Hitman

[Mobius]

I know we've had Hitman threads before but Barry doesn't like bumping old stuff so here's a new one

Got that Hitman 2 for free thanks to PS+ and loved it, so picked up Hitman 1 and 3 so now I've got everything in 1 game which is nice.

They're great aren't they? I'm up to the English Mansion level which I've heard is a lot of fun, so looking forward to that one later.

What's everyone favourite levels? Is there any worth in going back to the older Hitman games?

[Pink Gregory]

I own a good amount of the games, but I struggle to play them as I sort of have a romantic ideal of them in my head that my playing of them I can never quite live up to, especially the massive sprawls of the new ones.  I've played the tutorial level of Blood Money about 5 times but barely any of the game after that, for instance.  Did complete Silent Assassin years ago.

Put it this way; first mission of Hitman 2016, the fashion show.  Two targets, one downstairs in the public bit, one upstairs in the private bit.  Snuck in through the wine cellar with some waiter's clothes, happened upon a cocktail recipe favoured by one of the targets, who comes to the bar if you stand behind it.  Make the cocktail, spike it, give it to the target, he runs off the the bathroom but his bodyguard stands outside. 

Aha, thought I, so I reload and do the same, but run over to the bathroom and hide in a stall before he has the chance to react to the cocktail.  Now we play the waiting game...and nothing happens.  There are two toilets next to each other, and I am in the wrong one.

Felt really dumb and haven't played it since.

That being said I think I played the first proper mission in Blood Money (the place with the wine cellar and the mansion in Latin America?) absolutely perfectly and I've been intimidated by it since.

[H-O-W-L]

Blood Money and Contracts are great games even to this day. Contracts especially -- the series has never reached that level of narrative or atmosphere again.

[Pink Gregory]

I don't know why people seem to give Contracts such short shrift; no one's really going to go back to Hitman Agent 47 to play the original levels that were remade in Contracts, and the streamlined controls introduced in Contracts are basically still in use in the new ones.

[bgmnts]

I had the privilege of playing Silent Assassin first which was incredible so Contracts was always going to be a downgrade.

It goeth thus:

Blood Money,
Silent Assassin,
Hitman reboot
Hitman reboot 2
Contracts
Absolution
Hitman Codename 47

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I bought Hitman 2 in a sale last year, but I've yet to really get into it. I finished the Miami Grand Prix level (albeit very messily) but it all felt a bit daunting - a little too sprawling, too time limited, too many nosy sods milling around. I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I give it a proper go but that seems like it will require a fairly hefty investment of time.

Blood Money is the only other one I've played, which is kind of unfortunate, as it was close to perfect. I'm undoubtedly viewing it through rose tinted glasses to some extent, but as a realisation of the series' core gameplay, it was sublime. Hand holding measures, like x-ray vision and map markers, are unnecessary when the levels are so tightly designed.

[Lemming]

I always really liked the idea behind these games but the stress is unreal. The older games are too hard for me, especially since breaking into a light jog in Silent Assassin tends to result in your disguise being rendered invalid and everyone opening fire on you, because a postman would never jog.

The new ones, meanwhile, are too easy - you can knock anyone out any time by throwing an apple at their head, you can stick to cover to render yourself basically invisible, you can see through walls, the game regales you with hints and, if you enable the option, directly tells you exactly what to do and where to go. I really enjoyed them regardless, mainly for the comedy aspect - due to an absolutely unbelievable failure in planning and foresight, Agent 47 ends up dressed as a makeup artist, dangling off the scaffolding above a fashion show as his target escapes. His face has also been recorded on CCTV about six times, and will be shown on all major news networks that night. An embarrassment to the Agency. The worst agent of all time. Actually a net drain to his employers, as clients demand refunds.

While Blood Money hits the best mix between pleasing difficulty and encouraging you to fuck around and experiment freely, Silent Assassin is probably the best overall, not least because of how useless chloroform is. I hate how in most stealth games (Thief, Dishonored, newer Hitmans, Splinter Cell, etc), you knock someone out and they're essentially dead and will never get up. Meanwhile in Silent Assassin, chloroforming someone is basically asking for fucking trouble, because they get up three seconds later and tell all the guards that their uniform has been stolen, and then everyone on the map is looking out for a dumb bald white man dressed as an African warlord or whatever.

[bgmnts]

Yeah it's incredible. You're dressed as a fireman and you've just set off a fire alarm but running makes you look more suspicious than walking calmly past them during an emergency.

They didn't really think that through but it is an old game tbf.

[Pink Gregory]

I think those 'essentially dead' attacks could on theory work in a game in which enemies are not often isolated (patrols etc) and can wake each other up, so non lethal options are much more of a pain in the arse.  So a lot more like Metal Gear Solid, basically.  Rather than the Dishonored approach of 'it takes a fraction of a second longer than killing'

[jamiefairlie]

Pete Waterman finally gets his way.

[Mobius]

It's funny how if 2 guards are stood near each other you just throw a coin and one of them goes "huh?" then you knock them about 10 yards from their mate and they don't notice. It's also funny how you're the only character on the map that isn't strolling at a snails pace, and no one cares.

And how come all the clothes you nick are a perfect fit?!

I hope my PS5 comes soon because this game makes my PS4 so loud I'm sure it's going to explode. Quite impressive how many NPCs are on screen on like the Grand Prix level or India for example.

Anyway played that English Mansion level for hours last night and wow it's cool, just looks mint. I'm being the detective and doing the whole Sherlock Holmes/Get Out thing.. can't wait to tell this old lady who killed her son, then brutally murder her too!

Will look into the pre Hitman World Of Assassination games then, thanks all. I had worried Blood Money, Contracts, Silent Assassin were too dated but sounds like that's not the case? I am pretty sure they're all available on PS4 in some format.

[Noodle Lizard]

They're really good, and more than worth the money with the amount of replay value you get, but there's still so much they could improve. For as much as they seemed to engage with audience feedback, they really didn't improve much over the course of the World of Assassination trilogy - they all have the same tedious, immersion-breaking issues that prevent it from being a fully great experience. I still play them, though, and have managed to do Silent Assassin/Suit Only on every level except Marrakesh and Mumbai (because I can't be arsed).

I'm cautiously optimistic about their James Bond project as well. I can see how a blend of that style of gameplay and the Bond universe/aesthetic would be a great fit, but I'm worried that either EON or IOI themselves will arse it up for the sake of profit. We'll see!

[H-O-W-L]

Guards are looking for a suspicious Ninja.