Hitman series Megathread - "Names are for friends, so i don't need one" - Games

I, for one, find it refreshing to have a genuinely difficult game for once.

What mode are you guys playing on, I have had to switch to Normal as Hard is getting the better of me. I have 13 hours played and have just got to "Dexters lab". I literally don't think I will complete the game ever at the speed I was going at.

[QUOTE=rapmaster;38565138]What mode are you guys playing on, I have had to switch to Normal as Hard is getting the better of me. I have 13 hours played and have just got to "Dexters lab". I literally don't think I will complete the game ever at the speed I was going at.[/QUOTE] Up until the end of Run For Your Life i was on Expert, i switched to hard because the disguises were too Hard to use in the orphanage and from then on ive been using Hard.

[QUOTE=rapmaster;38565138]What mode are you guys playing on, I have had to switch to Normal as Hard is getting the better of me. I have 13 hours played and have just got to "Dexters lab". I literally don't think I will complete the game ever at the speed I was going at.[/QUOTE] Started at Hard too but switched to normal.

Funny, i have 13 hours too and im at dexters lab. OH, HA, Dexters Lab.

Normal seems a lot more playable. I wish I had tried this earlier. Oh so your instinct meter does not burn out when you are just using it to recon the area on normal. That should be the case in every mode.

[QUOTE=AaronM202;38565170]Funny, i have 13 hours too and im at dexters lab. OH, HA, Dexters Lab.[/QUOTE] I wonder if they named the main villain Dexter just for the sake of that joke...

[QUOTE=Mellowbloom;38564708]Did everyone really struggle with the orphanage that much? I thought it was pretty easy.[/QUOTE] I set my sneaking morals aside and engaged the bulk of the thugs in a shootout in the lobby with the Shotgun you can find earlier. Was actually quite fun, music was also good during the fight. Or good is a understatement. It is actually awesome.

[QUOTE=DEMONSKUL;38565218]I wonder if they named the main villain Dexter just for the sake of that joke...[/QUOTE] They made a target a hugh heffner knock off so they could have a porno level, and they had what as basically a nazi as the end boss of the first game, so i wouldnt be suprised. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Jordax;38565250]I set my sneaking morals aside and engaged the bulk of the thugs in a shootout in the lobby with the Shotgun you can find earlier. Was actually quite fun, music was also good during the fight.[/QUOTE] The music is awesome.

[QUOTE=Jordax;38565250]I set my sneaking morals aside and engaged the bulk of the thugs in a shootout in the lobby with the Shotgun you can find earlier. Was actually quite fun, music was also good during the fight.[/QUOTE] I just found it really easy. I think I only subdued one guard, and it was the lone one walking up and down near a fuse.

[QUOTE=Dr Bob;38562880]Only in cutscenes. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] Don't be so dismissive.[/QUOTE] "uh guys this game is Splinter cell: conviction not hitman! Oh and I haven't played it" Bitch if it's like any splinter cell game at all, it would be Chaos Theory. And we all know that game was the bomb.

