HITMAN, the new episodic Hitman - GOTY Edition

[Zewp]

Lol, people on the Codex arguing against piracy of AAA games.

What has the world come to.

 

[Excidium II]

Entire codex is a drop in the sea anyway, not sure why anyone would bother.

 

[Cadmus]

Yeah, but i also remember the hassle of switching cds, far higher prices, buying shitgames because informing yourself about games on the internet was not a thing yet, having a far smaller variety of games to choose from.

There were also many many unfinished games back then also, or addons that were nothing more than a glorified map pack.

The games market nowadays is a buyers market. With all the games released in the last couple of years and the steep pricedrops in sales and bundles we can simply choose from a magnitude of good offers. I am very rarely buying the newest games nowadays simply because i have like 500 games in my backlog, of which atleast half is of decent quality, and i could easily play one of those and wait for the price to drop.

I dont even disagree with you if you say that the pricing on the new hitman is too high. But if you pirate it and pay nothing you will not signal those developers that you didnt like their pricing policy, you will simply signal them that there is no interest in a new hitman game at all.

The market has nothing to offer to most of us, it doesn't matter if the price is lower. The content is also much smaller.
I just checked ggmanlives' retrospective on UT and Q3 and holy shit I remembered how much stuff there used to be in the games...30+ maps, 10+ weapons, modability. Try selling a 3 € weapon skin back then, rofl.
Fuck this market and fuck you. Look at the buyer's market's releases now - Battlefront 3 with 3 maps, Doom 4 with collectibles to unlock map editor assets, Hitman: Shitman releasing with 1 fucking map because omg making maps is so hardz on today's totally difficult and advanced technology. Fuck this useless shit, there's nothing for me.

Of course it has all been caused by retarded degenerates like you, always yelling "omg guyze support the devs buy the latest shit game even if it's not all that good that will show them we want more and better!" while it shows them we swallow 3 days old cum so the next time they serve us 3 days old cum from a crackwhore's asshole and we still buy. Fuck you I ain't fuckin buying that shit. I don't want a new hitman where the studio is so fucking lazy that they can't make good 15 maps in the few years they had for the development.

To which you reply "vote with your wallet meng, don't complain you don't need to buy". But I don't only need to buy because that itself says nothing. I need to shitpost about it so that my actual opinion is heard. Fuck this gay earth, go pirate all the AAA, BBB and indie bullshit games, it makes no difference.

Everything has been going downhill when it comes to game content. Look at Day of Defeat -> Day of Defeat: Source, fewer maps, fewer classes, less of everything. The game is fucking 10 years old and they haven't bothered releasing any content for it even though it's still active and there's tons of maps in the old DoD.

 

[adddeed]

Well play Quake 3 then. Or open up a game development studio, since its so easy to make games apparently.

 

[bertram_tung]

Hm I just think 48 hours is an absurdly small window. What would be wrong with at least a week?

48 hours is perfect. You're supposed to be going to your job, at the office all day thinking, oh boy, when I get home I'm going to take my shot at that mission before it disappears. Things will come up often, tonight is my daughter's recital, I have to go pick up the dry cleaning, whatever, so there is an extra buffer of one day. If the window opened for a week, you'd think, oh, I'll do it later, and then forget about it. Believe me, they thought it through. And remember, they're not charging extra money for these or anything, they're just trying to keep players excited and having fun with it. 48 is a great number. Though come to think of it I'm a bit surprised they didn't do 47 because they seem to love being cute like that.

I'd bet money that when it's all said and done, they will re-release all Elusive contracts as paid DLC or part of some sort of goty or final package so people can play them again, so I'm not worried. I don't feel like letting a game dictate my playing time habits. That's one of the advantages of Single-player games.

 

[Zombra]

I'd bet money that when it's all said and done, they will re-release all Elusive contracts as paid DLC or part of some sort of goty or final package so people can play them again, so I'm not worried. I don't feel like letting a game dictate my playing time habits. That's one of the advantages of Single-player games.

I don't disagree at all - just wanted to explain that there are good reasons for doing it the way they're doing it.

And if I'm being completely honest, I do enjoy real time pressure and it helps me do fun things I procrastinate about otherwise. I might never have finished Dead State if I wasn't under time pressure to finish my brilliantly well-received review, for example. I haven't even started Serpent in the Staglands ... oh well, when I get around to it ... but if I knew it was going to disappear from my library in a month I'd be playing it tonight.

Basically I recognize mind control psychology and I embrace it when it's used to make my life more fun.

