Hitman 3 was a game I wanted to like. I initially ranted about the game and more recently here and here I guess I softened up a bit. The game isn't my be-all and end-all of gaming, but with the Steam summer sale I couldn't help but notice the games price drops.
Even with the substantial drops in price, if your looking to get H3 and all it's DLC content it's total price is still too expensive(in my view) at €47.82(Deluxe plus all Seven Deadly Sins). Never mind re-buying older content if it's not recognized from your previous game purchases.....
Anyway it's still not a good look to get so much of a price drop a year and a half into the games life. Never mind halfway through its 'second year' release. To me that screams of dropping of a hot potato. Getting cash while they can.
It's good that there's constant development, additions and updates(for as long as that lasts). Then again I've not kept up to date on 'fixes' for the game.
But I'm just done with it(since the end of the second game). I'm over tired with it all. So much chopping and changing with the games, the DLC, repackaging, publishing and publishers, what content, in game recognition and achievements will and won't crossover etc etc.
Again, the game isn't my be-all and end-all of gaming. I'll wait another year or so and pick it all up as an all in one bundle at a much lower price with luck when an offline patch is introduced. I just found the current price drop 'interesting'.
I still stand by what I've said in my post a few weeks ago. The good and the bad. That said I've played more of the game. Some via Xbox Ultimate for PC but mainly via the Hitman 3 'demo' on Steam for H2 content.
As if the (newer)Hitman games and their interaction/unlocks weren't complicated enough; but I'm glad to have played the 3rd game on PC and get credit for the Xbox achievements.
After doing a bit of reading on the migration process from the previous games into H3 I saw that I could get the benefits of Playing H1 & 2 within H3, even as the Demo) with most of my previous H1 and H2 unlock/items etc..... A process that doesn't need me to buy the game and still lets me "keep my stuffs". So I did it.
Not everything registers and I found all maps have all progress for escalations wiped out. Completed or not. But still some credit for their completion still exists(like rewards).
As well as some map unlocks for feats etc that don't make sense. Such as map completion being ticked but no recognition for killing the main target on that map..... It is what it is and I'm glad to have gotten the large proportion carried over so it can slide....
Easy to see my interest waned later in H2
Still my view that H3 is H3 and has a fair few problems is as true as ever; I'm sure there won't be any of them fixed any time soon.
That's not to say they aren't changing/updating/tweaking and bringing out new content.... But the flaws seem to run deep and won't be fixed casually in just a patch.
I could be wrong.... But as a full version of H3 via xbox sub and a H1 and H3 via the H3 demo install from Steam there's no incentive for me to buy H3. Besides looking at the buy options on Steam it's massively overpriced. Time will tell if an all inclusive version goes on sale 'cheap' down the line.
Hitman 3 has been a marketing mess in my view from start till now. My previous waffle here and here and here and here!
The news of bugs since launch have persisted and were one of the main reasons I stayed clear of it. The Epic exclusive time didn't help either. The polish on the game that's there shows more clearly the lack of polish in other areas. The always on internet access is still a problem even after so much chopping and changing with it.
It was all off-putting to me, no wonder I didn't really care about the game. Never mind 'having' to redo all the first and second game content in the third game to 'mark it as complete'. It's a game for completionists after all. Granted there was a one time item conversion/import but useless for me; I still haven't bought the third game. I don't intend to. But I did get to play it 'free' via xbox game-pass for pc. So there was no worry over items for me in the here and now.
Did I encounter bugs. Yes. I've come across weird NPC with physics defying pathing issues. Weird floating npc's. Strange item behaviors such as doors not opening if there's an item that even hints at clipping it. Weird physics when killing an NPC where their body does a death fling or fly's off into space.
I've come across the non moving NPC's with their arms out as it they were still on a design drawing board. I've loaded save games that reach 75% load and then crash to desktop. I've come across bad laggy gameplay that hangs for 10+ second. Which isn't great when your trying to line up a headshot; I presume that's the game trying to do something online with it's connectivity check. All that said I can tolerate it because in playing it now I didn't take it seriously.
I'm a completionist but the third game to me is a lesser son of greater sires. The first game was great back in the day. The second showed great improvements over the first and so was worth redoing 1st game content in 2; But the third for all the good points it has(and it has a few) just has no motivation for me to 'get into it'; And that's even with 'free' access to it! I think I'll go back to the second game and start doing some stuff I missed!
Playing the third game was interesting. Not like the previous games but just as a casual one run on each map and done kind of way. I played it on Pro as a casual experience and got what felt like a 'casual' experience. Maybe I'm too used to playing Hitman, maybe I should have done it on Master mode, but anyway I found this Pro mode a very forgiving run of Hitman. Too many options and not enough harshness in other elements. Guess they just can't please some people.
