HITMAN, the new episodic Hitman - GOTY Edition

[Roguey]

One of the potential upsides for the consumer with the episodic model is that there's a greater incentive on the developers' behalf of avoiding the unpolished-endgame scenario. Though it's still possible considering the inevitable sales fall-off (e.g. Josh Sawyer said that Dead Money outsold Honest Hearts outsold Old World Blues outsold Lonesome Road, so fan/critical reception doesn't matter when it comes to sales, only which came first).

 

[Excidium II]

I only buy when it's on sale anyway, doesn't matter to me.

 

[Carrion]

... well, it will work for Fallout, because it's just CoD now, but not for Witcher, which clings to the idea of non-linearity.

CDPR have managed to keep people talking about their game for over a year now by constantly updating it, improving it and listening to their fan base, so that everyone's super hyped for the second expansion pack which is coming out about this minute. You could say that they are doing the same thing as IOI are, releasing an unfinished game and then gradually improving it, but they've managed to do it without any of the negative publicity. They released a game that was full of content and perfectly playable on day one, and now they have a game that is even more playable and even fuller of content, and everyone from the fans to the media (duh) has been praising them for being total bros. I really don't see a single reason they would deviate from that model in the future.

 

[shihonage]

... well, it will work for Fallout, because it's just CoD now, but not for Witcher, which clings to the idea of non-linearity.

CDPR have managed to keep people talking about their game for over a year now by constantly updating it, improving it and listening to their fan base, so that everyone's super hyped for the second expansion pack which is coming out about this minute. You could say that they are doing the same thing as IOI are, releasing an unfinished game and then gradually improving it, but they've managed to do it without any of the negative publicity. They released a game that was full of content and perfectly playable on day one, and now they have a game that is even more playable and even fuller of content, and everyone from the fans to the media (duh) has been praising them for being total bros. I really don't see a single reason they would deviate from that model in the future.

Patches are not episodic content.

Expansion packs are not episodic content.

Expansion packs are actually the only proper way to add content to an open-world RPG, because it is a big chunk of data, where you add to everything at once, and can ensure interconnectedness between both within the new content, and between new content and legacy content.

DLC approach used by Bethesda/Black Isle for Fallout 3/NV is the wrong approach. THAT is the example of episodic content applied to a supposedly free-roaming RPG. You get these locked tunnel growths on the periphery of the world, self-contained "experiences" which are an antithesis to the concepts the rest of the game is built on. Due to being released at different points in time, the content inter-awareness is very limited, as well.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Josh Sawyer said that Dead Money outsold Honest Hearts outsold Old World Blues outsold Lonesome Road, so fan/critical reception doesn't matter when it comes to sales, only which came first.

That's not entirely conclusive though. There are many people (myself included) who would argue that Dead Money was the best of NV's DLC and that Lonesome Road was the worst.

 

[vmar]

Did they break this game with a patch or something? Last time I played, it was running at a stable 60fps, just tried to play Sapienza for the first time and could barely maintain 30fps on medium settings.

I know its not an issue with my pc, everything is working fine.

 

[Carrion]

Patches are not episodic content.

Expansion packs are not episodic content.

I agree with you. The point was that CDPR have managed to keep people talking about their game without alienating their fan base or gaining any negative publicity, whereas IOI are supposedly trying to achieve the same thing by going for episodic content, and they're deservedly getting some shit for it. It is very much possible to keep even a single player game relevant for a long period of time as long as you don't abandon it right after you've got it released. I can understand that there were financial reasons for going episodic with the new Hitman, but it'd be more acceptable to just admit it instead of making up some bullshit about how it's some ingenuous new business decision that everyone will want to copy in the future.

 

[PowerTorment]

I can understand that there were financial reasons for going episodic with the new Hitman, but it'd be more acceptable to just admit it instead of making up some bullshit about how it's some ingenuous new business decision that everyone will want to copy in the future.

Are you talking about our marketing department? Because I just admitted it a page back or so.

