Dyni Crippler
Member
Yes, but car bombs only had one use. In my first run of BM, mines were the ultimate tool for my killings.
Also yeah, it is a matter of preference, but I don't believe you can deny how the series progressed over years.
First Hitman: Absolution reviews hit
- Thread starter Messi
- Start date
Yes, but car bombs only had one use. In my first run of BM, mines were the ultimate tool for my killings.
Also yeah, it is a matter of preference, but I don't believe you can deny how the series progressed over years.
But so many other functions were broken. Gunplay, which is forced on you a hell of a lot more than Silent Assassin, is atrocious. That and the stealth mechanic is pretty bad, too. You can just walk straight up behind someone and strangle away, and if you holster your fibre wire during the kill and there's some characters seeing you strangle this person, they don't acknowledge you as the murderer. At least the disguise-o-meter makes sense on some levels. It just falls apart in Japan.
Even for it's time, Codename 47 was a bad, clunky game with a solid concept behind it. Silent Assassin is a masterpiece.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Oh piss off, and get off your high horse! I distinctly remember the Hitman Forum being very split down the middle on the movie when it came out.
SonicVolcano
Member
No save option was really bad and it didn't feel like a stealth game at all, in my opinion.
Loved the final missions though. And Rotterdam was nice, because I'm Dutch
Red Blaster
Member
Not really, C47 pushed gunplay way too much.
Silent Assassin is pretty excellent save for the last mission and the Japan ones.
LeadenStride
Member
Only that it was way less challenging. The silent assassin rating was no more something to practice for. The levels were kind of similar to each other as well. What I also loved about previous titles was the travelling around the world. All except two missions in BM are placed in the US. Sadly this is not going to change with Absolution.
Dyni Crippler
Member
Levels didn't feel the same at all for me. Every level was unique, which is more than I can say for Japan levels in SA.
Also, easy =/= bad as usual. I'd rather have an easy game that leaves me free to experiment rather than a game that offers me pshychic guards and a clunky main character.
This depends, I think. I think Silent Assassin is excellent on Normal. In some missions, having your cover blown allows you to at least get some control back, which flows in line with how the previous game forced you into such circumstances. Anything higher and you're punished in firefights, and this is a shame because sometimes the AI can see through your disguise way too well. For example, if the mafia bosses brother sees you at all in Anathema, he will follow you all over the level, just to blow your cover. On Normal I can at least handle and accept the cover being shot because I have the power and skillset to handle a firefight. On higher settings you are in fact penalized for even entering firefights, as the enemies get a habit of actually taking cover in some locations. This wouldn't be so bad save for the fact Blood Money and Silent Assassin both force you into gunfights at their ends, where the enemies can take more shots, you can take less, and your guns lose accuracy by playing on a harder setting. The only game through and through that doesn't force a firefight on you in the entire franchise is Contracts, and arguably Sniper Challenge, as you can't take damage.
Of course none of that is on level with the bullshit of Codename 47 which is all over the map in firefights. You can have a guy take down all over your health in about three shots in the Columbia missions (or any mission with assault rifles), going straight to damage your health bar and not your armor bar. No matter what difficulty you play on.
All this talk about SA has reminded me of some of the great things about it.
Who else misses the chloroform rag? I loved how you could control the dosage of it, and knocking out wasn't synonymous with dead. First time you see a guard wake up and chase after you in his underwear, you take note.
Who else misses the chloroform rag? I loved how you could control the dosage of it, and knocking out wasn't synonymous with dead. First time you see a guard wake up and chase after you in his underwear, you take note.
Guys, remember that there will be two game modes:
Absolution: Story driven, most linear
Contracts: Everything you loved about Hitman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFYDoQiL_fE
Absolution: Story driven, most linear
Contracts: Everything you loved about Hitman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFYDoQiL_fE
LeadenStride
Member
They are pretty much the same in the sense that you walk into a place, kill some people and walk out. Of course you might argue that this is exactly what hitman is about and I have to say that it's also hitman at its best, but a little bit variety wouldn't hurt either. Those Japan missions in SA aren't even essentially bad, they are just awfully glitched. I still liked the idea of having a big area where you just had to get to the other side of it. I remember the many hours I spent to get past all those guards without a disguise and it felt extremely rewarding when I finally made it through without being seen.
Of course easy doesn't equal bad objectively, but it felt pretty shallow when you get silent assassin on your first runs. Some might not have a problem with that, but I did.
MMaRsu
Gold Member
The perfect Dark
Banned
This. You can't play it offline without Online Pass
The real hitman has been relegated to some online only shoehorned mode. If that doesn't tell you the thought process behind this game then nothing will.
The online pass comes with the game (new). Paying for online should only be an issue for XBL.
Dyni Crippler
Member
I agree that variety is a good thing, but it has to be done well. In Hitman 2 those levels felt like a chore.
Plus, I didn't get SA on the first run because I like to get creative. Bombs, weapons, fiberwire, accidents, even the new melee system: all tools that let me handle the situations way more dinamically than in SA. I don't have to follow a way that was prepared earlier for me to use: this time the playground is mine. That's why BM is so great. If I have to sacrifice challenge to have this... well, I'll gladly accept the compromise.
You can play it with a silver account.
So... buy the game new? I don't see the issue.
And yeah, I love the sound of Contracts. Hitman games already have massive replayability and this should only boost it.
The problem is after all the shit they've pulled this game they're trying to blackmail fans by attaching the "real" hitman game (which I still disagree that it is, or should be at least) to an online pass that can only be had by giving them money and not gamestop or gamefly. It's very shady on top of all the shady stuff they've done to the series.
