• 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 |Beta Thread| The original assassin. [PS4+PC]

Luq

Member
Concept is good, but man... AI is fkin dumb right now. They can stand next to you and do nothing even when they are in "supsicious mode", plus that thing with poisoning drinks while other people are watching you... That's a huge turn off for me but hopefully they will fix it somehow.
 

Foffy

Banned
Why is it possible to pour rat poison in a glass of wine while surrounded by people, one of whom is a barman who is literally watching you do it, with no repercussions whatsoever? That's not Hitman.

I'm specifically having flashbacks to running around a hedge to sedate some doughnuts, so that eagle-eyed jogger wouldn't spot me.

Yeah, I didn't like that aspect of the drink. Furthermore, the one you can do on the second floor leads a guy to run to an occupied bathroom.

If they removed that guy in the bathroom, and allowed the Bartender to go for a small stroll, that would enhance authenticity. I mean, you have to poison the drinks in the second mission with stealth, why not the first?
 

Foffy

Banned
How old is the build? Because some of the animations (e.g. pistol reloading) look worse than previous games.

At least a month old. I assume as early as when they announced the prologue, for this build contains issues that recent trailers didn't have. If my assumption is correct, then October may be the date of this build.
 
The fibrewire animations don't line up properly either. It looks like a Beta :)

I mean, you have to poison the drinks in the second mission with stealth, why not the first?
Probably because the first one is just a tutorial, so they want it to be as noob friendly as possible.
 
The fibrewire animations don't line up properly either. It looks like a Beta :)


Probably because the first one is just a tutorial, so they want it to be as noob friendly as possible.

Is the garrotte still completely invisible like in Absolution?

oljxI.jpg


Also, I wonder if we'll see speed-runners coming up with shit as creative as this.
 

Sagittal

Banned
One thing I noticed from some of the beta clips is that enemies still mostly shout the same cliched comments such as "get him" or "shot him". It is an odd thing to notice, which I also picked up on in The Division. In this day and age it would be nice for NPCs to actually refer to each other by name during combat once in a while, rather than seeming like droids who shout single lines that are heard in a lot of other shooters from previous generations. Giving NPCs each their own character is quite a bit to ask but giving them each a name that is referenced by others during such moments would be a nice touch. Hearing "that's the guy! shoot him Steve" would do wonders for immersion.
 
One thing I noticed from some of the beta clips is that enemies still mostly shout the same cliched comments such as "get him" or "shot him". It is an odd thing to notice, which I also picked up on in The Division. In this day and age it would be nice for NPCs to actually refer to each other by name during combat once in a while, rather than seeming like droids who shout single lines that are heard in a lot of other shooters from previous generations. Giving NPCs each their own character is quite a bit to ask but giving them each a name that is referenced by others during such moments would be a nice touch. Hearing "that's the guy! shoot him Steve" would do wonders for immersion.

There's a game that did this quite recently and I can't remember it for the life of me.

The game itself wasn't too well received from what I remember (could be wrong), but I appreciated the NPCs calling out the names of other NPCs rather than generic insults.
 

DavidDesu

Member
Tried the Beta last night and deleted it a few minutes later. Just don't have time for lazy/poor game design these days.

So... I get a uniform off a guy, who I hastily drag into a corner, the ability to move concussed people seems pretty rubbish for a hitman, it's worse than MGS where you can actually pick them up and position them quite accurately, this hitman is rubbish and seems to only be able to drag people around. He also lurches around pretty slowly, I'd imagine a hitman should be capable of moving swiftly and precisely. Maybe I missed a control option or something, anyway...

Then, with this guys uniform on I walk onto the boat. I need to find a guy, I know what he looks like, the boat is busy and I relish having to walk around casually, take in the atmosphere, scope out the joint and check for the guy until I literally see him with my eyes. Then the game tells me to press R1 to use "Instinct". My heart sinks. The same shit used in far too many games, the trademark (well it should be) silhouetted outlines of the people on the boat, through walls of course, and there's my guy in red, can't miss him.

That's when I uninstalled. I'd love a game that made me feel like a hitman, not this crap. And yeah I'm sure you can switch it off or choose not to use it, but if the game is instructing me to use it now I presume it will feature quite heavily in being successful later on. Fuck that.
 