 

[Drakron]

You mean the ... "And I can tell you, HITMAN is breaking new ground with this experiment with episodic games in the AAA single player space."?

Yes you did but here is teh thing, Telltales being doing that since 2006, its NOT BREAKING NEW GROUNDS and lets not even go about who started this, Valve with Half-Life 2 ... still waiting for Episode 3, you cannot really get more AAA single player space that motherfucking Half-Life 2.

Telltales being doing it pretty much for their entire existence, its not a experiment when you have another company that did it 12 years ago and another that been doing it for the past decade, its just taking note of what others have been doing and then doing it yourselves.

For the record I dont think the model by itself is bad and might work on Hitman buts not braving new grounds.

 

[an Administrator]

And I can tell you, HITMAN is breaking new ground with this experiment with episodic games in the AAA single player space. If it is a success I guarantee you that more games will follow. Even Fallout or Witcher. The only way to stop it is to tell everybody to not buy the game.

It mostly makes sense in Hitman, not a game like Witcher! Witcher series is just following a same structure while IO-Interactive is developing a much more complicated and experimental game. I think it fits the theme of Hitman, one main contract a month feels authentic.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

I think it fits the theme of Hitman, one main contract a month feels authentic.

Authentic Hitman Experience™

 

[Multidirectional]

That's what people play video games for - authentic experiences.

 

[Vibalist]

So, the new level is out. Bought it, but can't concentrate on playing it right now. Has anyone tried it?

 

[an Administrator]

 

[an Administrator]

So, the new level is out. Bought it, but can't concentrate on playing it right now. Has anyone tried it?

From what i heard people mostly complain about the awful voice acting.

 

[Vibalist]

Well, if that's their biggest complaint.

 

[Gerrard]

Bald Luchadore is not a hitman game

You realize that you could do that in 2, Contracts and Blood Money as well, right?

 

[SwiftCrack]

Touche.

But in Bald Luchadore that's the only fun path you can take in the game.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Oh, and since this is Codex, I now expect trolling and hate.. Bring it on!

I'm glad you made the game this way. I like it. I like it more than 98% of the members of this website. It suits me well and knowing myself, I never would have tried to squeeze every angle out of each map as I have thus far. Cheers and keep up the good work!

(I'm doing it wrong)

 

[Vibalist]

Hey PowerTorment . Why is the new level so linear?

 

[an Administrator]

To keep people talking about the linearity of the episode. You know, its good for business.

 

[shihonage]

It suits me well and knowing myself, I never would have tried to squeeze every angle out of each map as I have thus far. Cheers and keep up the good work!

(I'm doing it wrong)

Note to self: release next game with month-long unlock timer between levels.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Note to self: release next game with month-long unlock timer between levels.

Perhaps. I have nothing against the idea in theory, as long as it suits the game. An arbitrarily-assigned month-long wait wouldn't make sense to me. A month-long wait to force gamers into trying to accomplish the same goal a number of different ways while piecing together bits of story along the way? All for it. Have at it, bruh.

 

[shihonage]

Note to self: release next game with month-long unlock timer between levels.

Perhaps. I have nothing against the idea in theory, as long as it suits the game. An arbitrarily-assigned month-long wait wouldn't make sense to me. A month-long wait to force gamers into trying to accomplish the same goal a number of different ways while piecing together bits of story along the way? All for it. Have at it, bruh.

Well - I'm never going to do it, because the players can choose to obsess over a game level, over and over, and have done so for decades without any retarded "episodic release" schemes. Choosing an episodic release scheme removes freedom from player's decision-making as a consumer, rather than adding anything of value.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Disagree, for myself personally at least. This is literally the only time in the history of gaming (I grew up with C64 and Atari 2600, if you want to guess my age) that I am thankful for said release structure. Each level/map would have been approached maybe a couple times at best. I certainly didn't squeeze as much out of previous Hitman games and I would have missed a whole lot that this current game has to offer, and I'm pretty grateful for it. I can understand that not everybody feels this way, but it also makes quite a lot of sense for the format and what seems like the intended approach to the game.