In my >10 hours in now I had one QTE and that was because I amde a mistake, nothing is forced so far. And the corridor complaint is a thing I don't really get honestly, but maybe that pops up later - what level specifically?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Hitman: Absolution |OT| Police do not suspect Blood Money is involved.
- Thread starter Interfectum
- Start date
In my >10 hours in now I had one QTE and that was because I amde a mistake, nothing is forced so far. And the corridor complaint is a thing I don't really get honestly, but maybe that pops up later - what level specifically?
No I meant that's what they've said so far. I could go back and find the posts if I absolutely have to but it wasn't that long ago, only a few days at most, so I would think most here still remember them.
As for me I think I'm close to reaching my point of no longer giving a shit about the franchise, my acceptance point like I reached with Splinter Cell, so that's why I'm beginning to look for really good deals on the game. Because if it really is a decent stealth game on its own then some enjoyment can be had once I stop mourning the loss of Hitman.
They all have sandbox elements even if they all don't allow to freely walk around ala KoCT.
? Terminus is a good sandbox mission imho, no idea why you would call that one a corridor.
rosaceadude2112
Member
King of Chinatown was pretty weak as far as sandbox levels go.
Chinatown, Terminus, and hunter and hunted has 2 smaller scale hits within one level...I don't see it either.
It's not a Hit though, again not the point of the series.
Only a small part of Hunter and Hunted is a hit, the rest is escaping from the cops. again not the point of the series.
The English Conquistador
Member
I would say that a broken checkpoint system and a pointless disguise mechanic are quite fundamental parts of the Hitman experience. Whether you've been playing the games for years, or this is your first, you cannot deny that those two things are more janky than anything that has been an issue before.
It's not that different. Hitman as a series will never reach Metallica lows.
The disguises is always been a problem, to be fair though how could they change it? You're a 6 foot bald man lol. It requires suspension of disbelief.
They aren't all hits, but they all are either sandboxes or have sandbox qualities to progress. Not linear/loaded with QTEs.
I can see people not liking stuff like the orphanage, but the line of reasoning against them hasn't been very well articulated by people. Disguises are different but still had uses for me compared to a suit only run, I can walk in a room and grab a fuse them walk out when blending, suit only didn't allow that--thus, the disguise had a use. It's different, but not useless. I do want them to tone down the distance of detection, though.
There seems to be pretty unanimous agreement on the checkpoints being poorly done. The disguses being JANKY, of all things, though? Hitman 2 cover blown out of nowhere, anyone? The game atleast clearly is pointing out what is happening with suspicion rates and lines of sight, so you atleast know why whatever happens, happens.
Do you have some sort of angelical vidoegame design bible that you're holding out on? Developers shouldn't need to go down a checklist of "Is this in the same vein as past games? Does the series still feel the same?"
Your criticism has to be more focused than that. Otherwise it turns into a discussion full of "Nuh-Uh's" from everyone.
I don't know... it felt like less than half the levels in Absolution actually revolved around Hits. Generally it was like "Get to the door", 3 levels, then a minor sandbox hit mission.
Gonna try me some contracts
I can't disagree on that, but whether or not that fact alone makes this a worse Hitman is whats up for debate.
I actually can deny that, because the glitched checkpoint system is hardly a dealbreaker for me and has occasionally worked in my favor. And disguises are hardly pointless. You can still get around people who don't have the same disguise. And people with the same disguise can be gotten around using instinct. Could it be better? Of course. Do I hope they patch it? Yes. But I'm glad they didn't just use Blood Money's broken disguise system. Or Blood Money's dumb push of death. Or Blood Money's awful gunplay. Or Blood Money's guards that only have 2 settings: calm and shooting you. Or Blood Money's absurd story. Or Blood Money's chore of an inventory system.
Absolution is more like Hitman 2 in that its levels feel like part of a cohesive whole. A chapter in a story. Blood Money's levels, while fun, are pretty much interchangeable in terms of place. Blood Money is almost a casual experience in that I can hop in, play for 15-30 minutes and have my fun and be done with it. Something like Angry Birds in that way. Absolution's levels feel better within the proper context. They have a place in the story. I feel like Absolution will be like Hitman 2 in that I won't be able to replay a level without replaying the whole thing.
Absolution is the best game in the series in a lot of ways.
The English Conquistador
Member
There was nothing wrong with Blood Money's method of disguise. You killed dude, took his outfit, you were that dude. Job done. Unless you did something messed up or out of place (killing someone for instance) you were fine.
I'll give you an example of how janky and fucked up the disguise mechanic is in this game. I could load the Terminus level checkpoint, where 47 leaves the elevator. He's wearing the outfit that the baddies are all wearing. AS SOON as you leave the elevator, you are in direct view of enemies, so I'll take an immediate left around the corner. AS SOON as I walk toward a guard, he'll immediately start to suspect. It literally takes a few seconds for him to take offense and try to stop you to see just who you are. You can use your instinct, but since one of the most crucial aspects of the Hitman games is exploration and seeing just what you can do with what you have, so that instinct becomes quite useless once it's gone and you're surveillance is somewhat complete.
Somehow each person you are disguised similarly too KNOWS who you are within 5 seconds. You try to walk away? Guess what, you might as well just restart there because you're already a suspect, and you're already gonna get "arrested" and that will lead into a shoot out. This is even more apparent in the later difficulties. So this is my problem with the disguise system, it punishes you for blending in, which is what Hitman games have been about. A silent, efficient assassin.
Like I mentioned previously, Blood Money did it fine. I dislike this phrase but why fix what ain't broken?
Hey at least I didn't go St Anger on you guys
Let's not say things we'll regret.
