HITMAN, the new episodic Hitman - GOTY Edition

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

Time to spend my jewgold.

 

[Abhay]

The ‘HITMAN Beta’ trailer is coming this weekend!

Source - Hitmanforum

 

[Immortal]

Why are people hyped for this?
It looks like they dropped the story and are pushing the contracts missions stuff really hard.

 

[sser]

What the fuck

So much for that purchase.

 

[Ivan]

Why are people hyped for this?
It looks like they dropped the story and are pushing the contracts missions stuff really hard.

Which is what made previous titles great. Who the fuck remembers the how and why of why you're in a particular mission in any Hitman game? I don't remember anything about the Meat King but damn was that an awesome party.

Greater emphasis on the sandbox is preferable to EMOSHUNAL Must Save Diana from D' Agency Story .

just my2 cents. I'm pretty excited about this.

Spoiler

will cd key it for 60% off on Day 1

 

[Roguey]

Blood Money had 11 real missions, this one will have six to start with, and assumingly six more after they release the second half of the game. They also felt it necessary to add a lot of systemic content to pad things out. Hitman: The Phantom Pain.

 

[Dzupakazul]

Blood Money had 11 real missions, this one will have six to start with

But wouldn't they'd be in a set of two, both in the same location? BM, going from a boat to a redneck wedding, Contracts/C47, going from biker gang dealings to a nuke, H2SA, going from a valley to a castle, I'd think it'd be more fun that way.

 

[Roguey]

Blood Money had 11 real missions, this one will have six to start with

But wouldn't they'd be in a set of two, both in the same location? BM, going from a boat to a redneck wedding, Contracts/C47, going from biker gang dealings to a nuke, H2SA, going from a valley to a castle, I'd think it'd be more fun that way.

The price of larger levels. I imagine it'll feel similar to the first two games where you had multiple missions linked together.

 

[an Administrator]

Why are people hyped for this?
It looks like they dropped the story and are pushing the contracts missions stuff really hard.

Because Hitman is not a game for storyfags. Absolution was crap because they emphasized on story.

 

[Carrion]

Which is what made previous titles great. Who the fuck remembers the how and why of why you're in a particular mission in any Hitman game?

Pretty much. Hitman's "story" works best when it's somewhere far in the background and doesn't interfere with the actual missions in any way, like in Blood Money which could've just been a collection of individual missions without anything of value being lost. Whenever they've tried to put some emphasis on story it has been an utter failure, already way back in Codename 47.

Hitman, for me, is a bald-headed guy walking around using disguises and killing things (preferably without anyone noticing it). Diana is the female voice that tells you who you need to kill. Everything else is superfluous.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Which is what made previous titles great. Who the fuck remembers the how and why of why you're in a particular mission in any Hitman game? I don't remember anything about the Meat King but damn was that an awesome party.

Greater emphasis on the sandbox is preferable to EMOSHUNAL Must Save Diana from D' Agency Story .

just my2 cents. I'm pretty excited about this.

Spoiler

will cd key it for 60% off on Day 1

I wish they would drop the pseudo B-movie story and the bald agents altogether and turn this into a series of spy missions, John Le Carre/Frederick Forsyth-style.

 

[Immortal]

Why are people hyped for this?
It looks like they dropped the story and are pushing the contracts missions stuff really hard.

Which is what made previous titles great. Who the fuck remembers the how and why of why you're in a particular mission in any Hitman game? I don't remember anything about the Meat King but damn was that an awesome party.

Greater emphasis on the sandbox is preferable to EMOSHUNAL Must Save Diana from D' Agency Story .

just my2 cents. I'm pretty excited about this.

Spoiler

will cd key it for 60% off on Day 1

Why are people hyped for this?
It looks like they dropped the story and are pushing the contracts missions stuff really hard.

Because Hitman is not a game for storyfags. Absolution was crap because they emphasized on story.