Foffy

Banned
Tried the Beta last night and deleted it a few minutes later. Just don't have time for lazy/poor game design these days.

So... I get a uniform off a guy, who I hastily drag into a corner, the ability to move concussed people seems pretty rubbish for a hitman, it's worse than MGS where you can actually pick them up and position them quite accurately, this hitman is rubbish and seems to only be able to drag people around. He also lurches around pretty slowly, I'd imagine a hitman should be capable of moving swiftly and precisely. Maybe I missed a control option or something, anyway...

Then, with this guys uniform on I walk onto the boat. I need to find a guy, I know what he looks like, the boat is busy and I relish having to walk around casually, take in the atmosphere, scope out the joint and check for the guy until I literally see him with my eyes. Then the game tells me to press R1 to use "Instinct". My heart sinks. The same shit used in far too many games, the trademark (well it should be) silhouetted outlines of the people on the boat, through walls of course, and there's my guy in red, can't miss him.

That's when I uninstalled. I'd love a game that made me feel like a hitman, not this crap. And yeah I'm sure you can switch it off or choose not to use it, but if the game is instructing me to use it now I presume it will feature quite heavily in being successful later on. Fuck that.

..It's a tutorial level. In fact, after finishing that level, they allow you to replay it by doing your own thing. You can turn off Instinct, the minimap, all of the hints and systems underneath the good except for melee QTEs, which I know people don't exactly like.

If the handholding got on your nerves, I assume you never even played Blood Money past its tutorial level, as well. In fact, you have more options to do things in this game's opening stage than that games opening act.

The whole point of the first prologue level is to teach you the very basic gameplay systems at work. Hell, it actively prevents you from tackling the location in the other, more stealthy way so that you can play the level without things getting violent with NPCs. It's also why that they strangely force you to play it again with more tools at your disposal, basically saying "you have a taste of all of our systems. Now, have at the level in your own unguided way."

They've already confirmed Instinct is a neutered system in this game. It's really here for a realtime "map" feature, totally uncoupled from disguises in Absolution, which is why it sucked ass there and is okay here. The last level in this Beta, as well as the Alpha level, confirmed these things.
 
One thing I noticed from some of the beta clips is that enemies still mostly shout the same cliched comments such as "get him" or "shot him". It is an odd thing to notice, which I also picked up on in The Division. In this day and age it would be nice for NPCs to actually refer to each other by name during combat once in a while, rather than seeming like droids who shout single lines that are heard in a lot of other shooters from previous generations. Giving NPCs each their own character is quite a bit to ask but giving them each a name that is referenced by others during such moments would be a nice touch. Hearing "that's the guy! shoot him Steve" would do wonders for immersion.
I wonder how much time and money it would cost to record a list of a couple hundred first names to randomly pull from. That would be great.
 

Foffy

Banned
I wonder how much time and money it would cost to record a list of a couple hundred first names to randomly pull from. That would be great.

Probably too much. Even Rockstar doesn't do it.

"Mendoza's been fucking hit! DAHHHHH!" Plays every time you fight a PMC in GTA V/GTA O.
 

Xaero Gravity

NEXT LEVEL lame™
Tried the Beta last night and deleted it a few minutes later. Just don't have time for lazy/poor game design these days.

So... I get a uniform off a guy, who I hastily drag into a corner, the ability to move concussed people seems pretty rubbish for a hitman, it's worse than MGS where you can actually pick them up and position them quite accurately, this hitman is rubbish and seems to only be able to drag people around. He also lurches around pretty slowly, I'd imagine a hitman should be capable of moving swiftly and precisely. Maybe I missed a control option or something, anyway...

Then, with this guys uniform on I walk onto the boat. I need to find a guy, I know what he looks like, the boat is busy and I relish having to walk around casually, take in the atmosphere, scope out the joint and check for the guy until I literally see him with my eyes. Then the game tells me to press R1 to use "Instinct". My heart sinks. The same shit used in far too many games, the trademark (well it should be) silhouetted outlines of the people on the boat, through walls of course, and there's my guy in red, can't miss him.

