Hitman: The World of Assassination trilogy - The big one!
Hello there, fellow Wombatants! Amalia here, and it's time for us to talk about a (fairly) modern game for a change!
(AKA. The reboot trilogy. AKA. Hitman 3. AKA. that game with all the celebrity DLC)
So! In 2016, Danish developer IO Interactive made "Hitman", a reboot of the classic series, which had kinda lost it's stride a bit with Hitman: Absolution. (Which wasn't a bad game, really. But not a good -Hitman- game.)
Just to cover the very basics, here: The Hitman games are action-stealth-puzzle sort of games. Players control Agent 47, a super-well trained and highly efficient assassin working for the ICA, a shadowy agency who will send him on missions to take out some fairly high-profile targets all over the globe. The mission design is usually very open, and you can approach your objectives in all manner of ways.
Now, with the 2016 reboot, IO Interactive laid some very solid foundations. So solid that they've made two more games which use the exact same systems and gameplay. They were so inter-compatible that each game had the content of the previous game in it. In fact, it got a little confusing, so in 2023, Hitman 3 was rebranded as "World of Assassination", which is essentially the complete package. But more on that in a bit.
The game is very robust, yet flexible in it's moment-to-moment gameplay and systems. Basically they laid a foundation of great gameplay systems, and each game added new large, sandbox-y levels to exercise them in. Those levels are what really make the gameplay. They're very varied, each one having all kinds of unique things about it. And of course, they all have tons of ways to take out your targets, many of which are very level-specific.
There's 22 of these locations (Or destinations, as the game calls them), and each one is big, full of surprises and very much built with replayability as a core strength. It's not so much about grinding XP, it's more about finding all the creative ways of going about them, some obvious, some not so much.
So in other words: This game is VAST. Too vast for us to play all in one go. So we're taking a bit of a different approach:
Today, we'll tell you all about the basic structure and qualities of the game, it's systems and suchlike. Then, later in this post, we'll be looking at each of the first 4 destinations in the game. Again, the destinations are what really makes this game, and each one could almost be considered a little game of it's own, which makes them worth writing about individually.
So after this initial post, we'll go about our various projects, and every now and then, we'll put some hours into the next level of this game, take our notes and write up a little something. Then, when we have another 3-4 destinations done, we'll post our writings here.
We're not going for 100% completion or anything, but we'll take our time, replay each level a number of times and perhaps try it with some other game modes. We'll get our fill of each level before we write about it, basically.
So this is going to be a bit of a longer-term project. If we were to try and play all of the WOA trilogy in one go, we'd absolutely burn ourselves out on it. It'd also tie us up for months, which would mean you wouldn't get any gaming posts on here for ages. This way, we can do our usual stuff, post about other games in-between the Hitman stuff and also feel like we're doing this gigantic mega-game justice by looking at it in some proper detail.
Hopefully, that sound good to you, too! And with that said, i'll hand it off to Michael for a bit. The the first thing he'd like to talk about is actually one of our only real gripes with this game, as well as the very first thing you'll be confronted with when you go and visit the store page:
-The business model-
Right, hello there, Michael here!
So, i know what you're thinking: "If they're starting off by looking at the game's business model, it must be pretty bad!" and well, it kinda is, but bear with us!
See, it's not so much that the game is full of gacha-mechanics, "time saving XP boosts" or anything asinine like that. If you know what to actually buy, it's actually quite good value for money. It's just that it's an incredibly confusing game to buy.
It all feels very -compartmentalized-, you might say.
So we'll give you a quick sort of buyer's guide, if you will. Mind you, we're on PC, so we'll be focusing on what's available on the Steam store page. It's probably the same for consoles, but there might be exclusive stuff we don't know about.
So, the first thing to keep in mind is...... there's a demo! It is, unfortunately, the kind of demo where you download the whole game (which is quite big) and then get restricted access.... but on the other hand, that does mean if you decide to buy it, you don't have to download the entire thing again. Cheeky marketing trick, but hey, from what we could tell, it lets you play the the training missions, which are actually quite nice.
Then, however, there's "World of Assassination - Part one". Frankly, this should be taken off the store, in our eyes.
