[Hitman]

Man of the Waves

Starring:
David Bateson


as
Agent 47

Preorders are open now and comes with beta access for PS4, with the PC beta arriving a week after that.

The game will launch on December 8th and I/O Interactive have plans to continually add more content and contracts well into 2016. They will also include limited-time hits that, when they disappear, your chance to fulfill that contract disappears forever.

Welcome back, Agent 47

Suriko

A shame we only got a cinematic trailer at E3, but still good to have something to latch on to. The emphasis on trickery and disguise to kill targets over gunplay bodes well in the 'not another damn Absolution' way as well.

Interesting that Agent 47 appears younger now. Maybe a prequel or retcon (or just a less grim and broody redesign)?

Man of the Waves

It's not a prequel, but it does sound like they've rolled the setting back a little in that he's at "the peak of his power".

Archsorcerer

Photographer killed the swimmer, right?

Reznik

Young 47 looks weird, but otherwise this game looks pretty slick. I can't count the number of times I played through the opera and casino levels in Blood Money. I'm excited for this one.

Astale

He could be a clone too.

I mean, just maybe.

Synthesis

https://youtu.be/IOOddePLOqQ?t=1m3s

(Potential footage of what the in-game visuals might look like? Probably nothing that wasn't at E3. Eh, one can dream.)

If this is a return to the mechanics of Blood Money (instead of checkpoint-based more puzzle-driven affairs), I'll just need to decide whether to grab this on PC or Xbox One (depending on multiplayer?).

cooljammer00

I'm hearing this is a digital only release?

Wraith260

cooljammer00 wrote: »

I'm hearing this is a digital only release?

the phrase they kept using was 'starting/leading with a digital release', so i'm guessing there will be a physical release but maybe not till next year.

Unco-ordinated

Wraith260 wrote: »

cooljammer00 wrote: »

I'm hearing this is a digital only release?

the phrase they kept using was 'starting/leading with a digital release', so i'm guessing there will be a physical release but maybe not till next year.

I really hope they don't ruin it with some dumb shit, like cutting the game up like RE Revelations 2, because I really want to get this game at release. A real Hitman game is exactly what I want to play at the moment because there's nothing else out there that's quite like it.

cooljammer00

So like, episodic but not.

Man of the Waves

My interpretation is that they aren't launching with a full games' worth of content. It sounds like they intend to expand on the contracts and periodically add more content.

I/O should just go for episodic releases.

Butcher

I'm pretty sure it's shipping with a full single player campaign and they'll release independent missions each or every other month after release. Makes sense to me, at least. I'll bet money on a Codename 47 map pack at some point with the best missions from the original.

Wraith260

details on how Hitman will be released, seems more like they'll be releasing missions piecemeal culminating in a full retail release at the end.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hitman-s-digital-episodes-will-be-release-on-disc-/1100-6428292/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

Hitman developer IO Interactive has said the studio intends to deliver new content to players regularly via digital channels, but will culminate in a disc release for the game.

Speaking in an interview with GameSpot, IO Interactive creative director Christian Elverdam said thinking of the new Hitman as a platform "is a good image" to use for its release strategy.

"All the content we are going to provide is going to make Hitman a substantial game. It's going to be bigger than Hitman: Absolution in terms of content."

Elverdam clarified that his comparison to Absolution in terms of the amount of content the new Hitman will provide is not apt for when the game launches. However, by the time the studio is done with the game, it will be significantly bigger than Absolution.

"What we're also saying is that there will be a disc at the very end, so if you feel that's what you want, that's what you can have. Either way, you'll be paying $60. There will be no other prices, nothing else going on there.

"For some players it will be highly appealing to be apart of the live, expanding world, for others they may want to wait. You're going to miss out on some of that [contracts] stuff, but I still think it's a good bargain anyways."

so reading that, its either $60 up front with missions being released gradually, or $60 for it all at once after everything has been released digitally. kinda of a choice between buying a season pass or a GOTY/Definitive Edition.

Zxerol

Or if you're more cynical, retail vs. Early Access.

Butcher

Huh, that's weird. Do they have a release window for when the full game is actually out? They marketed it at E3 as a traditional full game being released on December 8th.

Wraith260

Butcher wrote: »

Huh, that's weird. Do they have a release window for when the full game is actually out? They marketed it at E3 as a traditional full game being released on December 8th.

haven't seen any comment on that yet, or what will happen with the time sensitive assassinations in the retail release. guessing they're just going to be a bonus for the early adopters.

SoundsPlush

I can't get hyped for this at all until I've seen enough to know whether they've realized what made Blood Money great and what went wrong with Absolution.

Zetx

Oof. I can see why they wouldn't want to say that at the reveal. That's set me back to a more wait-and-see status, especially when there's still so little detail overall.