That's when I uninstalled. I'd love a game that made me feel like a hitman, not this crap. And yeah I'm sure you can switch it off or choose not to use it, but if the game is instructing me to use it now I presume it will feature quite heavily in being successful later on. Fuck that.
This is probably going to make me sound like a dick so I apologize in advance, but I'm glad you uninstalled the beta and won't be providing any feedback on the game. You're clearly not a fan since a linear tutorial level like this happened in Blood Money, with even less freedom might I add. You know, the game many of the series fans view as the pinnacle. The series just clearly isn't for you. The games have never been a hitman simulator.


Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the series getting a bigger audience, but not at the expense of the series heart. Otherwise we'll just get another Absolution.
 
Tried the Beta last night and deleted it a few minutes later. Just don't have time for lazy/poor game design these days.

So... I get a uniform off a guy, who I hastily drag into a corner, the ability to move concussed people seems pretty rubbish for a hitman, it's worse than MGS where you can actually pick them up and position them quite accurately, this hitman is rubbish and seems to only be able to drag people around. He also lurches around pretty slowly, I'd imagine a hitman should be capable of moving swiftly and precisely. Maybe I missed a control option or something, anyway...

Then, with this guys uniform on I walk onto the boat. I need to find a guy, I know what he looks like, the boat is busy and I relish having to walk around casually, take in the atmosphere, scope out the joint and check for the guy until I literally see him with my eyes. Then the game tells me to press R1 to use "Instinct". My heart sinks. The same shit used in far too many games, the trademark (well it should be) silhouetted outlines of the people on the boat, through walls of course, and there's my guy in red, can't miss him.

That's when I uninstalled. I'd love a game that made me feel like a hitman, not this crap. And yeah I'm sure you can switch it off or choose not to use it, but if the game is instructing me to use it now I presume it will feature quite heavily in being successful later on. Fuck that.
The thing about Hitman games is that it's not a hitman simulator. They're not games about finding your target. Typically you always know where your target is. They're games about how you kill your target. They're stealth puzzle games
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
You could also turn it off in Absolution lol. Haven't played this beta, but Absolution was designed around it. Just saying that "you can turn it off" isn't really a valid defense for shit mechanics.
The difference here is that turning it off broke Absolution. It was woven into the core disguise mechanic in gameplay. He still did the animation, it just had no effect! That killed Absolution for me, and why I don't recognize it as a Hitman game. (imo)

In this game, instinct is wholly ancillary. You really CAN just turn it off. It just becomes classic Hitman, where you use the map. It doesn't break anything as it did in Absolution.
 

Moff

Member
even on the highest difficulties were the map lacked all points of interests and guards, the location of the target was always the one thing that was marked on the map. it's not really the point of the game to find the target.
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
That's exactly what I thought, even down to the colour coding. With the revamped disguise system gameplay is no longer tied around it either, which is great.
Yeah, but something about it being live, idk it's just kinda gross. Looking at your map, it's powerful, but at best it's last known position and anticipation is at least somewhat memory based.

Instinct, you literally watch them through walls... you are in full control. Idk, just never sat well with me. But they let you switch it off without hurting the gameplay so whatever.
 

Foffy

Banned
You could also turn it off in Absolution lol. Haven't played this beta, but Absolution was designed around it. Just saying that "you can turn it off" isn't really a valid defense for shit mechanics.

Instinct in this game is quite literally just a real time map.

It has fuck all to do with a "disguise meter" as baffling as it was in the last game.
 
I was reading the RPS piece and the author mentioned how he preferred the smaller, more self contained missions of the prologue to the larger main missions- it made me think that they could probably get away with developing some more "training" missions and releasing them between episodes or selling them as additional DLC. They wouldn't have to go overboard with production design since they're supposed to look staged and it might be a good chance to get really creative with the levels.
 

Javier23

Banned
The difference here is that turning it off broke Absolution. It was woven into the core disguise mechanic in gameplay. He still did the animation, it just had no effect! That killed Absolution for me, and why I don't recognize it as a Hitman game. (imo)

In this game, instinct is wholly ancillary. You really CAN just turn it off. It just becomes classic Hitman, where you use the map. It doesn't break anything as it did in Absolution.
I've enjoyed every Hitman including Absolution and I don't think I've ever used instinct. Had to google it to see what it was. I made it through the whole game without it just fine.
 

