HITMAN, the new episodic Hitman - GOTY Edition

[Volrath]

The only thing I want from Blood Money is the level design since everything else was sub-par. I don't want disguises to be op again that it makes the game as piss easy as BM was; of course the retarded AI didn't help either. They had the right idea with Absolution, but it was a botched execution that I hope they learned from.

 

[Immortal]

This is incredibly big of them. They obviously heard fan feedback

You seriously believe in what they say?

If they are willing to admit key points that they fucked up on - then yea - why not?
It gives you something to point at after they finish the game where you can say: "Hey - You said this, what the fuck happened"

As opposed to the more esoteric / loosey goosey -
"We have heard fan feedback, both positive and negative and will work to make a better game in the future"
- Bullshit PR Statement

It's statements like that from companies like Blizzard where I just roll my eyes and ignore it completely. That is committing to exactly 0 changes voiced by fans so that you can't later hold them to it.
If Hitman comes out with checkpoints and magic pockets we have a clear conflict. Pretty hard to misinterpret that.

EDIT:
The Game might still suck, I just think it's big of them to admit the two biggest additions they made to the franchise are now being retroactively removed because they obviously fucked up. They are basically saying - albeit indirectly - that they are shitty designers and are just gonna go back to what worked for the previous games.

 

[SoupNazi]

The only thing I want from Blood Money is the level design since everything else was sub-par. I don't want disguises to be op again that it makes the game as piss easy as BM was; of course the retarded AI didn't help either. They had the right idea with Absolution, but it was a botched execution that I hope they learned from.

Bull crap.

Maybe on easy difficulty or whatever you played on, but on the highest one (Silent Assassin?), you couldn't even stand next to guards otherwise they would see through your disguise. The game was maybe easy on the pre-set paths that lead to the best outcome but there were so many ways to approach this that still baffles me to this day and there were many harder options as well.

 

[adddeed]

Absolution was superb. Looks amazing, great presentation, varied levels (small, linear, big, open, etc), and just very very polished. Very underrated.

 

[Adon]

The only thing I want from Blood Money is the level design since everything else was sub-par. I don't want disguises to be op again that it makes the game as piss easy as BM was; of course the retarded AI didn't help either. They had the right idea with Absolution, but it was a botched execution that I hope they learned from.

Bull crap.

Maybe on easy difficulty or whatever you played on, but on the highest one (Silent Assassin?), you couldn't even stand next to guards otherwise they would see through your disguise. The game was maybe easy on the pre-set paths that lead to the best outcome but there were so many ways to approach this that still baffles me to this day and there were many harder options as well.

Nah, mate, I'm talking about Professional. It was the only difficulty iirc where guards would *eventually* see through your disguise. But the stress meter(?) would build up so slow that it hardly made a difference unless you decided to stand around next to them for no reason. And yeah, I guess if you wanted to mess around and not get Silent Assassin, there were a lot more ways to do it. I do have to give them credit for something, tho. The way they made the requirements for Silent Assassin on Professional much more tighter was a good thing that I hope they do again.

 

[SoupNazi]

Absolution was superb. Looks amazing, great presentation, varied levels (small, linear, big, open, etc), and just very very polished. Very underrated.

The only thing I want from Blood Money is the level design since everything else was sub-par. I don't want disguises to be op again that it makes the game as piss easy as BM was; of course the retarded AI didn't help either. They had the right idea with Absolution, but it was a botched execution that I hope they learned from.

Bull crap.

Maybe on easy difficulty or whatever you played on, but on the highest one (Silent Assassin?), you couldn't even stand next to guards otherwise they would see through your disguise. The game was maybe easy on the pre-set paths that lead to the best outcome but there were so many ways to approach this that still baffles me to this day and there were many harder options as well.

Nah, mate, I'm talking about Professional. It was the only difficulty iirc where guards would *eventually* see through your disguise. But the stress meter(?) would build up so slow that it hardly made a difference unless you decided to stand around next to them for no reason. And yeah, I guess if you wanted to mess around and not get Silent Assassin, there were a lot more ways to do it. I do have to give them credit for something, tho. The way they made the requirements for Silent Assassin on Professional much more tighter was a good thing that I hope they do again.

Man I honestly thing it was quite fast on the highest difficulty. But I haven't played in ages so maybe.

 

[SoupNazi]

E3 conference just showed a different trailer for it. Actually looks like there are plenty different options to do it. Huge maps from what it looks like, and before anyone complains about cool explosions and shit, you could do that in Blood Money too (and it was fun to do so once you've done the Silent Assassin approach). High hopes.

 

[octavius]

Do you still have to watch a bald dickhead while playing?

 

[Cadmus]

I hope they put back the special weapons for SA rating instead of the fucking useless points.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Adon]

Only thing I don't really like is the whole "only available for 48 hours as an example" for whatever post-launch support they plan on having which seems like they want to do it for years. No, it's not cool, and most people aren't going to care. I'll just stick to the campaign and some online contracts.

 

[Cadmus]

shiieet, this looks actually really good except for the horrible voice over, I can't tell if it's Diana but it still awkward.

 

[Immortal]

Cautiously Hyped / Looks like Blood Money with some shiny new features.
Why didn't you do this in the first place before you tried to be all edge lord with your new spin in Hitman: AbsoluteTrash.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Do you still have to watch a bald dickhead while playing?