It basically gives you access to the content of the first game of the trilogy. Now, that -is- a lot of game, and 30 bucks is a reasonable price for that.
However.
It's not like the whole game is set up like that. You have the option to buy either the full trilogy (parts 1, 2 and 3 together) -or- just part 1. It's not like this is a modular thing. You cannot buy part 2 or 3 individually, just part 1, for whatever reason. In fact, it gets worse, because if you buy part 1, from what we've found you don't even get a discount when you buy the full game, so you'd be paying full price despite already owning the first third of the package.
It's dumb, needlessly convoluted and frankly sort of deceptive. So our urgent advice is: -Do not buy part 1-, it's a straight-up trap.
Now, as for what you actually should be getting, there's 2 things, in our eyes:
Beyond that, there's the "Hitman 3 access pass: Hitman 2 expansion". We're planning to get that one sooner or later. Very importantly: It's -not- like part 1, giving you access to the Hitman 2 main content. No, the Hitman 2 main game is included in "World of Assassination" and cannot be bought seperately.
Instead, the expansion pass specifically gives you access to the -DLC- for Hitman 2, which includes 2 extra destinations with proper missions and stuff, as well as a couple of extra levels for the sniper assassin mode. Cool stuff and should be well worth the ten bucks it costs, but the store page makes it sound like you need to buy this in order to play any of the Hitman 2 content, which is, again, deceptive and unnecessarily convoluted.
..... in fact, i'd like to take a moment to just promise you that behind this messy, convoluted marketing scheme, there -is- an absolutely amazing game that's well worth your time any money. Please don't write off IO Interactive's amazing work because some finance-obsessed buffoon in an office somewhere couldn't quite wrap their head around the concept of honest, straightforward marketing.
With that said, the next item on our list is the "Hitman 3 Deluxe pack", which contains a soundtrack, an ebook, mission(s?) with developer commentary, that kind of thing. Not really our thing, but some people will like it, perhaps. This one we might get eventually if we -really- cannot get enough of this game, because it also comes with bonus escalation missions for the Hitman 3 destinations. But that's probably a few months off, so we'll see how we feel about it then.
The same bundle also contains the "7 Deadly Sins collection", which has mostly negative reviews. People generally don't seem to enjoy the missions it comes with, and frankly this pack turns us off just by including some of the most gaudy, painful-to-look-at cosmetics in the game.😜
But yeah, overall, this is why we personally won't go for the deluxe pack bundle. It's one third stuff we want, another third of "Eh, maybe at some point", and the final third is stuff we actively do -not- want.
There's also the "Sarajevo Six campaign", which is generally not favourably viewed, since the missions are apparently quite basic and overall "meh".
And, then there's the properly small stuff:
First, we've got the various "Elusive Target packs". Now, we'll get into game modes later, but let me say this right here:
You do -not- need to buy the elusive target packs to play the corresponding elusive target mission.
Instead, buying one of these packs does 2 things:
For one, it gives you access to the mission in the arcade mode, which means you can replay it whenever you like, unlike normal elusive targets, which are timed events.
And also, you get some items themed around the elusive target. These are mainly reskins of other items, or purely cosmetic suits.
Speaking of cosmetics, there's also the Trinity, Makeshift and Street Art packs, which are just straight-up skin packs. However, the skinned items in these packs will apparently just unlock, which means you're spending a fiver to just get a bunch of items unlocked in your game, some of which being reskins of stuff you haven't unlocked, yet. We -hate- that. There's nothing more immersion-breaking than having items just "popping up" in your inventory because you spent a few bucks IRL, moreso when the items in question stand out like a sore thumb, aesthetically. So those packs get a clear no from us.
But hallelujah, that covers all the DLC and ways to buy the game, at least at the time of writing!
Again, there genuinely is a great game here, and we've been eager to write about it for some time. But yeah, the way you buy it is just insanely messy. To be frank, despite thoroughly enjoying the first two reboot games, we didn't get the third one for ages because we just didn't quite understand -how- to buy it. Too many options, too many weird celebrity packs and gaudy reskins all over the place.
And also, to be brutally honest, some of the store descriptions are just straight-up wrong and deceptive.