Absolution's may be unnecessarily difficult, but in Blood Money it was illogical and game-breaking in terms of how easy it made things. Get an FBI outfit and the level bends over for you.
Blood Money was piss easy and an outlier to the disguise system, people didn't suspect you at all so the moment you got an FBI suit you had free access to everything. In 2 and Contracts you still couldn't get too close, and a lot of times in 2 especially you would sometimes just start getting shot at. Absolution is going back to that method but giving the player the information needed to avoid it just happening. It needs ironed out so people don't detect you from so far away beyond reasonable reason to suspect you, but I'm fine with it in the case you want to walk right past someone.
Your example also isn't it being janky, but I do agree that the way the levels are segmented can fuck you over in a spot like that. If you use the janitor or electrician from the first floor you can walk around the second perfectly fine. Guard outfits in particular are much harder to use in Absolution, unlike Blood Money where it was always the priority.
Jesus, I can't get past thewhat am I supposed to do then? Playing it on ExpertBar fight, the text that shows what button I should press disappears to fast and is too small to see what it says so I die all the time
You can use a vent and avoid starting a fight in general.
So... use it? It's a core mechanic of the game.
Um there's actually a lot wrong with that. How does it make sense that just because you're wearing an outfit it means that no one is suspicious of a super tall bald guy who looks nothing like anyone else?
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
This would require you to be suited up properly, or not exactly on a higher difficulty. Purist mode is nigh impossible in some spots, expert is a bit more workable but still has trouble spots that I refuse to believe they playtested. Also, for those who are doing suit runs, using it is impossible.
The game just has too many systems that aren't very well utilized to allow for proper variance of play, which Blood Money had in spades despite its silliness you pointed out. Absolution is too picky and specific, and for me that sucks a ton of the fun out of it.
It's a videogame.
This. 100 times this. 1000 times this.
rosaceadude2112
Member
Agent 47 is a capitalist doppelganger. Of course if one of the help goes missing, the higher ups aren't going to notice or care. Employees can easily be replaced.
Suit runs will definitely need to use throwing objects as distractions a lot. I haven't messed around with it much, but I do think purist will be fucking ridiculous and doesn't mesh well with how the game was made.
Yeah, you can say, "47 will scratch his head and make guards become retarded," works here too, but I just think it's slightly less fulfilling than the required suspension of disbelief required in the other scenario.
But like we're never going to all agree on this so I don't really mind.
Except for things you don't like about that specific videogame, of course!
Broder Salsa
Banned
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
You're looking for extreme realism logic in a game that features a special agency that takes contract killings and has a squad of sex fetish nuns that carry weaponry twice their size to hunt down one man who is a clone, honed for killing in a science lab somewhere.
Ok.
This.
I don't think I agree with your definition of extreme realism. It's more like a logical thing most people would assume when they first play. If I put on an outfit thats the same as everyone else's I wouldn't expect to be able to walk around at will in situations like this even in a videogame.
Just played Dexter Laboratory (or whatever it's called) and the one thing I will say is the hitman style puzzle pieces (like sabotaging electricity boxes) aren't implemented very well. Often times it will be right in the middle of the room with a wire going directly to something that is impossible to get round any other way.
I just feel like those thing that used to be fun to discover are now so obvious they're no longer fun (or funny). For example:
. There's 2 parts to it and neither of them do anything else. It's hardly a puzzle.
I just feel like those thing that used to be fun to discover are now so obvious they're no longer fun (or funny). For example:
the fire paste in the experimental hair loss treatment
The English Conquistador
Member
Exactly what I'm talking about. This is what I meant with the higher difficulty, especially purist, the game is designed to fuck you over in many parts of a level.
The whole series of Hitman requires suspension of disbelief. A bald man with a barcode on the back of his head would erect suspicion among any heavily armed establishment. It's a game.
The entire logic of Hitman is always going to be extremely videogamey, and I don't believe the changes they made in Absolution was an attempt to ground it in realism. You are, no matter what, a guy that can fit perfectly in everyone's clothes, not to mention you change in mere seconds which sets up a lot of scenarios like a guy walks into a bathroom and someone completely different looking walks right back out. Absolution seemed to try to add another gameplay level to the disguises, so you'd have to be actively avoiding some people while also checking out your surroundings. This is why Death Factory is one of my favorite levels, there are a lot of scientists around but many have their backs turned and while you can go in these rooms, you still have to be cautious about it.
Other levels like RFYL, Rosewood, or Dexter's Industries are primarily just guards which bottlenecks this idea more and forces some Splinter Cell-esque gameplay but still has openess to fuck with the AI a lot, and some cases of walking around with disguises still beating out the suit due to instinct. If they tone the distance of detection down these will be more hitman-y.
Other levels like RFYL, Rosewood, or Dexter's Industries are primarily just guards which bottlenecks this idea more and forces some Splinter Cell-esque gameplay but still has openess to fuck with the AI a lot, and some cases of walking around with disguises still beating out the suit due to instinct. If they tone the distance of detection down these will be more hitman-y.
There is something called internal logic and it has nothing to do with the aesthetics or themes of the game, which are external to the gameplay systems themselves.
Red Blaster
Member
47 scratching is head is infinitely times a better compromise than slamming his face into the nearest wall which was the MO to avoid suspicion in Blood Money.
I remember people trying to assuage my fears on this game months ago by telling me to just play without it. Now as I feared the game was too designed around it to make that 100% feasible.
rosaceadude2112
Member
Complaining about 47's barcode or his ability to blend in is just like the whining over Sam Fisher's goggles. There are clear reasons why they're there but they're ignored so people can pointlessly nitpick in the face of any actual critical thinking.
rosaceadude2112
Member
Uh, internal logic has everything to do with aesthetics and themes. And I disagree with your second point too.