It's not the story I'm worried about - it's the level design.
Having one huge sandbox with random fucks to shoot is fucking boring. The level design is gonna be so sterile. Guaranteed you can't even go into any of those buildings either.

Just gonna be derping around like in Assassins creed wire choking people and shooting them.. maybe there will be gimmicky "ENVIRONMENTAL DEATH" Doodads spread around the map.

Like are you guys that fucking retarded that you thought I actually mean the story? Contracts is a gimmick at best - this game needs a "story mode" with hand crafted scenarios or it's gonna get stale in a few hours.

 

[Ivan]

Contracts facilitates player creativity though. I'm not saying it justifies bland level with easy solutions, but if you give me the Vegas level from BM and give me a new target with its own path, you could potentially be in for some new gameplay. What remains to be seen is how much effort they've gone into creating these optional hits. It could even be like Thief's "hard" system where you have to take out additional targets, sabotage, frame, etc.

 

[Immortal]

but if you give me the Vegas level from BM and give me a new target with its own path, you could potentially be in for some new gameplay.

What trailer were you watching? I just see Hitman Creed: Italy

 

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

Gotta say, I enjoyed Absolution, minus two aspects: 1) the AI was hideous to the point where they would pass dumpsters without checking them, so the old failsafe of hiding in a dumpster was never far away. 2) the "sense" aspect felt tacked on, just as bullet-time felt tacked on when everyone was emulating Max Payne. All of a sudden we have quest markers, and the open levels are superfluous, especially those taking place in crowds.

Mind you, I have never played another Hitman game. If they hold up this well, I may get my paws on Blood Money, just to see how much better it is than Absolution. As a complete beginner, I dug the gameplay, and found some of the levels--especially the ones emphasizing pot use, marijuana--really memorable. Some of the tongue in cheek had me practically on the floor. Setting off fireworks to draw attention, etc. The game was almost silly, at the same time taking itself seriously. I really dig this sort of humour.

 

[Carrion]

Like are you guys that fucking retarded that you thought I actually mean the story?

Why so defensive? You say "the story", people assume you mean the story. It's hardly surprising.

It's not the story I'm worried about - it's the level design.
Having one huge sandbox with random fucks to shoot is fucking boring. The level design is gonna be so sterile.

It's certainly possible. A lot depends on how elaborate the actual simulation is going to be — if they get it right, it can certainly work, and this time it looks like they're putting all of their focus into getting it right. After all, the missions in the previous games weren't usually all that elaborate either, with some notable exceptions. You had a location that had its own rules (mostly regarding the dress code and the areas you can go to without getting shot at) and a ton of characters following their own schedules, including the target(s). Then you went in there to do your dark deeds, and the game world reacted accordingly. I think it can work in a bigger sandbox as well, even though I doubt we'll get anything as memorable as some of the best Hitman missions which were often built around a very specific theme, which is something that is obviously much harder to do if you're going for huge levels with many different themes and possible goals.

With bigger levels a potential problem is the amount of choice, either too much or too little of it. Smaller missions allowed for tighter design and balance, so that there were always several ways to do stuff but you had to figure them out first, but with huge sandboxes it is a real possibility that you'll be able to just waltz straight to your target and take him out in one of the three dozen instantly apparent ways (did someone say "accident"?), or that the levels can't really offer that many reasonable options if you want to be a silent assassin. The former scenario is probably the more likely one based on the previews.

Anyway, I don't really see people getting all that hyped for this, at least not on the Codex. At most people are giving it chance instead of rejecting it outright, as without a shadow of a doubt it's looking much better than that last piece of garbage that bore the same name. They seem to have ditched almost all of the stupid cinematic shit and instead put their focus into the systems and the level design, which I can certainly appreciate even if the final game ends up being a mess. I'd be really surprised if it was even nearly on the level of Hitman 2 or Blood Money, especially since they're releasing it in parts which should be a crime worthy of beheading, but it can be fun if they get the mission design right.