Is that down to deliberate malice?
Is it simply the result of errors accumulating as the already confusing marketing scheme changed over the years?
Dunno. Perhaps a bit of both. But whoever did the marketing should probably be doing something else.
So, with all that said, let's finally talk about the game itself! And as is our custom, we'll get the technical details out of the way first, starting with....
-Graphics-
Well, for once we're not going to say "It looks good despite being technically aged!". This game is well designed -and- has modern, snazzy graphics, so you get the best of both worlds. And yes, as a result, the game looks super-gorgeous.
And it runs well, especially considering the massive amount of stuff happening on the screen, sometimes!
So, it looks great, but what about....
-Audio-
The sounds in this game are -great-. Like really, really great.
The sound effects are satisfying, there's all sorts of little musical stings and queues to tell you what's happening, the voice acting is really lovely across the board and the music...... good god, the music in this game is awesome.
I'm a bit of a sucker for orchestral scores, and this game is great for that. It can be super-dramatic, with sweeping strings, heavy brass and wailing choruses underlining what's happening.
...... and if when the game gets a little silly (which it does, the devs clearly have a sense of humor), the dramatic music wonderfully clashes with..... well this.
So yeah, the game sounds lovely in all regards.
Except one!
It's... too quiet.
No, seriously. This game is just lower in volume than other games. Or videos, or anything. And no, it's not our settings. They're turned all the way up.
Every time we play, we have to press the volume up button on our headphones a few times to bring it up to a normal level. The entire trilogy had this issue, actually, even from the first game. Very odd. Maybe it's a thing with the game engine or something.
Anyway, it's a minor issue, and beyond the overall volume, the sound is pretty much impeccable.
So, now that i've been writing for a while, why don't i tag in Amalia so she can really get into the meat of the game and tell you all about...
-Game modes and structure-
Right, i'm back!
So, this game has a wealth of game modes to keep things interesting, which works nicely with the sandbox-y nature of the whole thing.
But first, to lay a bit of a foundation, let us tell you about the game's overarching progression system.
See, in most game modes, before you go into a mission, you get this screen:
However, at level 13, you can see we'll unlock the harbor (on the Sapienza map) as a starting location. This kind of reward, of course, is specific to the destination we've gained the mastery levels on. So basically, location mastery advances you both overall, giving you more choices for your loadout on most modes and maps, while also giving you more options for when you replay the specific location you're unlocking things for.
There's also an overall player level, but that doesn't really do much. It's basically just an indication of how much XP you got overall.
"But", we hear you ask, "what actually gives you XP in this game?"
Well, for one, just about everything you do. Taking out targets, taking out targets unnoticed, knocking out guards, hiding bodies, using poison, scoring headshots, melee kills, throwing melee weapons, getting disguises, the list goes on.
Most actions in the game have some kind of XP reward associated with them (mind you, killing non-targets also gives an XP penalty!), and after the mission, it's all summed up and you get your XP bar up higher.
However, there's also a system in play here that really heavily pushes your progression along: Challenges.
Challenges are pretty much achievements. They're a reward for some kind of thing you did, and you only get it once, the first time you do said thing.
As you can see above, some of them are simple, straightforward stuff you might easily just get through playing the game normally, others are a little more obscure, and some are downright weird. Usually, the more complicated they are, the more XP they give, and in special cases, they even unlock an item or cosmetic.
But yes, this is a major part of what makes each destination so heavily replayable, both in campaign and in the various other game modes. This system actively rewards trying new approaches, doing things in interesting ways and generally experimenting. And while some of the challenges are specific to the main story mission for the destination, may of these can be unlocked in any game mode. Plus, some of the non-story game modes have their own specific challenges associated with them, too, so no matter which mode you're playing or how many times you replayed the map, it always feels like you're getting something out of it, especially if you try new stuff. It's a really lovely system.
So, with all that said, let's get into the actual game modes.
The first, and most obvious one to look at is the story campaign.
This is the main mode that the maps are ultimately all designed around. It's also the mode that offers the gameplay you probably most expect from a Hitman game. You start in some kind of public area in your suit, and you're expected to infiltrate the different areas of the map in order to eliminate your targets. How you go about doing this is up to you.
