Hitman Series Official Thread

[theshadowcult]

I'd agree with this.

[nutcrackr]

Just played the training missions for the new Hitman. In the second one, there are these mechanics around the Jet. After about 3 restarts, two of them on patrol routes never appeared in their usual places. Ran around the level and they were nowhere to be found. Is that the game changing things or just a bug?

[|MaguS|]

Originally Posted by nutcrackr

Just played the training missions for the new Hitman. In the second one, there are these mechanics around the Jet. After about 3 restarts, two of them on patrol routes never appeared in their usual places. Ran around the level and they were nowhere to be found. Is that the game changing things or just a bug?

It can change things depending on how you start. I didn't have any issues.

[nutcrackr]

So this game was pretty good, I think the core gameplay, ai, mission design, and levels are probably the best in the series. I played all 6 main episodes and Sapienza was probably the best, although Colorado wasn't far behind. Most of the missions have two targets, but those two missions had extra main objectives. All the levels are fairly good although I would say Marrakesh is the weakest. Most of my kills were close takedowns with pistol, or garrote. But I also did poisons, explosion, and accidents.

It does have a story. There are brief cut scenes between the missions as well as tidbits in levels / briefing stuff. I thought it was enough but would have liked a bit more. Clearly setup for another season.

There are some great things about the AI. and the disguise system makes sense. Probably too much reliance on instinct though, but you can turn that off if you want pure gameplay. I think it would be a little frustrating without it though.

The game is designed to be played many times over (probably 3+ each mission) because that's the only way you get additional starting locations, additional drop locations etc. This puts me at a quandary.
I love that there is multiple ways to complete objectives and that gives it excellent replay value a bit like Blood Money. But I wish there was a way to capture some of that for those that aren't going to replay missions.

[Brainstew]

I thought Bangkok was the worst. It looked gorgeous, but the mission itself was like pulling teeth.

How do you access the bonus missions? Are they free?

[nutcrackr]

Elusive targets are no longer available (except the latest) which is unfortunate.

There is a bonus mission for paris, sapienza and marrakesh. Just go to Destinations and select those locations, then the bonus ones. I haven't played them yet.

[Drexion]

Tweet
Announcement(pdf)

[Brainstew]

So does SE still own the license to Hitman?

[|MaguS|]

Originally Posted by Brainstew

So does SE still own the license to Hitman?

Do not know. We will find out when the state of the studio is determined.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[ThirdEye]

Good, **** square enix.

[theshadowcult]

Originally Posted by Brainstew

So does SE still own the license to Hitman?

Almost undoubtedly. Its quite rare for the publisher to leave the rights to the devs. Even games that are 20 years old are still locked in metaphorical vaults in the publishers storage and not allowed out to play. It's ONE of the reasons its takes so long for indie devs to get their hands on old game ips.

[nutcrackr]

I'm not that surprised, don't think it sold that well. I wish they didn't do the episodic stuff, but they probably wouldn't have got funding without it.

imo io should go back and make a new franchise with similar gameplay.

Hitwoman

[ThirdEye]

Hitzir

[Nagorak]

Originally Posted by nutcrackr

I'm not that surprised, don't think it sold that well. I wish they didn't do the episodic stuff, but they probably wouldn't have got funding without it.

imo io should go back and make a new franchise with similar gameplay.

Hitwoman

The series took a turn for the worse with Hitman Absolution. They had perfected the game with Blood Money and then for some reason just went off the rails trying to reinvent the game for a mass market, which made the game worse for their primary audience. Probably the episodic release didn't help with drawing people back in.

It's sad if this is the end of Hitman. I still remember the first game, as flawed as it was in some respects, it was still revolutionary for the time.

[Drexion]

Rumor: Io Interactive will retain Hitman rights, second season is still on the way


"..Square Enix announced its intention to sell developer Io Interactive..."
"But the situation may not be as dire as it seems: According to German site Gamestar.de .. the rights to the Hitman franchise will remain with Io, rather than Square Enix... Furthermore, work on the second season is already "halfway to completion," the site said, and it's "definitely" going to happen." (source)

[nutcrackr]

I find it hard to believe that SE would let the franchise go for cheap, so io will have to get pretty good sales to keep them afloat.

[Mangler]

We’re very excited to share this message from the Io-Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak:

In its 19 years of history, Io-Interactive has brought you original and exciting entertainment; from Mini Ninjas and Freedom Fighters to gaming’s most notorious criminals Kane & Lynch and of course our beloved Agent 47. With our latest game, we have not only transformed Hitman, but also moved our entire studio into the AAA digital era. Our live product has disrupted the video game business and has received recognition and praise from press, community and our fans.

There are many tales of hope, dreams, hardship and joy within these walls. We have never strived for the expected or predictable. Instead, we are always in pursuit for what feels original and real. Our passion and determination has never been greater and so that is why we have decided it is not the time to stop as we have many more exciting and original tales to tell.

Therefore I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP.

This is a watershed moment for IOI. As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP – we’re about to forge our own future and it’s incredibly exciting. We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community.