Never played Assassin's Creed and not planning to, so I don't know if there are any real similarities.

 

[Cadmus]

Gotta say, I enjoyed Absolution, minus two aspects: 1) the AI was hideous to the point where they would pass dumpsters without checking them, so the old failsafe of hiding in a dumpster was never far away. 2) the "sense" aspect felt tacked on, just as bullet-time felt tacked on when everyone was emulating Max Payne. All of a sudden we have quest markers, and the open levels are superfluous, especially those taking place in crowds.

Mind you, I have never played another Hitman game. If they hold up this well, I may get my paws on Blood Money, just to see how much better it is than Absolution. As a complete beginner, I dug the gameplay, and found some of the levels--especially the ones emphasizing pot use, marijuana--really memorable. Some of the tongue in cheek had me practically on the floor. Setting off fireworks to draw attention, etc. The game was almost silly, at the same time taking itself seriously. I really dig this sort of humour.

Dude just play any other Hitman game. It's like a dudebro saying they enjoyed Skyrim cuz it was their first RPG. Sure, good enough for that now go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1,2,3,4 for the real experience.

 

[an Administrator]

go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1

Hitman 1 was pure shit! how it is better than Absolution?

 

[Cadmus]

go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1

Hitman 1 was pure shit! how it is better than Absolution?

Only if you're a pure retarded cocksucker subhuman.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1

Hitman 1 was pure shit! how it is better than Absolution?

In every way.

 

[an Administrator]

go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1

Hitman 1 was pure shit! how it is better than Absolution?

Only if you're a pure retarded cocksucker subhuman.

Just compare the disguise system in SA to C47 . it shows that SA was far more better than C47. One of the dumbest things in C47 was you couldn't headshot some of your targets.

 

[an Administrator]

go play Fallout 1 Hitman 1

Hitman 1 was pure shit! how it is better than Absolution?

In every way.

Disguise system : Hell no!
Story: yes
Stealth mechanics : no
Gun play: no

 

[Darth Slaughter]

Well, Doom has a story.

Hitman 1 has a disguise system. And has gunplay. Stealth mechanics? hitman is no conventional stealth series.

 

[Cadmus]

Don't argue with the retard. Next we get a "Mass Effect is better than Planescape: Torment in every way because it has better gunplay". "Thi4F is better than Thief 2 because you can see your hands better."

 

[Dzupakazul]

Which is what made previous titles great. Who the fuck remembers the how and why of why you're in a particular mission in any Hitman game?

Pretty much. Hitman's "story" works best when it's somewhere far in the background and doesn't interfere with the actual missions in any way, like in Blood Money which could've just been a collection of individual missions without anything of value being lost. Whenever they've tried to put some emphasis on story it has been an utter failure, already way back in Codename 47.

Not really. The way the Hong Kong levels worked was a perfect tutorial, and it was well explained that you had to dismantle the Triad by severing all the ties and alliances they had through a series of assassinations. First few missions of C47 are good for introducing the concept of disguises, observing the environment, finding the vantage points, etc. They suggest some pretty obvious ways of dealing with the levels (sniping, carbomb, Godfather-style bathroom ruse), but you can perform something different with enough cunning and exploration (free sniper rifle in the alley in the Ambush mission). Then it slaps The Lee Hong Assassination as a final exam sorta deal.

The St. Petersburg portion of Hitman 2 was a ton of fun, too, and the missions were linked.

Granted, Columbia levels were horrible drags, but that's mostly because of their A->B nature of just running around a vast jungle with nothing to do, and a lot of padding inbetween. Every Hitman game had it until Blood Money.

Contracts remakes are decent, but some would argue they suffer from losing that "introductory" appeal. Slaying a Dragon can be a little bit difficult to imagine, since the place is absolutely crawling with guards, complete with snipers that will one-shot you the moment you aggro anyone in full view.

Also, the closest to a good story-driven Hitman game was 2.