Hitman 2's July roadmap targets musicians

Hitman 2 is preparing for a hot, loud summer full of killer musicians and killing musicians, kicking off tomorrow, July 4, with The Babayeva Dissonance. It's an escalation contract where you'll be blowing up a noisy band on the Isle of Sgail. Agent 47 apparently doesn't appreciate a good tune.

On July 4, Agent 47—no doubt wracked with guilt over the last contract—will try to make amends by joining a band himself. The 'I'm with the Band' challenge pack will make you the newest member of the Santa Fortuna band and give you five band-related challenges to complete. Success means you get your very own violin.

July 18's featured contracts will carry on the musical theme, with Io asking for submissions that fit the theme of 'tone death'. You've got until July 15 to submit your entry, and the best of the bunch will appear a few days later. The next day, you'll also get another crack at the Badboy elusive target, but you'll need to the Legacy Pack if you want to give it a shot.

Another escalation contract will appear on July 25, sending you back to Santa Fortuna to blow more stuff up. Completing the Calvino Cacophony escalation with net you the Hot Summer Suit, which makes Agent 47 look like a serial killer on his holiday. It suits him.

Finally, on July 30 Hawke's Bay will be added to contract mode, and anyone with a free IOI account will get a trio of anniversary outfits. If you've got the expansion pass, you'll also get the second Sniper Assassin map, sending you to an extremely chilly prison. Mastering this map will unlock the Druzhina 34 ICA Arctic sniper rifle. A game update will drop on the same day.

Busy July for assassins, then. Do assassins take holidays, I wonder, or is it just working holidays? I get it—it's hard to escape work when your attached to your phone or, indeed, your silenced pistol.

The first mission will appear tomorrow, July 4.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.