Butcher

Not really too worried, just means it'll take a little bit longer for all the content to be out. I guess they want to get it out as soon as possible for $$$ reasons.

Unco-ordinated

Wow, my theory that they were going the RE Revelations 2 route was right. Well that's one less game I'll buy this year then, no big deal. I might've been tempted if they'd given a discount on the Early Access version but at full price, what's the point?

Astale

I was fine with RE Rev 2.

I also heard about it only two weeks before it came out on pc, and didn't play it until they'd released all the episodes.

So I guess what I'm saying is this system is stupid and I'll wait until it's ten bucks on next year's steam summer sale.

Butcher

Giant Bomb did a thing on it, impressions are great, seems like a straight evolution from Blood Money.

Man of the Waves

Or, you know, it could just end up being:

cooljammer00

I didn't know the Angry Video Game Nerd got a job at Engadget.

Archsorcerer

Fractured but Whole and more AssCreed.

Year of the Butt.

EspantaPajaro

Man , please let this be as good as blood money. I still remember all those missions in detail.

Archsorcerer

Had not watched the conference video.

Interesting they want you to try to complete every mission in different ways. Probably to extend the replay value of new content.

Why am I thinking of Alpha Protocol?

Man of the Waves

The Hitman catalogue is on sale today, for anyone who needs to catch up.

Kadoken

Archsorcerer wrote: »

Had not watched the conference video.

Interesting they want you to try to complete every mission in different ways. Probably to extend the replay value of new content.

Why am I thinking of Alpha ProtocolBlood Money?

Suriko

What time is it? Leak time!

http://www.hitmanforum.com/t/theres-a-closed-alpha-going-on-right-now/2339

http://imgur.com/a/cisR0

PC Gamer article: http://imgur.com/a/J1lub

Butcher

Looks awesome.

Hardtarget

So has anybody tried the beta that came out over the weekend?
GMG has a 25% off coupon for the Intro Pack which comes with beta access so I'm curious if people think it seems worth it or not.

Suriko

Hardtarget wrote: »

So has anybody tried the beta that came out over the weekend?
GMG has a 25% off coupon for the Intro Pack which comes with beta access so I'm curious if people think it seems worth it or not.

Played it. You can still play offline after downloading it too, so just finished up the second level (out of two you get to play).

Hitman's back, baby!

I'm really happy with this. They've learned what failed in Absolution, and though some of the ideas are still around (such as Instinct), they have changed a lot. On the negative side, the levels were somewhat small in the beta, being a cruise ship and sliver of dock, and a small cuban airbase, and it wasn't hard to cheese in the usual Hitman way (kill one guy, headshot each person as they conga line to the body). I can't seem to find any general map view, being restricted to a minimap, and I'm still not totally sold on the episodic sales model.

On the plus side though, we're back to a worldwide scope, and a very definite Blood Money feel to the structure (disconnected missions in very different locales). Agent 47 acts like good old Agent 47, cold and aloof, and his work under Diana is being played pretty straight. The tone is very much silent assassin rather than action hero, with cutscenes taking place between missions instead of breaking them up. Some fun opportunities for zany kills too, and the old stiff roleplaying.

Instinct seems to have been toned down drastically. All it really does is highlight NPCs in your immediate vicinity, the mission target's location, and usable objects. No timer, either. Disguises work as such: around most NPCs of other jobs, you can hang around and even brush up against them and they won't detect you. However, NPCs of the same profession and a few scattered around (department heads for example) have a white dot above their heads, and will get suspicious fairly quickly if you hang around them (since they're likely to recognise their coworkers after all). Zones come into play heavily as well; levels are designed around not being able to take one disguise everywhere, as everyone wil find you suspicious if you're in an area that disguise shouldn't be (like a chef hanging around the storage hold of a ship).

Unarmed melee takedowns are annoying QTEs, unfortunately. However, it seems to be only frontal assaults that trigger the dumb QTE brawls, with approaches from behind giving the usual chokehold (which can be quickened by tapping Q).

All the old friends are back in the form of wrenches, pipes, knives, bricks, and poisons scattered about levels. Remote explosives were an option for the ship, and they're as usual quite satisfying as a method.

Overall I can't quite say it's up to Blood Money from what I played, but it's close. It's an interesting mixture of Absolution and BM, and based on the two levels I got to play, I feel it's going to be a return to form for the franchise.

Synthesis

The tricky (at least in my case) will be waiting for the whole package to come out. On the bright side, it'll give me plenty of time to get a good sense of how people like it or not--and it's not like we don't all have a bunch of games on back log anyway.

Ninja Snarl P

Man, I hope this is decent.

Because Absolution was total ass. I actually just shut the game off and deleted it when 47 tried to choke some guy four times his size and it fails, just to try and force some tension into the story. If they can't bother to write 47 as having a single functioning brain cell, I can't bother to play the game.