 

[Astral Rag]

Hitman's second Elusive Target will appear next Friday

One day after the release of Grimoire...great timing guys.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

I can live with being officially a cheap cunt.
Can you live with the knowledge that you're endorsing this cretinous scheme of selling an unfinished game in multiple parts? You probably can, and that's the reason we can't have nice things anymore.

Eh. The episodic release really makes sense for the type of game it is. You'd really not get as much out of it otherwise, imo. It's one thing to criticize something for not living up to its intentions...what you're doing is closer to screaming at clouds.

 

[Cadmus]

I can live with being officially a cheap cunt.
Can you live with the knowledge that you're endorsing this cretinous scheme of selling an unfinished game in multiple parts? You probably can, and that's the reason we can't have nice things anymore.

Eh. The episodic release really makes sense for the type of game it is. You'd really not get as much out of it otherwise, imo. It's one thing to criticize something for not living up to its intentions...what you're doing is closer to screaming at clouds.

Yeah, I wish all the previous Hitmans had been released episodically.

 

[Multidirectional]

Thief 1 and 2 should've been episodic too, you can only do one mission at a time after all. No need to have a full game for that!

 

[SwiftCrack]

I can't believe the mental retardation surrounding this release model.

They tell you it's episodic. They tell you that you will pay for each episode OR you can buy the complete game and see the other episodes trickle in for free.

Ep 2 was a major step up from Ep 1 (which was already better than Shitman 5: Bald Luchadore).

What the fuck is the problem. It's not like they're a small indie studio which could fall over after the release of episode 2, and if you still think it's risky, buy it per episode.

Or pirate it. Who cares.

I personally don't want to see it become the base-model for game releasing, but you're not getting lied to or cheated in any way.

 

[Cadmus]

I can't believe the mental retardation surrounding this release model.

They tell you it's episodic. They tell you that you will pay for each episode OR you can buy the complete game and see the other episodes trickle in for free.

Ep 2 was a major step up from Ep 1 (which was already better than Shitman 5: Bald Luchadore).

What the fuck is the problem. It's not like they're a small indie studio which could fall over after the release of episode 2, and if you still think it's risky, buy it per episode.

Or pirate it. Who cares.

I personally don't want to see it become the base-model for game releasing, but you're not getting lied to or cheated in any way.

By "Ep 2" you mean "Map 2" you fucking asshole, it's not an Episode of anything. In 5 years they'll be releasing an episode containing a new gun and you'll go "omg u nerdz its a new gun buy for 5 dollars its a step up from the previous gun its not like theyre made of money to be releasing content all the time for you entitled assholes".

 

[dunno lah]

Shareware is the only way to go.

 

[SwiftCrack]

I can't believe the mental retardation surrounding this release model.

They tell you it's episodic. They tell you that you will pay for each episode OR you can buy the complete game and see the other episodes trickle in for free.

Ep 2 was a major step up from Ep 1 (which was already better than Shitman 5: Bald Luchadore).

What the fuck is the problem. It's not like they're a small indie studio which could fall over after the release of episode 2, and if you still think it's risky, buy it per episode.

Or pirate it. Who cares.

I personally don't want to see it become the base-model for game releasing, but you're not getting lied to or cheated in any way.

By "Ep 2" you mean "Map 2" you fucking asshole, it's not an Episode of anything. In 5 years they'll be releasing an episode containing a new gun and you'll go "omg u nerdz its a new gun buy for 5 dollars its a step up from the previous gun its not like theyre made of money to be releasing content all the time for you entitled assholes".

Why the fuck would I buy a gun in a Hitman game you degenerate console gamer.

 

[moraes]

This episodic release model it's just a form of early access, they just don't advertise it as such. You are buying without knowing if the final game will ever be released, paying to play the game before it's completed. It's not ideal, but nothing heinous.

Now this time-limited content on the other hand... I could understand if this was a MMO with events, like those Lord British appearances at UO, that have no meaning unless played live with other people. But this shit in a single-player game... Just imagine 5 years from now: "Do you remember that elusive target in Mission 2?", "No sorry, I bought the GOTY edition".

Modders will fix it.

 

[Gerrard]

I can't believe the mental retardation surrounding this release model.

They tell you it's episodic. They tell you that you will pay for each episode OR you can buy the complete game and see the other episodes trickle in for free.

Ep 2 was a major step up from Ep 1 (which was already better than Shitman 5: Bald Luchadore).