Well I finished the game and here is what I think. I'm gonna start by saying what I expected from Absolution before it was released. I expected more of the same, but bigger, better and with core systems getting an overhaul, that's all I wanted from Absolution, improvement upon the mechanics which were already in place. It has achieved none of these things. To properly understand why Absolution is not an improvement on the series, why it's not bigger or better, why I personally think it's an absolutely atrocious Hitman game, you must first have played the previous games. As it is now, it is not a Hitman game. [b]What is Hitman?[/b] Hitman is primarily a game about infiltration and assassination, it has minor stealth elements (outright avoiding detection) and minor action elements (you can technically kill everyone in a level but you're really not supposed to). But the main focus of Hitman is on blending in by disguising yourself while looking for an opportunity to strike at your target, ideally in a way which makes your part in the death of that person not known. To improve a Hitman game, you need to either increase the size and/or complexity of a level and the AI routines contained with that level to allow for more opportunities to succeed (and fail) at the goal of the game or improve upon the AI and give 47 contextual actions he can do to help him blend in so that disguising is more challenging and involving. [b]What does Absolution do wrong?[/b] Firstly and most importantly, the disguise system has been made largely redundant. I started the game playing on hard mode before moving down to normal and found that a disguise was only good to get you past a guard once or twice, because the integrity of a disguise is reliant on a depletable resource called Instinct. If you want a disguise to hold up you have to keep your distance from any NPC who shares your clothes, if you've played Metal Gear Solid 3, you will recognise that this is basically like having a camouflage index, where a disguise merely lets you get a bit closer to the enemy and it takes longer before alarm bells are set off in that NPCs head. The few real uses of a disguise is to use instinct to slip past the numerous choke points contained with the game where a guard is waiting and when out of instinct, to blend in with the environment. There are some preset locations in the game where you can perform an action while in a disguise to look busy and actually blend in socially, but they're few and far between. Blending in socially is what disguising should be about, when the eyes of the enemy are upon you, you should play the part until they are no longer, the previous Hitman games let you do this to a minor extent, you could carry a grocery box for example while dressed appropriately, and it would allow you to smuggle your tools into a mission critical location with you (while not actually making your disguise any more convincing as far as I am aware, it could have been made so in Absolution). What I'm saying here is that preset locations where you can perform a blending in task is fine, but it's not versatile enough by itself, reliance upon an instinct meter outside of these locations rather than an intentional physical action of the player makes for a dull and hard to believe experience. Example: If you're a janitor, and a cop is suddenly up in your grill, how do you convince him that you are a friendly non-Hitman janitor, do you start mopping the floor with the mop you brought with you to complete the disguise, or do you hold whatever button you bound instinct to to hide your face with your hand while ducking in and out of cover to break the line of sight with the guy who is suspicious of you? If you answered the latter, you might just enjoy Absolution. It's unrealistic, it's unbelievable, and in my humble opinion, it's not fun. Of course in Absolution you only come under suspicion by people who are wearing the same outfit as you, but there are only a few areas in the game where a disguise other than the one every other NPC in the level is wearing will let you get to where you need to. For the entirety of my playthrough, I spent most of the game ducking behind a chest high wall to avoid the line of sight of the enemy, something in previous games you'd only do until you had a disguise to let you blend in, then you got room to roam around and start figuring out how you were gonna kill a bitch, but in Absolution this is what you will be doing for 95 percent of your time playing. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with this kind of stealth, it works great in other games and it isn't totally bad in this game either, it's just not Hitman, it's something you expect from Splinter Cell: Conviction. The levels: They range from linear waiting games where you advance from chest high cover to chest high cover, the only delay inbetween being two guards talking to each other before finishing their conversation and either turning their backs or getting out of your way, to non-linear but in a very cramped area with granted, a few ways to kill the target in a way that makes it look like an accident, but seriously the size of these levels and the complexity of setting up a kill, tiny and none. Example: The first mission in Chinatown, if you run to the area where the drug deal is, it will trigger his movement and he will come to the plaza thing to make a deal with the guy you need to kill, at this point the guy you need to kill will go to his car where you can blow him up or kill him, or go to relieve himself where you can shoot a thing above his head that crushes him. This can be achieved within the space of 2 minutes and this kind of simple design is mirrored in most of the non-linear non-separated areas in the game. In the linear levels the objective is usually going from one quick cutscene chokepoint door to the next until it finally takes you to the mission area and then it's usually a small area where finding the way to kill the target takes a few minutes. I can honestly say none of the hits in this game have felt rewarding to me, that's the first time I've been able to say that about a Hitman game, it may not be the same for some people but I just didn't feel like I accomplished anything when I killed a target, because setting up the kill was just so trivial. The AI: They don't just run in one by one into the room where their buddy just got his head exploded any more, they aren't all magically alerted when one is alerted, alert spreads quickly one to another so you can technically shut down a failure with some quick shooting. The alert state for the AI means they stick together and look for you, there are 4 states: Unaware, Suspicious, Hunting and Ya Dun Goofed Boy, the first two are self explanatory, the third state has the AI looking for you, they tend to stick together and scour the area and in the 4th state they seem to magically know your location unless you duck into a closet or crate or bin or something. In terms of AI states, this I feel is an improvement, however the AI still is very silly, if you even so much as look at a restricted area, they spank your buttocks taking away a bunch of points from your score, they're fooled by ducking behind cover in a way that would make any real person instantly be suspicious of you, faking surrendering to them basically lets you kill everyone because it draws them out and gives you a human shield while you kill them all. Overall I have no real problem with the AI, it's decent, it's just because you spend all your time hiding from them rather than interacting with them, nothing has really been done with the AI, they're the equivalent of sentry guns rather than people. A lot people I have seen hate the story, and I agree, but I think it's so irrelevant that it's easy to ignore, if you are to be mad at anything be mad at the layout of the game, the lack of player agency in approaching a non-linear location to achieve a set of goals, the lack of options. I don't have much else left to say, it sucked as a Hitman game but if you were to take the name away it'd be an average 3rd person stealth/shooter that does a few things others don't.

rename title to "hitman reviews thread: amateur game journalism edition"