Huuuuuuge letdown after Blood Money.

SoundsPlush

Yeah, Absolution was so bad that I'm not touching this until it's been thoroughly vetted by the community and weighed against Blood Money.

Viking

The demo made me less concerned about the episodic nature of the release.

It looks like the narative is pretty much episodic anyway with unrelated maps.
and the new challenge system while being a little too obvious? gives you a decent reason to replay maps in a variety of ways.

Olivaw

I'm so glad that someone gifted me this as a preorder so now I get to play it at release and decide for myself

Because I live in hope, but not hope that costs me any money

The Ender

Suriko wrote: »

Hardtarget wrote: »

So has anybody tried the beta that came out over the weekend?
GMG has a 25% off coupon for the Intro Pack which comes with beta access so I'm curious if people think it seems worth it or not.

Played it. You can still play offline after downloading it too, so just finished up the second level (out of two you get to play).

Hitman's back, baby!

I'm really happy with this. They've learned what failed in Absolution, and though some of the ideas are still around (such as Instinct), they have changed a lot. On the negative side, the levels were somewhat small in the beta, being a cruise ship and sliver of dock, and a small cuban airbase, and it wasn't hard to cheese in the usual Hitman way (kill one guy, headshot each person as they conga line to the body). I can't seem to find any general map view, being restricted to a minimap, and I'm still not totally sold on the episodic sales model.

On the plus side though, we're back to a worldwide scope, and a very definite Blood Money feel to the structure (disconnected missions in very different locales). Agent 47 acts like good old Agent 47, cold and aloof, and his work under Diana is being played pretty straight. The tone is very much silent assassin rather than action hero, with cutscenes taking place between missions instead of breaking them up. Some fun opportunities for zany kills too, and the old stiff roleplaying.

Instinct seems to have been toned down drastically. All it really does is highlight NPCs in your immediate vicinity, the mission target's location, and usable objects. No timer, either. Disguises work as such: around most NPCs of other jobs, you can hang around and even brush up against them and they won't detect you. However, NPCs of the same profession and a few scattered around (department heads for example) have a white dot above their heads, and will get suspicious fairly quickly if you hang around them (since they're likely to recognise their coworkers after all). Zones come into play heavily as well; levels are designed around not being able to take one disguise everywhere, as everyone wil find you suspicious if you're in an area that disguise shouldn't be (like a chef hanging around the storage hold of a ship).

Unarmed melee takedowns are annoying QTEs, unfortunately. However, it seems to be only frontal assaults that trigger the dumb QTE brawls, with approaches from behind giving the usual chokehold (which can be quickened by tapping Q).

All the old friends are back in the form of wrenches, pipes, knives, bricks, and poisons scattered about levels. Remote explosives were an option for the ship, and they're as usual quite satisfying as a method.

Overall I can't quite say it's up to Blood Money from what I played, but it's close. It's an interesting mixture of Absolution and BM, and based on the two levels I got to play, I feel it's going to be a return to form for the franchise.

Blech.


I hated, hated, hated this aspect of Absolution. It nerfed disguises to the point of them being nearly useless; I almost always just snuck around until I found someone with a decent gun, murdered them for it and then Rambo'd the rest of the level as a result... because why bother trying to be sneaky if enemies will just see through your disguise? I still haven't played out most of the 'canon' kills.

EDIT: And the logic surrounding it was Goddamn stupid. Yeah, sure, some fellow employees might notice that you're a stranger. But I think people might also probably notice that something is up when the fat Italian chef with the enormous beard is suddenly replaced by a scary looking bald guy with a barcode tattoo on the back of his head. Maybe. And yet they don't give a flying fuck about the latter in Absolution, while absolutely everyone is somehow paranoid about new employees even when they've been given zero reason to worry. Sure, the paramilitary guys might... but the fucking NYPD?

So, I say screw it: disguises are only fun if they work as intended. Eff the 'logic' - there is no logic to it anyway. If I'm wearing a disguise, it should be like I'm a Romulan Warbird with her cloak running until I blow my cover, end of story.

/rant


The dealbreaker for me, though, is the ability to choose loadouts & collect guns / weapons from level to level. Is that back in or not? If not, fuck it, Hitman is basically dead to me, replaced by what is essentially Gears of War: Black Tie Edition.

Suriko

In [Hitman]'s defense, the disguise mechanic seems to work fairly well. I can get the problem, though.

I can't speak to the custom loadouts. The beta only covered the first two levels, which were "training" (47 being tested by The Agency, though functionally they played out as normal levels anyway), so the mechanic isn't covered.

Buuuuuut...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3QwsGaO_pI

From what I've read, this isn't reliable insofar as details go (types of poison, UI, etc), but the loadout mechanic does seem to have made a return.