Also, in campaign missions, you get what's called "Mission Stories."
These are (usually) linear, scripted little in-mission sequences of events that you can follow. Let us give you an example:
Overhearing that conversation would then unlock the ability to turn on guidance for this mission story, which would give you little objective markers, letting you take a very structured approach to playing the game. They're not always this direct, either. This particular example of course puts you into a position to poison the cocktail and take care of a target right away, but some only get you close, or manoeuvre the targets into vulnerable positions, that kind of stuff.
Also, before you scoff, you -can- also turn off the objective markers and just use these mission stories as environmental queues, much like how this kind of thing worked in the older games of the series. (Or indeed, how many smaller opportunities still work in this one.)
There's also challenge rewards for completing these, so it doesn't hurt to give 'em a shot.
Beyond the main story campaign, there's also a couple of DLC campaigns and standalone bonus missions available, all of which are structured much like the main story missions.
But now, why don't i hand it back over to Michael and let him tell you about the other modes?
Hi folks, let's talk about contracts mode!
These are similar to contracts, but they're put together by the developer, are often a bit more intricate and come in multiple stages, each adding another complication or target.
Level 3 might then introduce another target, or make it a requirement that you don't change out of your suit, or some such. You get the idea. It usually goes up to level ~3-5 or so. Escalations feel like really good contracts missions, with added replayablility through increasing challenge.
And just like contracts, these escalations are great at teaching you to play the game well. Because you see, there's a tendency in Hitman to always play it safe, infiltrate areas only by using disguises and never really *risking* anything. Until you play these missions, which will often force you to do things in awkward and unusual ways. But that's the joy of it. Any missions where you can't switch out of your suit for example are great at making you realize that yes, disguises are great and a core element of the game, but you -can- play this as a more typical don't-get-spotted stealth game. Sneaking into restricted areas rather than waltzing in with a stolen uniform has it's own sense of enjoyment.
These modes are also great at teaching you to spot things like drain pipes, climbable ledges, those sorts of things. Once you learn to look for those things, you wouldn't believe how many areas can be accessed via cheeky shortcuts in this game!
But yeah, while these modes are great for teaching you to take more risks and play more adventurously, the next mode really is about playing it safe: We're talking about Elusive Targets.
With that out of the way, what actually is this game mode?
Well, Elusive Targets are a time-limited mode, where you usually have 10 (real) days to do the mission, and you can only do it once. Mind you, you can exit and restart the mission as many times as you like, so long as you neither succeed (take out target and exfiltrate) or fail (die or let the target escape). Once one of those applies, the game saves and it's done. You cannot retry.
Also, we did some digging out of pure curiousity: If you were to take out the target, then exit to the menu without getting to one of the level exits (i.e. finishing the mission -officially-), the mission will be considered failed.
Anyway, Elusive Targets are kinda cool. They're more fleshed out than escalations or contracts, some of them being more like small story missions. They take place on the same maps as all the other modes, but there's often a fair bit of difference in NPCs, their placement, sometimes even large changes in the design of the levels. The Mads Mikkelsen one for example takes place in Paris, a mission which in the original story is set at a fashion show. But for this particular elusive target, the devs turned the setting into a casino. There's even a multi-option mission story involved.
 |
| Sadly, the poker is quite heavily scripted. No proper poker mini-game here. Probably for the best. We're a sucker for those.😜 |
Well, you get XP too of course, the game mode -is- tied into the normal progression system. But still, it strikes us as a mode for people who really want to experience every last tiny shred of the game, who'll probably do these missions as soon as they become available, then ravenously wait for the next 10 days until another target unlocks.😉
Buuuut that's not our thing. We'll happily do them if they happen to be live in the locations we're playing for this series, but we're not gonna go out of our way for these.
Especially considering the next mode i'll tell you about: Arcade.
Arcade mode is where you can play all the elusive target missions whenver you like, though in a particular way: They're organized in sets of three, and you play through them like escalations, with complications being added as well.
Also, it's worth pointing out: Arcade mode has it's own rewards associated with it, and it's not all suit cosmetics like with the normal elusive targets. That alone might make it worth a look.