Staal

Member
Played the beta only via remote play and really enjoyed it.
This felt more Blood Money than Absolution to me and had fun playing. Actually liked the beta-ass jank in this version.
 

MUnited83

For you.
I've enjoyed every Hitman including Absolution and I don't think I've ever used instinct. Had to google it to see what it was. I made it through the whole game without it just fine.
It's literally impossible to use disguises reliably without using instinct, so you either played it on the easiest difficulty setting ore you barely used disguises at all.
 

Foffy

Banned
I've enjoyed every Hitman including Absolution and I don't think I've ever used instinct. Had to google it to see what it was. I made it through the whole game without it just fine.

You either played it on PC with that small disguise edit making it more like Silent Assassin, or you hid behind cover all of the time. :p
 

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
So the beta ends tomorrow (10am) for us in the UK? I've been setting up my new office so had no time to play this weekend.
 
I really didn't expect to spend most of the weekend replaying the beta over and over. Thought I'd just play a few hours to whet my appetite until March. I mean, I knew I missed classic Hitman, but I guess I didn't realize just how much I missed it.

I feel really encouraged about the new game. These are just the training missions (and rough, unfinished versions at that) and I've had a blast replaying them, planning the perfect hit. If this is a true taste of what's to come, then as long as most of the kinks get sorted out by release, I think we're in for a treat.

These are probably my three best assassination runs from the weekend beta, in terms of pulling off a clean hit (and role-playing a little bit as 47):

1. Meeting with "Mr. Norfolk". My favorite assassination from the Yacht level, making use of all of the disguises.

2. Ejector Seat Malfunction. One way to clear the Base level.

3. Checkmate. Another way to clear the Base. This one's probably my favorite hit to pull off perfectly, with all of the moving pieces involved (including, literally moving chess pieces).
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
It's literally impossible to use disguises reliably without using instinct, so you either played it on the easiest difficulty setting ore you barely used disguises at all.

No it is not. Every level bar one has a costume that avoids the need to use instinct.
 
Awesome, finally found a strategy to Suit Only, no knockouts on the Yacht. Takes a while but it's great to know it's possible.
Haven't done this, but I'm going to guess it's:

1. Sneak by the cops to the right.
2. Pick the gate lock.
3. Wait for Ritter to walk to the ledge.
4. Shoot him with silenced pistol from below.
5. Escape by boat.

How'd I do?
 

Meneses

Member
I'm really liking the game, it felt a lot like old Hitman (jank included).

Things I didn't like were already mentioned:

The AI is a bit iffy. The poison stuff really took me out of the moment. Also, in the final test, climbing the fence at the beginning while two workers are chatting straight ahead without noticing. I hope this stuff is tightened up in the final version.

Now this is stuff that happened in the old games but still annoys me a bit: 47 still seems to have magic pockets that can hold whatever he finds, including multiple wrenches and crowbars. I wish they'd include a hard mode where with limited inventory.

I'm gonna play around a bit more and try different approaches. Question: haven't seen it yet, but do we still get the "picture in picture" bits when the target does something relevant like in the old games?

edit: also, Instinct and Challenges take some fun out of the exploration / experimentation, but that's easy enough to avoid by disabling it or just not reading the challenge clues. The Opportunity stuff is fine because you can simply choose not to take it.
 

Javier23

Banned
It's literally impossible to use disguises reliably without using instinct, so you either played it on the easiest difficulty setting ore you barely used disguises at all.
You either played it on PC with that small disguise edit making it more like Silent Assassin, or you hid behind cover all of the time. :p
I've been reading up on Instinct and I literally had no idea that you could use it to prevent discovery by goons dressed the same as you. I started in Professional and switched to Expert very soon after. Playing without any HUD whatsoever DOES break the game, at least on a first playthrough. Had no issues with the game after that. I enjoyed it a lot too. It might not be quite the same thing as Blood Money or any of the other previous entries, but it does a lot of very interesting things with the formula and IO doesn't get enough credit for it. It's not like some of the levels in Codename 47 were that big, nor the AI nearly as smart as the one in Absolution.

