live, Hitman: GOTY is currently at 1.4 out of a possible five stars.
This makes it the lowest game in the series in terms of rating. Even Hitman: Absolution which is one of the weaker games in the franchise has four out of five stars. Even with the game being discounted to 70% off, GOG users are not pleased. The main issue, according to the report, is that it goes against the platform's stance against DRM, with one person saying that the game needing to be online all the time means it's "not DRM free in any meaningful sense." Some are also claiming false advertising, as the game page for Hitman: GOTY does indeed say that it's DRM-free, with "no activation or online connection required" to play.
This is also not the first time a game has been intentionally given low scores over similar issues. Recently, Arkane Studio's time loop action game Deathloop was getting review bombed on Steam, also over DRM. However, in Deathloop's case, it was mainly over the PC version of the game experiencing a lot of stuttering, with many placing the blame on DRM software that was built into it.
Currently, GOG has not issued a statement on whether it will overturn this decision. The platform is often seen as something of an alternative to some of the other download clients, such as Steam or Epic. GOG also has a reputation for giving away free games, so it would be a shame for its name to be tarnished over something the community seems passionate about.
Hitman: GOTY is currently available on GOG.com at a discount.