For me it was a guns out do it to get it done and there was practically no pushback from the game, no retribution from alerts, no 'real' difficulty in overcoming. It felt underwhelming when being so blatantly ballsy on maps. So yea, a single run on each map to both collect, see and do as much as possible felt like enough. I usually do such runs to both learn the map and get a feel for things. Learn the stories. Then go back and start the process of unlocking things, doing feats and claiming the suits and silent assassin ratings. But not in this game, not now. Three as I said is a lesser game when compared to the previous 2. At least for me.
Hitman 3, is big, is beautiful and has some interesting new mechanics. Shortcuts being the best and camera being the worst(imho). Shortcuts aid in gameplay return and retention; reward efforts to seed up your play and reduce grind. Camera is useless and does not do anything a screwdriver couldn't have done previously. It's and addition rather than an necessity. There are maybe two occasions where it 'is' needed as there is no other choice. Nice try IOI to make 47 a mission impossible agent but it doesn't work for me in this franchise, in this game. In a lot of area's where the camera could be used I just used a screwdriver etc to unlock stuff. The camera is a novelty, it wasn't special enough.
The story is interesting, it has elements that are good and bad but that's a 'suspension' or disbelief thing. 47 was for the most part 'in character' in my view. I just found him a shade and I mean a sliver of a shade too trusting in some situations. In that regard the Diana stuff is forgivable, it's believable; But on the 'other' side of the story(Grey) I'm not convinced. Maybe it was a bit of a let down that all that preamble and suspicion wasn't justified when I think it should have been and would have made a more interesting story..... Maybe that's just me in the moment overthinking it.
It's the ending that's the epitome of what this game is. Take the good with the bad.
The last mission is possibly the best forced linear Hitman moments that made me feel like I was 47. I was engrossed in it. Felt emotion in sneaking about and getting to the end. The end being the end for both gamplay and narrative. It's the only map I've repeated/reloaded to clear feats etc.
Fun is fun.
Ultimately as a Hitman completionist(of these new iterations) I'd like to get the game, preferably an all singing, all dancing version on Steam. I think I'll be waiting a good bit longer for a decent knock down price..... On sale. Me thinks they shall milk it for all it's worth, for a lot longer!
I was late to the original 2016 Hitman (the negative episodic release thing) but played it to bits once it got a 'full release'. I've a lot of Hitman content about that journey on this blog as well as the YouTube channel for both games(Hitman 1 playlist; Hitman II playlist).
I really liked the first game. The second is good and great in parts. IO's transition in publishers to self publish and now to Epic store exclusive has been and is a mess(at least in my view). Being concerned that unlocked items and rewards would not carry over is one thing; Bought content not available is another. From H1 to H2 and from H1 within H2 I wasn't happy with the way things went but has in the end been 'ok'; IO made good and smoothed things over for the most part. Good content is good content and improvements made in the second game made replaying the first within the second a 'good experience'. Perhaps at the detriment of the second game due to overall burnout for Hitman content(for more gamers than just me). There are only so many hours in the day after all, no matter how good the content is to repeat.
It's all made me very cynical about the franchise(more than I already was) and any shred of loyalty went down the toilet a long time ago. Hitman iii an Epic exclusive....is another, how can I put this delicately, a 'fúckover'. I've clocked up 700 hours between their previous games, games and content bought and played. Of course I'm pÃssed off about not getting the third game at the same time as other platforms.
IO sold out for cash. That's how I see it. Fúcking over a dedicated playerbase for cash; As if the game wasn't going to sell heaps on Steam! So while available on all platforms except Steam how can it not be a massive IO fúck you to previous Hitman gamers.
Fúck that. Hitman III can wait, I'll pick it up cheap on some Steam sale down the line, if it's any good. Which I'm sure it will be. Or better still they will sell out some more and be free for me to play through Xbox Ultimate for PC.
The games are good, the consistent real world fúckovers are frustratingly annoying. Especially as they are proven to do so more and more over time.
An Epic exclusive deal was announced. So I'll have to wait a year to get it on Steam. Where my other versions of Hitman 1 and 2 are. Motivation has gone out the window. I'm not even hyped for the third game. Far from it. At least giving it a year will probably get an all in one version on a sale price.
I dislike the newly promoted VR elements. I think it will take away from the game franchise as I've known it in 1 and 2. It's a distraction. I don't see it as a better way to play the game. I think it'll be restriction. But that's me.
A mixed bag of emotions about it. Sod it.
Maybe I'll get back into the second game in the middle of next year when Hitman 3 is in full swing.