Between switching costumes here and there, offing some guys sneakily, and generally doing my best not to be seen I really had no need for anything else. I certainly didn't feel like I was missing anything by not using Instinct at all. And despite the more linear levels most of the time my overall experience with it wasn't so much more different to that playing the other entries in the series years earlier.

EDIT: Also, you obviously don't need any indicators to see people dressed just like you, but even then you do have one when you come a bit too close. Time stuff right and it doesn't have to be an issue.
 

MMaRsu

Member
Yeah, I'd rather have the map as well. it'd be cool if they had a Classic or NOSTALGIAAAA mode. Hopefully modders will be able to implement that.

But the map is in the game. Its not realtime and doesnt display enemy positions though. Therr shpuld be a way to mark them so they appear on your map or in instinct. I dont like seeing people thru doors like a wallhack for no reason so thats why i turn instinct off

Also sorry but Absolution was absolute garbage as a hitman game
 
These are probably my three best assassination runs from the weekend beta, in terms of pulling off a clean hit (and role-playing a little bit as 47):

1. Meeting with "Mr. Norfolk". My favorite assassination from the Yacht level, making use of all of the disguises.
Cool videos BigG!

I think my favourite assassination for the Freeform Tutorial is this one ("Pay That Stuntman A Bonus!"), there's something immensely satisfying about watching the target bounce off the roof...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8FeAXMl3lw
 
Haven't done this, but I'm going to guess it's:

1. Sneak by the cops to the right.
2. Pick the gate lock.
3. Wait for Ritter to walk to the ledge.
4. Shoot him with silenced pistol from below.
5. Escape by boat.

How'd I do?

I was following the "Silent Assassin, Suit Only" guidelines of the Final Test with the addition of no knock outs (suit only, kill only the target, hide all bodies, don't get spotted). You had the beginning right but there's a bit more after.

1. Pick lock
2. Head to the garage with the 3 maintenance workers and go up the stairs immediately to your left then towards the bar (watch for the patrolling cop on the left).
3. Hug the wall and wait for Ritter then Norfolk to finish their scripts.
4. When Norfolk heads to Ritter, turn around towards the garage stairs and exit to your right and make another right towards the side of the ascending stairs (make sure the patrolling cop is away).
5. While hugging the side, throw a coin in front of the cop then sneak up by hugging the rail.
6. Immediately head straight and go around then enter the meeting room through the window.
7. Wait for Ritter and Norfolk in the room to enter then garrote the target and place him in the closet.
8. Go out the window, up the stairs to exit via cardboard chopper

It's pretty lengthy but I felt accomplished after figuring it out haha. I might make a video for them and post them here.

But the map is in the game. Its not realtime and doesnt display enemy positions though. Therr shpuld be a way to mark them so they appear on your map or in instinct. I dont like seeing people thru doors like a wallhack for no reason so thats why i turn instinct off

I much prefer the real time map versus instinct-sixth-sense vision. Instinct seems way too powerful and there's no alternative to it especially if you want a clean HUD.
 

Meneses

Member
I did that challenge as well, but in a different way:

1.Go to the right past the guards and pick the lock
2.Enter the boat, go to the right, turn off the generator to make the guard investigate
3.Crouch behind the boxes to where the guard was, climb up and jump over the railing to the upper floor
4.Walk a bit to the right (avoiding a guard that patrols that walkway) until you see the scaffolding with paint buckets, jump out and climb another level
5.Go to the computer room and wait for the target in his room- now here I always got a scripting error, Norfolk would just stand on the deck while Ritter would grab his drink, on a loop. I had to go to the roof and move closer to them to trigger their meeting
6.Back in the room, wait for Norfolk to turn around, grab Ritter and hide him in the closet, then get out quickly or wait for Norfolk to realize he's gone - he won't suspect it because he thinks it's what he does
7.Leave by chopper or retrace your steps to the start of the level

Also, one time while I was doing that, a guard spotted me when I was leaving, and he
just asked me to follow him as he escorted me out of the yacht, since I wasn't invited. No huge scene / arrest, I thought that was cool.
 
Top Bottom