I would like to say a big and sincere thank you to all of our players, community, friends in the media and everyone else connected to the studio for the messages of support that we have received in the last few weeks. I would also like to thank Square Enix; it has been a great family to be a part of and we are proud of what we have achieved together in the last eight years. IOI started as an independent studio and we will now return to those roots with an extremely passionate and talented team.

We are counting on the continued support of all our players; simply by having fun with everything we’ve released so far for HITMAN – and we want to encourage more of you to try our game. We have more details to come on our plans for that next week.

Thank you.

Hakan,
Io-Independent

http://www.ioi.dk/the-future-of-ioi/

[|MaguS|]

Just bought it on PS4 as well. Newegg had it on sale for $29.99 for the steelbook version that came with exclusive missions. Now I will get the best of both platforms!

[nutcrackr]

I think ioi will be looking for money quickly to keep themselves going as an independent studio. I predict remasters of their old games, most likely Blood Money. Unless they got funding from another investor, then it's all gravy.

My wishlist is for them to release the next Hitman game in one package, not episodic. I doubt that will happen though.

[Nagorak]

I'm glad to hear IO is independent (again?). I hope things work out for them.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing another Freedom Fighters, although maybe it's sort of been done now in other games.

[Napoleonic]

Is there even a thread for hitman 2 game here?

I'm late but I tried the free version of hitman 2 and liked it, now just waiting for the next sale to buy the ridiculously expensive package.

Here hoping for the 3rd game.

[Napoleonic]

wow nobody replied hahahah

so the 3rd game is going to be epic exclusive I wonder how would that work with the whole premise for a game as a platform on it's own toward it's own predecessors that are on steam? can you play hitman 1 and 2 missions that are on steam via epic? and how long is this exclusivity last? still 1 year?

[Nagorak]

I've really enjoyed the new Hitmans. They went back to the Blood Money formula and the games were really good. Surprised no one here even talked about them?

As far as the Epic exclusive stuff, I don't know the answer, but I'll just pick it up in the Epic Store if necessary. I don't really care that much which launcher I need to use to start a game.

[Drexion]

Originally Posted by Nagorak

Surprised no one here even talked about them?

From comments I've seen over the past few years around the gaming sphere, it seems they lost a lot of their playerbase when they implemented the always-online requirement into the games. Even in first world countries there are many people who still don't have reliable internet access.

(Last time I checked while there are a couple ways to play offline, it's missing campaign content, doesn't save progress, doesn't have challenges, doesn't have side content, doesn't unlock any items or give xp etc it's kinda pointless)

[the_sextein]

1

[the_sextein]

I've always been a fan of Hitman. I think 2016 and 2018 are good titles but they were designed around Square Enix episodic formula which forced them to design each mission with a thousand grindy completion elements that are not to my liking. I want to complete everything because I'm a completionist but I hate steam achievements and this game feels like it's full of them. Still I like the level designs and the multitude of options for taking out the target. I'm looking forward to Hitman 2020. I just wish they would leave all of the grindy achievements to steam and make the main campaign a little more focused and traditionally Hitman like.

[Mangler]

IO or Epic dun goofed.

Owners of the first two games were supposed to get maps from those games free, but on PC, that'll only work with Hitman 1.

In August 2020, IO Interactive said ahead of the start of Hitman 3 preorders that players will be able to import their progression and unlocks from Hitman 2, as well as locations from the previous two games, at no extra charge. "We want to make it a seamless process for our PC players to enjoy Hitman 3 on a different PC platform and continue to enjoy the benefits of our World of Assassination," the studio promised.

The statement seemed intended as a reassurance that making Hitman 3 exclusive to the Epic Games Store—which does not carry Hitman 2—would not be a problem for players who want continue their careers as high-flying assassins organically, from one game to the next. Today, however, IO changed direction on all that, saying in a pre-launch guide that Hitman 2 locations will only be available to PC players who purchase a separate access pack.

https://www.pcgamer.com/hitman-3s-ep...ree-after-all/


Competition has made yet another pc version the inferior one.

[KAC]

Is this game worth boning. I have had it for a while but never indulged in it.

[Jet Black]

Originally Posted by Mangler

IO or Epic dun goofed.



https://www.pcgamer.com/hitman-3s-ep...ree-after-all/


Competition has made yet another pc version the inferior one.

I have the free Epic version of Hitman, but don't own Hitman 2 anywhere. After reading their faq a few times I'm still not sure how this works as I see no Hitman 2 add on in the store. Originally I thought I could get all content by just buying Hitman 3, but am less interested now. I think waiting on Steam version may be the safe bet.

[twonha]

You'd think it'd be easier to just include Hitman 2 with Hitman 3 and be done with it - get some positive attention, too. But no, they had to go make things more difficult, more complicated, more convoluted. As if the disaster that is the separate purchasing options for Hitman 1 and 2 on Steam wasn't clear enough already.

I loved Hitman 2016 to death, played Hitman 2 extensively this month, and I'm a real fan of IO and their games. But this just sounds dumb.

Good thing I am late to most games - by the time I'm ready for more Hitman, it'll have launched on Steam already. Hopefully with its PS4 VR content, too.