History VideoGame / Hitman2

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Killing Alma by poisoning her tea that Orson makes for her counts as this. You're given the option to either poison the sugar or the honey that's on the counter. However, the game will make a note of whatever ingredient you've poisoned, and Alma will always pick the one that hasn't been poisoned (or the least-lethal option), making lethally poisoning the sugar or honey in advance (before the militia arrives at the house) impossible without having two lethal poisons on hand.

** One of the guard conversations outside the house mentions Berg, Rose, Graves and Parvati, all militia members that 47 took down in ''(2016)''.
** When talking about Mr. Donavans' wife and children (whom she kidnapped to blackmail him), she mentions that The Shadow Client doesn't like collateral damage and are to set them free on her word. This is in reference to ''ComicBook/Agent47BirthOfTheHitman'', where 47 kills the Technician that made their clone implants, and subsequently makes a clone implant nullifier for when he raids The Institute. 47 kills him in order to tie up loose ends; [[spoiler:6 (The Shadow Client) berates 47 for taking the easy way out]].

** 47 snarkily mentions "Sodors would've been proud" in his phone call with Diana in the cutscene after this mission. Soders was a target in ''(2016)'' because of his treachery with being aligned with Providence while working at the ICA.

** Eugene Cobb (who went missing before the events of the game).
** Thomas Cross (Father of Jordan Cross, the target in Bangkok, who was killed specifically so the Shadow Client could draw him out to kill him and take all his hidden money in offshore accounts).
** A woman from Blue Seed Pharmaceuticals (Blue Seed were first introduced in Colorado, and were the main antagonists in the ''ComicBook/Agent47BirthOfTheHitman'' comic; the hit itself may be in reference to Cheryl Franklin, whose final fate was left ambiguous, and who may or not have been killed by Grey).

* CuttingOffTheBranches: However the player completed Colorado in ''2016'', 47 canonically didn't use any method that raised the alarm (which means no exploding watches or public accidents).

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The reason Diana helps 47 uncover his past is because she "knows what its like to have everything taken away from her". This becomes relevant in the Cutscene after Columbia, where a flashback shows Diana's parents dying to an exploding car.

* ProperlyParanoid: Some of the guards are talking about the previous games' Colorado mission and how 47 managed to get into the compound and leave without a trace, all without raising the alarm, and is justifiably worried for his life that 47 could be anyone, anywhere.

* TutorialLevel: Similar to the Agency Training missions in ''2016'', this is low-stakes, low-threat mission with few disguises and a limited number of entry points into the house in order to show the player both the sandbox-esque level design and some of the things they're able to do. This level also introduces some of the new concepts to work with, such as tall grass and working mirrors.

* DoubleMeaningName: The mission name refers to the titular Haven Island resort, in addition to 47 obtaining the Partners' new identities before Haven removes them.

** When Heidi Santoro speaks to Sierra in the Driver's Lounge about Jordan Cross's funeral, they bring up Abel De Silva, and how he never remembered anything from creating the "Are We Stars" track back in the Himmapan Hotel in Bangkok, with him apparently waking up in his hotel room after blacking out mysteriously. This confirms that Abel was knocked out by 47, but not necessarily MuggedForDisguise, as Heidi never mentions him being in his boxers, just that he felt really tired.

* MeaningfulName: The mission name references The Maelstrom's secrecy.

* MeaningfulName: The mission's name is based on "A New Life" from ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]''. It also refers to Janus, who is an ex-spymaster now living an ordinary life in suburbia.

* MeaningfulName: The Escalation name is called "The Mills Reverie". "Reverie" meaning to daydream.

** "The Batty Tranquility" has 47 repeatedly pacifying James Batty, as well as later targets, while disguised as the mailman. The Tranquility portion refers to the mailman complaining about Batty's annoyance with Janus, and James is constant perstering them about it.

-->'''Diana:''' Mr Edwards; still think this is maintenance?

* CuttingOffTheBranches: A patron discussing how he attended the Heaven and Hell party in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' canonically confirms that Vaana Ketlyn was eaten by a shark.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: When Heidi Santoro speaks to Sierra in the Driver's Lounge about Jordan Cross's funeral, they bring up Abel De Silva, and how he never remembered anything from creating the "Are We Stars" track back in the Himmapan Hotel in Bangkok, with him apparently waking up in his hotel room after blacking out mysteriously. This confirms that Abel was knocked out by 47, but not necessarily MuggedForDisguise, as Heidi never mentions him being in his boxers, just that he felt really tired.