So the new and third (of this era) Hitman game is coming in January 2021.
I've had mixed feelings about it. I 100%'ed the first game. Seeing that none of that would carry over to the second in it's retro pack was a massive blow to me; I was still into the franchise and up for the second game despite my own judgment. I redid most of the first game content again. The second game however still has a lot for me to do. Mainly in the second half of it's maps. It wore me out and I couldn't be bothered with it. Going back seemed a chore not worth doing.
Now that the third game seems to have a positive take on allowing unlocks from the second game imported into the third..... It's an interesting motivator to at the very least take another look at the second game again. At least before the 3rd game hits.
More information seems to be coming out fast so I'm sure that my interest will move from interest to a more positive if not quiet up to hype levels... Time will tell.
Another elusive target eliminated.... Again. Doing the same target on different versions of the (second)game PC and Xbox, is a good and bad thing. Nice to get unlocked content. Even if the new suit makes him look very suspicious.
An original game elusive target available on the second games legacy version of the first game; But not available today in the original game it came from.....
The latest target was an unchanged legacy run. Not a bad thing necessarily but when you see the target has the very same routine or the secondary target is exactly the same.... Well for me it's not so much a bad thing, the pro Hitman 2'ers out there I'm sure were not too happy.
I usually wait and see whats being done by the community. Even then it's usually "easy" enough to follow. Some timing and interpretation can usually be done. The game is flexible to allow leeway most of the time. It would have a lot more engagement with the average player if it wasn't for the permanent-ish failure of the mode, one try and your done. It's a mode for the pro's to engage with maximum danger. But being casual I like the rewards so of course I'll take every advantage I can get.
I don't know what it is of late but I've been jinxed with tactics in Hitman 2. Take the latest Elusive Targets, a combo duo of 2 targets that have previously appeared separately in Sapienza.
A new two for one special, both can still be poisoned with the same tactics as 'normal'.
The perfected tactic(with a lot of unlocks) is to bring 2 lethal poisons(pills and vial) as well as a pistol to take out one camera. Which is a better safe than sorry . No need to jinx it further.
Start in the kitchen(disguise),
Run out the town side "service" entrance & shoot out the camera on the right.
Jump in the fountain in the garden, drop the pistol and take the coins.
Run over to the cafe, throw a coin and poison the targets drink.
Run back to the main entrance, get frisked, jump back in the fountain.
I picked my piston back up but that's just me.
Go in the fountain tunnel entrance and run to the wine seller.
Distract the nearest waiter(enforcer)
Poison wine glass on barrel and run back out the fountain entrance.
Make way to an exit and wait for the target to be eliminated.
Simples!
My run not so simples!
My jinx was timing (as usual) brought on by forgetting to pickup a poison at the start. My non-perfected loadout was to have one poison as a pickup instead of the coins. Those coins were also unnecessary as you get the fountain ones. Returning to get the poison messed up timings even further. Which in turn brought on my attempts to alter the situation via knockouts. But I heeded my own caution and let the target swing back around and let it all play out.
Hitman, the 2016 version, (newer)Hitman 1. I've had one steam achievement missing for a long time. I'd thought it was to do with the last map on pro mode; Since it was the last part of the game I'd been working on. However H2 came out and I wasn't bothered to try and hammer it out if I was to redo it in a new version. That was until this week when on a random browse of the achievements. I looked up what one was missing, comparing the known list with what I'd already unlocked. As it turns out a feat I'd already done in game, just not in the right order for the steam achievement to unlock was the one. So a few minutes in game and I'd 100%. Slight bit of an anticlimactic feeling but glad to have it done now. I don't 100% very many games.
I'm really happy to have finished the remaining challenges for Sapienza in one fell swoop. While I did post that a few day's ago; I thought I'd do up this post and upload some footage to flesh out what happened.
Basic starting area and load-out with a silenced sniper rifle.
Doing the Master difficulty, suit only, silent assassin did take a few attempts. First completion was as seen below but in taking out the virus I also killed a scientist. At least that run game me the x3 suit only completions. While I did record the final run I did so only after the save point. But I do have a previous run recorded that shows exactly what I did. I've also uploaded that failed run's first part to show the start "prep" side of the mission before the save. So one mission seen in two parts with the save in between both.
Part 1, the "preparation" side of the save, is to gather items and clear the way. In my case, gather coins and disable security recordings. It shows I also took the opportunity to get the virus usb; At the time I thought that was best but in the end I went ahead with a safer option(as seen in part two).
I also thought I'd get a mansion keycard in an apartment forgetting that in Master mode, it like a lot of items are removed for difficulty.*
Part 1 - Preparation:
(*Re-enacted/re-recorded due to the persistent copyright claims/strikes due to freaking kitchen radio opera music!)