What the fuck is the problem. It's not like they're a small indie studio which could fall over after the release of episode 2, and if you still think it's risky, buy it per episode.

Or pirate it. Who cares.

I personally don't want to see it become the base-model for game releasing, but you're not getting lied to or cheated in any way.

By "Ep 2" you mean "Map 2" you fucking asshole, it's not an Episode of anything. In 5 years they'll be releasing an episode containing a new gun and you'll go "omg u nerdz its a new gun buy for 5 dollars its a step up from the previous gun its not like theyre made of money to be releasing content all the time for you entitled assholes".

Why the fuck would I buy a gun in a Hitman game you degenerate console gamer.

I know right? These two are plenty enough.

 

[AwesomeButton]

A hugely wider audience is a lot dumber and a lot easier to milk, as HITMAN among many other games demonstrates.

The multitude of internet based sources of information are for the most part taken over and used for misinformation and PR, hype generation etc. So that's a weak argument.

The hassle of changing CDs? Don't make me laugh. You must be one of those people who whine about > 10s loading times too.

Far higher prices? Is this even serious?

 

[SwiftCrack]

This episodic release model it's just a form of early access, they just don't advertise it as such. You are buying without knowing if the final game will ever be released, paying to play the game before it's completed. It's not ideal, but nothing heinous.

Now this time-limited content on the other hand... I could understand if this was a MMO with events, like those Lord British appearances at UO, that have no meaning unless played live with other people. But this shit in a single-player game... Just imagine 5 years from now: "Do you remember that elusive target in Mission 2?", "No sorry, I bought the GOTY edition".

Modders will fix it.

This I can agree on, it is Early Access without the label.

 

[Vibalist]

Probably early-mid 2017.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-05-25-hitman-episode-three-marrakesh-is-due-next-week

Hitman - Episode Three: Marrakesh is due next week

Hitman - Episode Three: Marrakesh is due on 31st May for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

"Marrakesh has been built with a maze of alleys, a range of souks that line the medina walls and a fully-fledged shisha café," developer Io Interactive said on its blog. "Moving upwards, players can enjoy the shade on the rooftop terraces of Marrakesh.

"Just beyond the busy marketplace, you'll find an architectural marvel in the shape of the Swedish Consulate building. The very embodiment of minimalistic Scandinavian design;, a mix of glass, concrete and wood offering a powerful contrast to the blazing heat just outside its walls."

Like previous Hitman episodes, the Marrakesh chapter will contain two targets for its main story mission, though many more will be added through Escalation Contracts and Elusive Targets.

 

[Cadmus]

lol is every fucking mission gonna be a big sprawling maze? I can't see how they could justify them not to be. Hahahahaha fucking idiots

 

[Daedalos]

Holy shit... best news ever out of nowhere... looking forward to this

This is shaping up to be one of the best hitman games of the series.

Unfortunately, I wil be in New York for 2 weeks, so :/

But when I get home ! Boy, oh boy !

 

[SwiftCrack]

A lot faster than I thought it would be here, I still need to do 2 achievements in this release.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/26/hitman-episode-3-hands-on/

Hitman Episode 3 Isn’t A Riot – Yet

You can’t start a revolution in Hitman‘s Marrakesh episode, but Lord knows I have tried. Seeking to create the impression of a brutal state crackdown, I’ve dressed up as a soldier and opened fire on the crowd from a checkpoint. I’ve lugged cans of propane right across the map, dropped them near placard-waving civvies and blown everybody up with a silenced pistol. I’ve sucker-punched foreign officials, hurled bricks at marchers – done whatever I can to transform the level’s outpouring of public discontent into a full-blown civil war. And for my troubles I’ve been treated to an efficient, orderly death and the sight of a dozen, so-called leftwing firebrands cowering in terror as the army closes in. Honestly – is it any wonder you radicals are sweltering beneath capitalism’s golden hoof when one little blast cloud is too much to bear?

If Marrakesh isn’t quite the open world insurrection simulator I was rather unrealistically and very callously looking forward to, it’s an absolute playpen for fans of the game’s Contracts mode.

That protest rally outside the Swedish consulate is the obvious proving ground – I have no idea how you’d assassinate one of the marchers without giving yourself away, but I’m sure more practised infiltrators are even now mind-mapping the sightlines and weighing up escape strategies. Making your move from inside the consulate’s grounds could be the trick.