A few months before the game's release, a prequel comicbook series was finished up, which serves as an OriginStory for 47 and Diana, titled ''ComicBook/Agent47BirthOfTheHitman'', which had Diana struggling to cope with the loss of her parents, while 47 finds out about himself and the world, all while taking down "The Institute for Human Betterment". The comic series is closely linked to this game, and thus has a lot of [[CallForward Call-forwards]] that makes this game's plot easier to understand than without it.

* IslandOfMystery: It's described as being one of the most secretive places in the world.

''Hitman 2'' had six locations at launch, but unlike its predecessor's [[EpisodicGame episodic]] release schedule that released them over a period of months, they were all available when the game was released. Said locations are a luxurious beach mansion in Hawke's Bay, UsefulNotes/NewZealand; a racing circuit in UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, USA; a village in the rainforests of UsefulNotes/{{Colombia}}; the slums of UsefulNotes/{{Mumbai}}, India; a quiet suburb in Vermont, USA; and a mysterious island in the North Atlantic. Some of these locations are [[SerialEscalation even larger]] than ones featured in past ''Hitman'' games. An expansion pass added two more missions: A large bank in UsefulNotes/{{New York}}, and an island resort in [[UsefulNotes/{{Maldives}} the Maldives]], with both continuing the story from the base game's missions.

* EvilIsPetty: The investment banker Savalas fires met all his quotas - the primary reason she gives for his termination is ''[[DisproportionateRetribution his dress sense]]'', since this particular employee wore jeans and a knitted sweater to work.

* ImStandingRightHere: If 47 disguises as Janus' nurse and begins their session, Janus will reminisce about how he "reminds" him of a boy he met in Romania while [[spoiler:overseeing Ort-Meyer's project. When 47 asks about what happened to him, he assumes he’s dead.

** The title is a reference to the similarly suburban-themed level: "A New Life", a fan favorite level from VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney.
** Nolan Cassidy's briefing notes that he was on duty in the White House during Vice President Daniel Morris' assassination.
** The cutscenes that play before this level make direct references to events previously only shown in the comic book ''[[ComicBook/Agent47BirthOfTheHitman Birth of the Hitman]]'':
*** The reveal that Lucas Grey is [[spoiler:also an Ort-Meyer clone named Subject 6, who became friends with 47 to take down [[BlatantLies "The Institute for Human Betterment"]], as well as Providence. 47 finally recognises him by quoting their mantra in the cutscene ("To take them all down"). The only reason they fail is because 47 and 6 didn't expect Ort-Meyer to be so well armed and CrazyPrepared for their betrayal, and after an unsuccessful raid on the facility, 6 escapes under the advice of 47, and 47 and the rest of the clones have their memories of 6 and the raid altered; Ort-Meyer plants the false memory of [[Literature/{{Hitman}} 6 being killed when they were younger]], when in fact 47 and 6 were nothing but loyal to each other. This also establishes that "The Minnulescu Incident" is the same one described by Grey in Colorado's final cutscene]].

* ImStandingRightHere: If 47 disguises as Janus' doctor and begins their session, Janus will reminisce about how he "reminds" him of a boy he met in Romania while overseeing Ort-Meyer's project. When 47 asks about what happened to him, he assumes he’s dead.

* {{Retcon}}: One that resolves an [[PlotHole inconsistency]] from the ''Birth of the Hitman'' comic. The "Homecoming" cinematic [[spoiler:has 47 (unknowingly) revisit The Institute for Human Betterment to confront Grey, with Diana noting that the building burned down in 1989; the following cinematic ("Long Shot") has Grey explicitly ''naming'' The Institute as where 47 and Grey's siege takes place. This fixes two inconsistencies: One, where the comic not only showed a fire taking place before the siege right at the end of Issue 1; this game rules that that specific fire is not the one Diana is talking about, she's unknowingly talking about the Siege on the building by 6 and 47. The other retcon being that the comic would still show The Insititute, and 47 would still call it that several years after the siege. This game changes those panels to take place at the Satu Mare Facility, and that 47 has no memory of the ''other'' Institute since "the wipe", and is merely commenting on the age of the building]].

* FakeBalance:
** The ICA Electrocution Phone. It can flawlessly kill the person who picks it up, and it counts as an accident, meaning the bodies found score is not affected. ''When VideoGame/Hitman3'' was released, the phone was removed (making it the only weapon in the trilogy to have been removed because of balance).
** Lethal Poison. A positive example as players find it acceptable for it to be incredibly overpowered (kills someone and does not count towards Bodies Found score, and rarely do guards investigate deaths of this nature) and the developers have not done much balancing done to curb its use (if anything, the game ''actively encourages poison kills'' with challenges), besides delaying when targets eat food or drink tea. It's one of the few AcceptableBreaksFromReality, as Poison would otherwise fall under CripplingOverspecialisation, and nobody would ever use it.