[QUOTE=Riutet;38565746]Hitman is primarily a game about infiltration and assassination, it has minor stealth elements (outright avoiding detection) and minor action elements (you can technically kill everyone in a level but you're really not supposed to). But the main focus of Hitman is on blending in by disguising yourself while looking for an opportunity to strike at your target, ideally in a way which makes your part in the death of that person not known.[/QUOTE] That's completely wrong, what you said is only one of the options that have been in all Hitman games, that wasn't the only way you could play the game and it wasn't the main way you would play the games. Hitman is about all the different ways you can do your objective and Absolution still has plenty of that, there are still a lot of ways you can go trough all missions, maybe disguises aren't as good of an option as it was in the previous games, but that's only one of the options. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=The very best;38565814]rename title to "hitman reviews thread: amateur game journalism edition"[/QUOTE] More like "It's not Blood Money 2 so it sucks"

[QUOTE=The very best;38565814]rename title to "hitman reviews thread: amateur game journalism edition"[/QUOTE] Rename title to Hitman praise thread: No opinions allowed edition [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=simkas;38565822]That's completely wrong, what you said is only one of the options that have been in all Hitman games, that wasn't the only way you could play the game and it wasn't the main way you would play the games. Hitman is about all the different ways you can do your objective and Absolution still has plenty of that, there are still a lot of ways you can go trough all missions, maybe disguises aren't as good of an option as it was in the previous games, but that's only one of the options.[/QUOTE] Honestly, if you think that disguising isn't the core feature of a Hitman game (other than Codename 47 where you could argue a lot of different approaches were accounted for even if half baked in their execution), you are on some special kind of drug and I demand you share. You could kill everyone in a level if you really wanted to, but it had more to do with how dopey the AI, that you could lure them to their doom one by one and then pick off the stragglers than it being a core feature of the game. Killing everyone in a Hitman game is like killing everyone in a TeS game, it's for renegades who don't play by the rules, but not the most developed or intended way to play the game.

[QUOTE=Riutet;38565830]Rename title to Hitman praise thread: No opinions allowed edition[/QUOTE] Rename title to Hitman: 'Your opinions are not mine, thus you are wrong and I will act dramatic if someone disagrees with me on a valid point.'

[QUOTE=Riutet;38565830]Honestly, if you think that disguising isn't the core feature of a Hitman game (other than Codename 47 where you could argue a lot of different approaches were accounted for if half baked in their execution), you are on some special kind of drug and I demand you share.[/QUOTE] "If you don't agree with me you're stupid" that's very mature, nice.

[QUOTE=simkas;38565867]"If you don't agree with me you're stupid" that's very mature, nice.[/QUOTE] It wasn't a matter of agree or disagree though, it was a matter of you being wrong. I did not call you stupid, I called you delusional. There's a difference. If killing everyone in a blaze of fire and guts and explosions was as core a way to play as disguising and subterfuge, then why as the latter way of playing so developed and the former so basic and barebones, why were you scored so harshly for murdering everyone, and so well for only killing the intended target by making it look like an accident.

How are people getting 7500 on a mission where with perfect sneaking action I only get 6250??

First there was one... [t]http://i.imgur.com/DjmfPh.jpg[/t] Then there were shitloads of them... [t]http://i.imgur.com/0uyyVh.jpg[/t] Go kill them my minions! Pretty nice touch :D

[QUOTE=Riutet;38565746]Well I finished the game and here is what I think. [B]What is Hitman?[/B] Hitman is primarily a game about infiltration and assassination, it has minor stealth elements (outright avoiding detection) and minor action elements (you can technically kill everyone in a level but you're really not supposed to). But the main focus of Hitman is on blending in by disguising yourself while looking for an opportunity to strike at your target, ideally in a way which makes your part in the death of that person not known. To improve a Hitman game, you need to either increase the size and/or complexity of a level and the AI routines contained with that level to allow for more opportunities to succeed (and fail) at the goal of the game or improve upon the AI and give 47 contextual actions he can do to help him blend in so that disguising is more challenging and involving. [B]What does Absolution do wrong?[/B] [B]Nothing, the game is fantastic and i should shut up and just enjoy it, if i had a problem with this game i would post it in the IO Interactive forums [/B][/QUOTE] Seriously what with all these damn reviews/'What i think is wrong' in this thread. Go post that somewhere else.

[QUOTE=darth-veger;38565975]Seriously what with all these damn reviews/'What i think is wrong' in this thread. Go post that somewhere else.[/QUOTE] Because it's the designated thread for the game in this particular forum and if people already posted in the IO forums they would just post there instead? Why is a negative opinion of the game backed up with reasoning not welcome?

Post whatever the crap you want as long as it's related to Hitman. If you don't want to read an essay on it, then don't. I'm going to go play instead of reading.