The market a minute’s stroll away seems a slightly more forgiving arena, its close-packed stalls affording a number of shadowy corners and places to dump a body, but you’ll still have to worry about troopers gliding among the shoppers like sharks, and merchants who harass you as you pass. Snipers will do well here, I suspect: you can reach the roofs of Marrakesh easily via shops along the sides of the square, and there are a few vertiginous paths between buildings that, incidentally, provide access to at least one of the map’s higher security areas, a members-only club. Also incidentally, there’s a battleaxe in one of the carpet shops. I’m not sure how you’d smuggle it across the market without raising eyebrows, but the pay-off should be worth the toil.

The city is a blur of colour and sound – helicopters roaring over the market square, chattering TV sets, plumes of shisha smoke, gossiping labourers, masked figures slapping up posters – but it’s a lot more readable than I was expecting from my hands-off demo in April. The map essentially consists of four large zones: besides the market and the protest rally, there’s a tumbledown school turned military base that’s home to one of your primary targets, a general with despotic aspirations, and the consulate itself, an oasis of quintessentially Scandinavian calm where you’ll find the other mark, a villainous banker.

Obtaining a disguise that grants you access to either isn’t too difficult, even if you resist the omnipresent lure of Opportunities, which range from replacing a TV cameraman through mugging a retired headmaster. The alleyways might be lousy with patrolling soldiers, but they’re also thick with accidents waiting to happen, such as electrical wires snaking through puddles (I haven’t actually given this a shot, but dressing up as a mechanic before messing with the fittings is probably a sound idea).

Getting inside without an appropriate change of costume is going to take thought, however. There is a subterranean route into the consulate, but it’s well-defended, and the building itself is unhelpfully open plan, with a gigantic two-storey lobby, a formidable and restless security presence and a few busy siderooms. Still, you can always take refuge in the toilets, and if you do find yourself in pressing need of a disguise, there’s a masseur you can “encourage” to have a smoke somewhere reasonably private.

As for the school base, it’s geared towards traditional stealth, with ledges along the outside of the building, regular hallways and a generous assortment of detritus to hide behind. The general is seldom without an escort, but who knows, a timely distraction could work wonders. That APC out front, for example – the one with the self-targeting turret. Perhaps there’s a way you can get under its skin. Alternatively, you could just trip the fire alarm and see how things unfold.

Thus the spaces of Marrakesh. But what about the timeline of events? So far everything feels dependent on player participation, with no initial need to hurry in order to intercept a particular character or witness something important. There’s the same, slightly grating reliance on proximity triggers as in previous episodes – a soldier who realises he’s forgotten something vital the second you stroll into view, a conversation about an evacuation procedure that seemingly won’t happen unless you’re there to eavesdrop. If I have a wish for Hitman 2016, it’s to play at least one map that requires me to know the schedule inside out. Teetering as it is on the brink of chaos, Marrakesh could have been that map, but so far it’s more in keeping with the stately theatrics of the opening Paris level.

The environment is often beautiful, with its elegantly textured Islamic arches and booths decked out in tapestries and rose-tinted glass, though it lacks the winding, organic feel of Sapienza, and the sheer pressure of bodies does mean that you’re more aware of recycled NPC animations. Io’s choice of American English as Hitman’s lingua franca seems more jarring in French-Arabic Morocco than in Paris or Sapienza, but that’s as much a reflection of my own cultural priorities as anything else. The writing could use a proper tune-up, though – Marrakesh plays host to some incredibly lumbering exchanges, awash with terms like “Orwellian” and “Western materialism” plus studied hints about masterkeys and tunnels. As ever, you’re required to listen if you’re tailing the NPC in question, which admittedly makes it all the more satisfying as and when you find it necessary to dispose of them.

I was hoping Marrakesh would be a significant step-change for Hitman, but it’s shaping up to be more of the same. Which is no awful thing, obviously, given the success of Episode 2, and this is at least a more challenging map, with fewer areas where you can be confident of mugging somebody undetected. But the notion of an imminent clash between state and citizenry had me daydreaming of something truly convoluted and vile. What more complete an expression of Agent 47’s ruthlessness than to orchestrate a civil war as cover for a hit?

Still, perhaps I’m missing something. Perhaps the people, apathetic sods that they are, just need a bit more prodding. Perhaps that rather incongruous battleaxe is the straw that’ll break the camel’s back, the touch of sheer excess that’ll finally loosen the city’s grip on normality.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Scripted trigger-dependent railroaded events in nuHitman vs. universal timer mechanics of the old Hitmans.
Anyone who says this shit game is incline gameplay-wise is retarded.