This game, alongside ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', is set to be de-listed on all storefronts on January 26th, 2023, as ''VideoGame/{{Hitman 3}}'' was rebranded as "Hitman - World of Assassination", which imports these levels for free[[labelnote:*]]All the base levels from this game are included for free, but not the DLC levels; that requires the more expensive Deluxe Edition of the game[[/labelnote]] regardless of game ownership. The move was done to avoid customer confusion that had plagued the latter two games' life on getting these levels' DLC packs. No word on the servers being shut down, however.

This game, alongside ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', is set to be de-listed on all storefronts on January 26th, 2023, as ''VideoGame/Hitman 3'' was rebranded as "Hitman - World of Assassination", which imports these levels for free[[labelnote:*]]All the base levels from this game are included for free, but not the DLC levels; that requires the more expensive Deluxe Edition of the game[[/note]] regardless of game ownership. The move was done to avoid customer confusion that had plagued the latter two games' life on getting these levels' DLC packs. No word on the servers being shut down, however.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Following ''Hitman'''s lead, this game is presumably set in the early/mid-2020s.

* AsbestosFreeCereal: Galen advertises Atlantide as being "Demineralized Saltwater" to his clients. As 47 points out, "Demineralized Saltwater" literally means regular water.

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: During Galen's meeting with the mailman, he tells him that his chronic illness can be cured by during "four litres of Demineralized Saltwater" a day. 47 points out that demineralized saltwater is simply just plain water, only for Galen to continue his ruse and state that it's water closer to how it was centuries ago.

** The briefing is shot in the style of the "Patient Zero" cinematic, which includes not only the plane that 47 uses to get around, but 47 disassembling and reassembling his pistol, which is also something he did during those briefings. It also appears to be rendered in-engine, as it foregoes Hitman 2's other cinematic technique of moving stills, and has gone back to using 2016-style full motion video.

* PlotDevice: The data core server rack. [[spoiler:Olivia needs to track down the names of The Partners accounts]], and the data on that server rack is needed. Interestingly, the internal name for the data core lists it as a "{{Macguffin}}", which [[Website/ThisVeryWiki by this wiki's]] definition, it fails to qualify as one (the data rack is not a random object that could be swapped out easily for anything else, and while it’s valuable, it's only desirable to the group as the data on the server rack is directly involved in setting up HAVEN Island's events, and is thus unique and necessary to further the story; therefore nothing else can replace it).

*** Alternatively, if you start as a street vendor, the Maelstrom will always be the first NPC who crosses the bridge and right into your path. Just add a little, ahem, [[DeadlyEuphemism spice]] to your wares and offer your unsuspecting target a sample.
** In addition to being [[Funny/Hitman2 hilariously]] [[Awesome/Hitman2 over-the-top]], the runaway train presents an extremely simple and completely risk-free means of eliminating Vanya Shah, plus the Maelstrom too if you've already taken out Rangan and swipped the Kashmirian's contract info to set up a meeting between the two. Both the train switch and one of the levers you can use to turn it are located on the very edges of the trainyard, allowing you to redirect the train without ever needing to infiltrate Shah's compound. It even provides you with an easy level exit.
** An easy way of eliminating both Dawood and Vanya is by summoning them to the old boathouse and dropping a boat on them. This can be done by placing a brick in the metal shop's furnace and taking out the two thugs watching over the boat.

Officially, Roman Khabko, a notorious Ukrainian/Russian mobster, is a prisoner at the privately-owned Perm-14 prison on the Siberian tundra for the last decade; unofficially, however, he has acted as second-in-command to its warden, Vitaly Reznikov. However, Khabko, now itching to break free, is set to bribe Reznikov into giving him an earlier release, which couldn't have come at a better time for the warden, what with Perm-14 increasingly coming under scrutiny from the United Nations Human Rights Council over leaked allegations of violence and bloodshed occurring on a daily basis. As Khabko's release could spark a massive diplomatic row, the clients wants both him and Reznikov dead, alongside the latter's private security, the Siberian Tigers. In addition, the client wants to cover your tracks; and with the agitation of the prisoners reaching breaking point, a prison riot could easily be provoked...

Dmitri Federov is a Russian businessman notorious for his infamously unsafe fireworks factories; after narrowly surviving an [[LaserGuidedKarma accident involving said fireworks]] which resulted in 26 deaths, he is brought to the GAMA hospital in Hokkaido, intending to flee to the Bahamas afterwards. His surviving workers, however, caught wind of his plans, and has now contacted the ICA to make sure he will ''never'' leave Hokkaido alive.

* LaserGuidedKarma: He get's caught in an accident involving fireworks at one of his firework factories. Even Diana labels it "Poetic Justice".