Though i can't really give you our in-depth thoughts on this mode, because with the way it's set up, the missions will take you to destinations from the whole trilogy of games. I only finished the 1st game of the trilogy and about half of the second, back when they came out. And to be frank, Amalia and i don't want our first experience of a new location to be an elusive target mission. We'd rather play through the destinations sequentially in story mode first, then do some escalation and contracts stuff once we've had our first look.
The same thing is true for another mode, which is Freelancer.
It's a rogue-like mode with a totally independent progression system, where you lose whatever you're carrying when you die. People seem to quite like it, but with the way it's set up, it'll take you to all the destinations, so we're considering this a post-campaign mode, too.
What we might just do is continue with our plan of writing about the destinations 3-4 at a time, and if we still want a bit more Hitman after all that, we might just dip into those modes and finish with a post about them. No promises, though.😛
So, there's one more mode we -have- already been playing, but which stands out as a bit of a spinoff from the rest of the game:
Sniper Assassin
.... but i've been writing for ages, so imma let Amalia take the wheel for this one.😉
Wheel taken! Also, he says he's been writing for ages like we do these posts in one go. Rest assured, we do take breaks.
But yeah, Sniper Assassin!
This mode is really more of a minigame than a full-on game mode. You can't move, you're rooted to one position and you're..... well, sniping! We only have the Himmelstein map at the moment, though there's 2 more levels that are part of the Hitman 2 expansion pass, which we're planning to pick up during a sale, sometime.
As for how this mode plays, it's pretty interesting. You're obviously taking out all your targets (3 main targets and a whole bunch of optional ones in the case of Himmelstein) with a sniper rifle, but there's plenty of opportunities to do clever stuff, like shooting a speaker off a wall to drop it on someone, or quite commonly, shooting people when they're standing in front of a drop, or a body of water, so the body falls in and "disappears".
Of course, being a totally separate kind of activity, this mode doesn't use the normal progression system. It does however have it's own linear progression, which works much like location mastery, except all the unlocks are upgrades to your rifle.
Overall, Sniper Assassin is a funky diversion and worth a good look, but yeah, it's obviously not the game's main attraction.
....... and i think that actually covers all the game modes, progression and what have you!
Now, it's time we finally talked about what happens when you get past the mode selections and mission briefings. Let's talk about how the actual moment-to-moment gameplay feels!
-In-mission Gameplay-
Of course, we've already mentioned a fair few concepts when talking about the various game modes, and especially for escalations and contracts mode, the gameplay is often dictated by whatever complications and requirements are involved. (Again, these modes are great at teaching you by making you play weirdly)
But when it comes to the normal story missions, elusive targets, arcade mode and (probably) also freelancer, the classic Hitman experience is intact, meaning that you're very free on how to complete your mission.
You usually start in a public area somewhere, wearing your suit. From there, the "normal" way of doing things would be to find yourself a disguise, use it to infiltrate some non-public areas, perhaps find another, higher ranking disguise, infiltrate yet higher security zones, all in an effort to get closer to your target.
Mind you, even in higher security zones, there are usually very specific people of equal or higher rank of your disguise who can see through it. Getting spotted by these special NPCs will get you in trouble.
An example of this would be an officer noticing that you're not really one of his soldiers. Not every officer is necessarily gonna know every soldier, but some will. These are called enforcers, and they're marked with a white dot over their head.
The targets themselves are often enforcers when it comes to certain disguises. They might have a hand-picked security detail for instance, so they'd see through a guard uniform, but they probably won't know every gardener contracted out to their estate. That kind of thing. It's a feature that didn't work well in Hitman Absolution because absolutely -everyone- wearing the same thing as you somehow knew that you weren't really one of theirs, but here in WOA, with only certain NPCs being able to see through certain disguises, it's a much more plausible system, while still adding some challenge.
In any case, your targets have routines they're following. "Doing the rounds", so to speak. Some targets will also roam into public areas, so you don't technically need a disguise to get close to them. However, just walking up to them in public and shooting/strangling/generally doing unhealthy things to them will get you plenty of witnesses and..... well, you know. You'll get shot at by the guards. So it's usually better to infiltrate behind the scenes, where you have much better chances of isolating the target in a quiet place.