Homoeroticism belongs to the essence of the Hitman experience.

 

[Dzupakazul]

Hello Codex, I normally stick to lurking, but I thought to toss my 2 cents into this.

Bull crap.

Maybe on easy difficulty or whatever you played on, but on the highest one (Silent Assassin?), you couldn't even stand next to guards otherwise they would see through your disguise. The game was maybe easy on the pre-set paths that lead to the best outcome but there were so many ways to approach this that still baffles me to this day and there were many harder options as well.

Sadly, Adon is right.
The game mechanics make it so that the notoriety system within the game has absolutely zero merit on anything. It's very difficult to actually have someone react to you, even if your notoriety is max. You are allowed to run circles around each and every guard and they won't do anything about it. Worse yet, you're allowed to even run into restricted areas with a long time to pull off the entire assignment because the guards' first reaction is to chase you around the map just to tell you "No visitors here" or my favourite "Proprieda privada, amigo".

Blood Money was a streamlined game. You could even say it was "casualized". It was one of the few cases where they made up for it with cool mechanics and the overall package was GOTYAY, but it's easily the easiest Hitman game, with the most lenient rating system and overall easy ways to erase any screw-ups. It's also the easiest game to play the Suit Only challenge in, though it's still a very feasible way to challenge yourself, short of the fabled Silenced Shotgun playthrough. Nevertheless, a terrific game.

If you experienced anything like the guards reacting to you standing next to them, then I'm sorry to say that you're not very good at Blood Money (or rather - you don't know its mechanics intricately, which is perfectly cool). Aside from area restrictions (like guest uniforms not allowing you into restricted areas etc.), disguises you pick up are insta-win. You can run places; in Hitman 2 and 3 (especially 2!), you sometimes had to stop running and mix some walking and sneaking into your pacing so that your disguise wouldn't be ruined (walking slower gave you more chance to pass a guard without him opening fire), and the worst situations were those where you had to walk past a patrolling guard - the suspicion marker flew off the handle and often just walking past someone was enough to get your cover blown. Made the experience really tense.

I really do feel that with the lenient guard AI and rating, Blood Money was an ultimate in sandbox experiences, while the previous games (maybe aside from the weird but still charming Codename 47) were more about the actual, traditional challenge.

Still, Absolution was a horrible piece of crap, and it wasn't even going in any right direction. The best disguise system in the series was decidedly in Hitman Contracts - even in spite of that game's massive design shortcuts (that result in some buggy shit happening - name me a Contracts level, and I will tell you that it has at least one bug that can potentially ruin your rating or render the level not completable). Disguises worked like they did in Hitman 2 - you had to use them carefully and wage your options, it wasn't wise to try and go through a narrow corridor next to patrolling guards, you had to be smart about it. However, on the other hand, Contracts toned down on the guards going full-on psycho when they spotted you doing anything remotely suspicious.

In Absolution, the way guards spot you is utterly nonsensical, and having to rely on some stupid mana system for walking past them instead of carefully pacing your way around them, approaching them from a wide angle, etc. like you would have had to do in H2/3 makes the whole experience immersion-breaking and really dumb. Also, the fact that the most optimal way to go anywhere was to remain crouched, and the characters only reacted with juvenile remarks ("IF YOU KEEP IT UP YOU MIGHT CATCH THE NEXT BUS!") when I'm doing something utterly nonsensical right in front of them, because ducking behind a table right in front of them is much less suspicious than casually walking away from them. Jesus.

Anyway, from the trailers, it doesn't seem like they actually have a whole lot of the game done, given they're planning to release it in December 8. The gameplay trailer is just a glorified movie reel. My worst gut feeling is that this game's "open world" nature will make it an Assassin's Creed-style bland hubworld. I'm skeptical. Not as repulsed as when seeing the new Fallout trailer, but I'm keeping my cool about this.

Sorry for rambling so much in a first post. Hi again, Codex.

 

[Daedalos]

Much butthurt I sense in this thread

 

[Shadenuat]

Unlike killer nuns, they definitely focused on the right things in this trailers isf

 

[paintinggrey]

i am not liking this episodic contract bullshit, specially if its story contracts. This is smelling of to decline to me.Wait andsee i guess.

 

[Ivan]

As long as they remove instinct, it's good.

 

[Outlander]

Deaf AI.

Edit: Bateson is apparently in

 

[Forest Dweller]

Episodic Hitman? Fuck off.

 

[Roguey]

in Hitman 2 and 3 (especially 2!), you sometimes had to stop running and mix some walking and sneaking into your pacing so that your disguise wouldn't be ruined (walking slower gave you more chance to pass a guard without him opening fire), and the worst situations were those where you had to walk past a patrolling guard - the suspicion marker flew off the handle and often just walking past someone was enough to get your cover blown. Made the experience really tense.

It also made the experience garbage.

Predictability ftw in stealth games.

 

[Vibalist]

Looks good. Who knows. They might actually have learned from Absolution (which I didn't feel was a horrible game at all, merely mediocre compared to Blood Money).

 

[Metro]

Absolution was superb.

Just stop.

 

[LESS T_T]

Gamep...wait, NO gameplay. What a clickbait.