I've waffled about this before but the more I play Hitman 2 the more I'm still peeved about the second "full version" game having temp or unreleased content. As I've been playing the alternative version of the maps on the legacy pack (Hitman maps); The Santa winter pack isn't available. Along with 90% of the maps escalations. The second games timed/locked or soon to be re-released content. Re-released for the nth time. Yep, peeved.
Nice to see the first game is being given away for free to PS Plus gamers. Xbox next?
Enough wafflin....
I completed all the extra map version of Sapienza nice to return to them.
I was leaning towards getting Hitman 2. Mainly by mentally bypassing my problems with the Hitman to Hitman 2 content crossover and treating Hitman 2 as a completely separate standalone game. I was hyping myself about it.
My main gripe was that everything I had unlocked in game 1 would not be available automatically in game 2. I for one do not want to stand at the mirror in the hotel, bouncing coins off the mirror into the pool below hoping that the coin will bounce off a rock onto the other rock and stay in the pool to get an achievement, percentage completion and an unlock etc. etc. So if they are saying I'll have to then F**K that! They can shove it. What has really broken the camels back is that you can get some things free with the crossover pack, but others like the Requiem pack will need to be repurchased. They can double go F**k themselves for that.
I'm sure the game will be great; I'm sure the "remaster" of the first game into he second will be fantastic. But I've spent over 380 hours in the first game excluding faffing about with it's Xbox free stuff. So for all that I don't get anything I worked for and I have to pay for what I already paid for so it appears in the second game. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF**K.
Maybe I'm reading it all wrong but I'm feeling ever more shafted so why even bother with the second game.
I'll pick it all up for €20 in two years time, if it's a game worth getting by then....
Like the Witcher 3 with all it's DLC/content that I've still not played....... Getting close on the to play list....
Out of interest for an easy target, my Xbox Hitman tried a few things with the current target; Including the more guided "easy" take-downs form youtubers. There was a lot of bad timing on my part, so I went with what I knew. This time though I went with a pistol shot through the window of the room I mentioned before. Still starting in the Auction, still taking out Silvia before the meeting. But in taking the shot I was seen. Bad timing again. Maybe I should have used the Krugermeier.
Whats done is done, I was spotted but shimmied down the pipe to the 'boat key' office; took the disguise from the nearby staff member and exited out the kitchen exit after destroying the evidence with a long shot into the security office.
This was his 5th target so unlocked a new suit for him.
I wonder if there will be more area's given away for free......
I do love the game, I'm still conflicted with Hitman 2; I wish they would allow already unlocked items to be unlocked in the second game's reworking of the first.... I'm stubborn so it'll take a lot for me to order the game never mind pre-order. I've unlocked almost everything; If my unlocked items were carried over I'd be all over the second game(like a cheap '47 suit)!
I've not been back or keeping up to date on the latest Hitman elusive targets for some time. I've no need to do the missions as I've all the rewards. And as all the rewards won't be carried over to the next game...
Anyway I saw that the next target was one I hadn't done, so ... I did it.
I watched the target and a moment of opportunity lead to a gun fight and a target down. Messy but was interesting.
I started off undercover in the auction, subdued Silvia who the target is to meet. With her out of the way the target then goes into a waiting pattern around the auction area.
Part of which is into the room next to the bar balcony. I was unlucky with timings but got away with it.
With the news that the unlocks from Season 1 will need to be re-earned to unlock them for season two. I've decided I'm done with Hitman, a sad end to season 1, I've loved it and put a lot of time into it but I'm so disappointed in that item manoeuvre. The hassle it was to do some of those tricks the first time round. I get that they are reinventing the game with the additions and changes but a bit of loyalty to Season 1 fans/owners would have been nice. Peeved off at that.
I wonder if the Requiem pack will be available in Hitman 2 or do I need to buy that again.
Why bother with my final two Pro maps.
20 Challenges to unlock the Advanced Sieger 300.
And another 20 get a bat and loadout slots....
Only to have to redo them(and everything else) in the new game! F**k that! It's a good game but I'm not Sisyphus.
Of the reintroduced elusive targets there are only three I've not killed. My original attempt at the Bookeeper failed so I couldn't redo the contract when he was re-released. I'm only missing the original Pharmacist and Wild Card targets. As I don't know when those two will be on the re-release list I feel now that I can't be bothered. Why wait when I already have all the unlocks for the elusive target reward suits. No point other than saying I got the targets. Nah I'll move on.
I think I'll be delaying getting Hitman 2. Probably till it's got all it's expansion DLC and on a big sale.
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