Leaked Hitman footage is real, but devs say it's already looking better

Update: Hitman community manager Travis Barbour handled the leaked gameplay footage about as gracefully as possible, saying on Twitter that the game has improved quite a bit from this early build.

That's easy enough to say, of course, but it's pretty exciting if true - Hitman's already looking nice in this early, not-meant-for-public-consumption footage.

Original story: There's been a lot of talk about how the new Hitman game will return the series to its roots - now there's a lot of leaked, alpha build gameplay to back up that claim. Some sort of covert agent has put up a series of clips, detailing what looks like progress through a single mission, from briefing to execution.

Basically, it looks like Hitman, and that's a very good thing. We see a detailed loadout screen (including the choice to use an Emetic Poison, which sounds like a lot of fun), disguises, improvised weapons (a crowbar as a garrote! A screwdriver as a throwing knife!), environmental skulduggery, and, in time-honoured Hitman style, lots and lots of rich people to terrify.

Of course, by the time you're reading this, all of the videos may well have been taken down - so here are some gifs depicting a few of my favourite moments, including a beautifully stylish weapon selection wheel:

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