* InformedAbility: He is said to be an expert hunter and Diana even warns 47 that he is used to hunting predators... yet like all other targets, he doesn't carry a gun.

47 is sent to Miami to eliminate Ajit "AJ" Krish, the head of Atlantide, a multi-level marketing scam based around selling bottled water with supposedly miraculous medicinal properties. He is currently at the Global Innovation Race, trying to convince a famous race driver into endorsing his product.

Inspection of Ajit Krish's phone records have exposed the true head of Atlantide: Galen Vholes, an alternative medicine peddler. He is currently lying low in Whittleton Creek where he has set up a private practice despite his utter lack of qualifications. You must eliminate Vholes to take down Atlantide once and for all.

* AsbestosFreeCereal: Galen advertises Atlantide as being "demineralized saltwater" to his clients. As 47 points out, "demineralized saltwater" literally means regular water.

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: During Galen's meeting with the mailman, he tells him that his chronic illness can be cured by during "four litres of demineralized saltwater" a day. 47 points out that demineralized saltwater is simply just plain water, only for Galen to continue his ruse and state that it's water closer to how it was centuries ago.

** You can kill Galen while disguised as the mailman, who he was planning to have be the latest victim of his scam.

* {{Tontine}}: After robbing a dangerous organized crime group and facing retaliation, the Yardbirds decided to hide the loot and give it to the last surviving member since by then the heat will have died. Naturally, your client is one of the Yardbirds and [[InheritanceMurder wants the others eliminated to claim the money]].

Two days ago, Han Ldong, former national poet of Khandanyang turned defector, was kidnapped with his wife Mina from their hideout in the USA by agents of the Heavenly Guard, the military elite of Khandanyang, where they will be smuggled back to face public execution as part of the birthday celebrations of Khandanyang's dictator, Sun Po. In the meantime, the hostage group made a stopover at Hantu Port in Singapore, where the Ldongs will be secured by three of the Heavenly Guard's top officers: Col. Jin Noo, "The Blade"; Capt. Lom Khwai, "Dragon Eye"; and Capt. Re Thak, "Spider Lily". The United Nations, which had been the Ldongs' protecting power ever since Han defected during a UN meeting, has now contacted the ICA to eliminate the three officers and the Heavenly Guard agents on site at Singapore, while keeping the Ldongs alive, as they also have standing orders to immediately execute the hostages at the first sign of trouble.

* StepfordSuburbia: Whittleton Creek looks like the perfect all-American suburb but contains a seedy underbelly underneat: Cassidy's crew of undercover bodyguards for Janus are everywhere and slowly taking over the town, one house has a marijuana grow-op clearly above legal limits, another house is for sale due to [[spoiler:the previous owner having been murdered there and contains a mysterious explosive-rigged vault which said owner was likely using for some unknown sinister purpose]], and the local sweet, muffin-baking granny [[spoiler:is a serial killer with a "murder basement", and sleeps with a pink handgun under her pillow]]. While some people are suspicious of the newest residents due to their secrecy and expensive furniture, they turn out to be the most normal people in the neighborhood.

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Olivia]] finally tracks down the names of the Partners but also notices that all their shares in Providence's financial assets have been transferred to [[spoiler:the Constant, who has just escaped from captivity. Meanwhile, Lucas lies to 47 about Olivia having told them everything has gone according to plan, implying that he and the Constant might be in cahoots.]]

* CollectionSidequest: There are a few challenges in this mission involving collecting specific things; Finding all 11 Haven pamphlets, finding all 8 pieces of intelligence, and finding all four hut keys.

** The Red light room in Tyson's private villa has a load of "The Icon" merchandise, such as a large figurine of Dino Bosco, various posters, and mugs.
** There is a small callback to the [[ComicBook/Agent47BirthOfTheHitman Birth of the Hitman comic series,]] where 47 and [[spoiler:Subject 6]] say the below as the last words of the cinematic, which was essentially their mantra from when they were younger to free themselves (and others) from "The Institute":

* PlotDevice: The data core server rack. [[spoiler:Olivia needs to track down the names of The Partners accounts]], and the data on that server rack is needed. Interestingly, the internal name for the data core lists it as a "{{Macguffin}}", which [[Website/ThisVeryWiki by this wiki's]] definition, it fails to qualify as one (the data rack is not a random object that could be swapped out easily for anything else, and while it is valuable, it's only desirable to the group as the data on the server rack is directly involved in setting up HAVEN Island's events, and is thus unique and necessary to further the story; therefore nothing else can replace it).

*** There is a "The Icon" poster showing off Dino Bosco's "Icon" superhero from the mission of the same name from ''2016''/Legacy Pack.