[QUOTE=Riutet;38565924]It wasn't a matter of agree or disagree though, it was a matter of you being wrong. I did not call you stupid, I called you delusional. There's a difference. If killing everyone in a blaze of fire and guts and explosions was as core a way to play as disguising and subterfuge, then why as the latter way of playing so developed and the former so basic and barebones, why were you scored so harshly for murdering everyone, and so well for only killing the intended target by making it look like an accident.[/QUOTE] It's the same thing, you called me wrong because I don't agree with your opinion. And there's more ways to play Hitman that aren't just "use disguises everywhere" and "kill everyone", you're just focusing on the extremes.

I just want to know why people who dislike the game [i]have[/i] to write a fucking essay. I mean every one is a fucking mini review of how the game isn't Blood Money and then calling it terrible or "Good but not Hitman". Is Absolution different? Yes. Is it like Conviction which not only encouraged you to murder everyone but also removed the ability to do otherwise? Fucking no. Boo fucking hoo, the disguise system is a little wierd, we all agree on that, it's better than the old system where you got the highest level security suit and could walk anywhere. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=SEKCobra;38565947]How are people getting 7500 on a mission where with perfect sneaking action I only get 6250??[/QUOTE] Make sure you get the evidence.

[QUOTE=SEKCobra;38565947]How are people getting 7500 on a mission where with perfect sneaking action I only get 6250??[/QUOTE] Evidence perhaps?

[QUOTE=simkas;38566063]It's the same thing, you called me wrong because I don't agree with your opinion. And there's more ways to play Hitman that aren't just "use disguises everywhere" and "kill everyone", you're just focusing on the extremes.[/QUOTE] After all Hitman is made about how [I]you[/I] want to play it. The score system is aimed to be a Silent Assassin and doesn't reward you for taking out people on your path since thats not how 47 works. I could also go in-game and make a list of things i don't like but i don't because i always seem to find a way around it so i enjoy it again. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Coffee;38566083]Evidence perhaps?[/QUOTE] Also challenges, they multiply the score after all

[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;38566070]I just want to know why people who dislike the game [i]have[/i] to write a fucking essay. I mean every one is a fucking mini review of how the game isn't Blood Money and then calling it terrible or "Good but not Hitman".[/quote] It also isn't Silent Assassin or Contracts, it's a deviation from a formula which would be fine if it was a game under a different name, but it isn't. As for the mini-reviews, people who feel strongly about a game, will react strongly when they are met with disappointment. [quote]Is Absolution different? Yes. Is it like Conviction which not only encouraged you to murder everyone but also removed the ability to do otherwise? Fucking no.[/quote] Dunno about you but I played Conviction largely as a Stealth game only killing when I had to, which is how I played Absolution, they are both pretty similar both in how they play and in how they are an edgy new take that deviates from an established formula. [quote]Boo fucking hoo, the disguise system is a little wierd, we all agree on that, it's better than the old system where you got the highest level security suit and could walk anywhere.[/QUOTE] It is only better in that there is no longer a best disguise, the biggest problem with the disguise system has more to do with the level design than the disguise system itself. The orphanage level for example, tons of guards, only one disguise that will let you blend in with them, and that one disguise they will see through in a matter of seconds if you aren't toking instinct like it's going out of fashion.

If I was a large, easily noticed bald man on the run from people who use 'bald' as my main feature, I think I'd buy a wig

[QUOTE=Riutet;38566009]Because it's the designated thread for the game in this particular forum and if people already posted in the IO forums they would just post there instead? Why is a negative opinion of the game backed up with reasoning not welcome?[/QUOTE] Bro, even if it is, the only thread that actually allows you to say something negative about the game is the TES thread. Every other megathread is made to praise the game. That's just how it is. [editline]23rd November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Riutet;38566160]It also isn't Silent Assassin or Contracts, it's a deviation from a formula which would be fine if it was a game under a different name, but it isn't. As for the mini-reviews, people who feel strongly about a game, will react strongly when they are met with disappointment. Dunno about you but I played Conviction largely as a Stealth game only killing when I had to, which is how I played Absolution, they are both pretty similar both in how they play and in how they are an edgy new take that deviates from an established formula. It is only better in that there is no longer a best disguise, the biggest problem with the disguise system has more to do with the level design than the disguise system itself. The orphanage level for example, tons of guards, only one disguise that will let you blend in with them, and that one disguise they will see through in a matter of seconds if you aren't toking instinct like it's going out of fashion.[/QUOTE] If I see another post comparing absolution with conviction I'll blow my head off. YOU GET NEGATIVE POINTS FOR UNNECESSARY KILLING (SORT OF LIKE CHAOS THEORY), THIS GAME IS NOT CONVICTION.