LeadenStride
Member
I meant on the first times you're going for SA, my bad. Of course BM introduced a lot of good things, many of which work better than in previous games, but IO wouldn't have had to sacrifice challenge for that. If they would have kept the enemies a little bit less forgiving, it would have been a much bigger challenge, keeping the freedom just at it is.
Never played K&L. I'm not sure what you're getting at.
Ravensmash
Member
Really? I disagree with online passes like many do, but I fully understand why they exist from a publishers perspective.
I'm planning on getting the game new as is, so I really have no issue with it. If someone does have an issue then wait for it to drop in price (or get the PC version like you are) as a preowned copy isn't going to be fantastically cheaper close to launch anyway.
I'm confused. Are you complaining that the Gamestop isn't getting money instead of the developer? Is it not activate a new copy and play?
Can you believe the developers? They want profit for the product they've created! What greedy bastards!
Besides, I'll be playing it on PC, the only way to play Hitman games. It's not like Steam sells used copies anyway.
Dyni Crippler
Member
I kind of disagree here. Much of the missed freedom in H2 came exactly from the guard's unforgiveness. I never really tried any unique approach because as soon as I approached them I risked to get my cover blown. Making them more forgiving (or, in my opinion, making them have sense: now your cover is easy to blow only if they found a body or stuff like that) was the best approach in my opinion.
Maybe they don't deserve to be rewarded with money for how they handled this game and franchise? That's why trying to hold the "real" hitman hostage is a bad move. It doesn't affect me personally since I don't care about contracts (and I'm probably getting cheap on PC anyway) but it might affect other fans who feel as burned as me but still want to try it whether it's through rentals or used purchases.
I don't know how cheap before I give in, but I will be doing this as well. Nice new rig for whatever it wants to throw at me.
Yeah, 2 was pretty unforgiving and I liked the changes made to disguises/NPCs in BM to make it more obvious when you were in a place you shouldn't be. I know a lot of people that love the idea of Hitman but were previously turned off because of how damn hard the older ones could be.
But BM did overkill the difficulty easiness in some ways. Like mentioned on the last page, the chloroform rag in 2 was great. Use the entirety of it to take out a guard for the entire level, or split it for multiple uses knowing it's going to only last for a specific amount of time before the guard reawakens. The sedative in BM lasts forever and is essentially just like killing a guard, and even more abusable was the human shield. Take out a silverballer, human shield, knockout = same thing as a sedative, but with no limit for use. You can knock out entire levels like this. In a way I don't really mind that due to my playstyle, I love fucking around in these games, but I can see why changes like that would bother people since it made SA ranks easy.
Absolution seems to be making the BM disguise system less abusable('best' outfit in a level doesn't equal full safety anymore) but who knows on the rest.
Ravensmash
Member
Surely that's for the consumer to decide as an individual though? And that will be showcased through sales.
Anyway, we're just making a lot of assumptions - I'm still optimistic that I'll enjoy Absolution and will await more impressions and walkthrough videos.
From a gameplay perspective, I understand why there's this instinct for disguises now - it was so easy in Blood Money to get a decent costume and then just run around everywhere with no one batting an eyelid. It's definitely an attempt to add a bit of realism or difficulty.
Not really sure how else they could have implemented this system without punishing it's use somehow, otherwise all you'd have to do is walk around with your hand over your face all mission and nothing else would've changed from the previous title. I guess the instinct meter is a way of restricting it's abuse but I do wonder what happens if you play on the higher difficulties - do you just have to avoid certain NPC's completely?
Dick Justice
Banned
Oh, split down the middle? So that doesn't mean the whole forum loved that movie, which is what you were previously implying?
Fuck yes!!!
Replaying through Silent Assassin now and it definitely has quirks that make it better in some ways than Blood Money still.
LeadenStride
Member
OK, I can understand that. The guards in SA are really harsh and creating an own approach was really difficult from time to time, which doesn't mean that it would have been impossible. I guess the games just suit different gamers' tastes. BM for those who like to experiment easily and SA for masochists with a lot of patience like me.
Dyni Crippler
Member
Oh, yes, I can see why the passage from chloroform to sedative can be seen as negative. I though that having only two sedatives worked, though. And didn't using a human shield leave a witness? Might be wrong on this one.
I guess, yeah. With Contracts being the middle ground.
Why would you?
Interfectum
Member
To fuck around?
Nope, human shield didn't leave a witness as long as you weren't running at them with a gun to grab them when you got behind them. I recently replayed BM and got silent assassin ranks on pro using it in place of sedatives a lot, just crouch walk behind people and take out the gun instead.
You could also use this same thing for accident kills by dragging the bodies to a ledge and throwing them over.
Ravensmash
Member
Do we know how it's implemented? Does it simply remove the option to go downstairs or is there a narrative led reason?
Guerrillas in the Mist
Member
The OT should be due in a few days, right?
LeadenStride
Member
The thing is that even without exploiting these options it was incredibly easy to get SA ranks.
Dyni Crippler
Member
Dude, that would've saved me a LOT of trouble.
I guess this is an undeniable flaw, yeah. I still think it's the best one, though.
Yes, it is easy. But I'd argue Hitman 1&2 are the only actually hard stealth games, too.
I'm not sure, but either of your guesses are terrible news for the game.
Right. I was only talking about console people who may be on the fence. I can wait for a steam sale or a GMG/Amazon sale since it'll drop much quicker there, usually console people on the fence choose to rent a game and if they do that apparently they don't get contracts which if it's as classic Hitman as people say it is is kinda fucked up.