HITMAN 2
Agent 47’s adventures around the globe continue in the dramatic second entry of the World of Assassination trilogy. This part social simulation, sandbox puzzle game and murder simulator was a challenging but fulfilling first professional project in the games industry.
We were working in a co-development partnership with the team at IO Interactive where it was my responsibility to create and implement memorable cinematic kill animations for the Colombia and Isle of Sgàil levels which you can see a taste of in my showreel below.
Think Deadly
While working on HITMAN 2 my day to day responsibilities were animation planning and motion capture cleanup alongside cinematography and camera work for the signature kills and NPC animations. Additionally, I was trusted to work in IO Interactive’s bespoke engine Glacier to implement animation work, tagging animations, creating animation states machines and setting up animation sequences so design could drag and drop them into the game and they would work as intended.
Plotting The Kills
Having the rare opportunity to have animation ownership over an entire level of the game - Isle of Sgàil alongside being a contributor to the Colombia level allowed me to grow and develop my skills as an animator and give the set piece kills a cinematic edge and personal touch. These animations are a payoff for successful player pulling off a heist and had to be worked for, so time and care went into storyboarding, staging and cinematography before we went into the motion capture suite to film.
Leading The Charge
I took great pride in supporting the animation department and working across timezones under the team at IO Interactive. Despite joining as an intern and then being kept on as a junior animator at the time, my efforts on HITMAN 2 were recognised by MCV Develop’s 30 Under 30 award of which I was humbled to be nominated for by my peers for my work on this amazing project.