Mind you, oftentimes, they'll do something (say, meet with a special NPC) after a certain amount of time has passed in the mission, or when certain conditions are met, which you can often influence through mission stories or just some creative gameplay.
Like say, pulling a fire alarm to make sure the target(s) are escorted to their safe room. The one in which you've already planted an explosive.
Or maybe the safe room isn't so safe, and has a big ol' window which a crafty sniper might exploit.
But perhaps you won't pull the fire alarm. Perhaps you'll instead poison the target's food. Or their drink.
Maybe you'll arrange an unfortunate accident involving say, a puddle and some exposed electrical wires. You don't even need to be subtle about "accidental mishaps" like that. After all, an accident is simply an accident, no matter how many witnesses there are.
Or maybe you don't care about witnesses and just wanna cut loose. There's a reason this game gives you access to assault rifles, shotguns et cetera. Going postal won't get you a great score, but if you've already done a mission sensibly 20 times, there's really no harm in doing a bit of a silly run.
Heck, you could even grab an axe and go full medieval!
Ehrm, yeah. The point is, you've got lots and lots of freedom and possibilities in this game. And mechanically, they all feel pretty good to do.
Though if we really wanted to point out a small gripe, then "mechanical" would be the word. The game has very, very solid gameplay, but it does have to be said, NPCs do behave a lot like robots in this. You can drop coins to distract them and make them walk somewhere, for example. Sounds good, until you realize that they will always react exactly the same way, walk to the precise location of the coin and (if you haven't snatched it back already) pick it up. They won't react to you running around the corner from where they just heard the noise. They won't react to you following them back around the corner. Their friends won't react when they don't return to their post. The only variable is that if they -see- you tossing the coin, they will not leave their post, telling you to stop littering (or similar), instead.
It's just one example, but a few things work this way in the game. Admittedly guard behaviour does need to be fairly predictable so it doesn't feel like your plans are just being messed up by bad luck, but sometimes, the game can feel a little -too- mechanical and predictable with these sorts of things.
With that said though, all the controls, interactions, animations and such work out very nicely, making the game feel smooth and solid. No jank or rough edges here!
Since you spend a fair bit of the game blending in and being inconspicuous, there's always real sense of mischievous glee when you do something like sneaking through an area where you're not supposed to be, or choking someone out, hiding them in a dumpster or anything else that's naughty. That's especially true if there's people in full view, who would only have to turn their head to ruin your day. So in terms of vibes, much of this game could be described as "Tee-hee, we got away with it!"
So, with all that said, we'd like to move on to the destinations, since they really determine large portions of the gameplay, and the overall vibe of the game. Today, we'll be looking at the first four of them. So, let's begin with...
-The ICA Training Facility-
Well, there's a simple reasons for this: While they're a bit different than normal missions and don't really allow for free loadout choice and such, they're actually quite good!
I say -they-, because interestingly, what we have here are actually two entirely different, small-ish maps which are staged training environments constructed within the actual destination, which is a secret base located in some kind of abandoned silo in a frozen wasteland.
The first one involves getting on board a (particle board) "Yacht" and taking out Calvin Ritter, a cat burglar who's trying to branch out into cybercrime. Or at least an actor posing as him, since in-lore, it's actually a recreation of a mission that's already happened years ago.
It's a small environment, and there's relatively little going on, but it's a lovely introduction into the game. There's no mission stories in this one, but there are a few challenges to get you used to how the game works.
The first playthrough is actually fully guided, with mission objectives and queues from your handler over the radio. Then after that, you get to do it again, and this time, you'll have to find your own way of doing things. It really eases the player in.Each time you finish the freeform stage of this mission, the game also asks you if you'd like to replay the mission and try a different approach, which is a good way of getting players used to the idea of replaying levels and exploring!
Things get much more juicy when you go on to the second mission, however.
This one takes place at an airfield in Cuba (recreated from particle board), where you're meant to assassinate Jasper Knight, a chess grandmaster who moonlit as a double agent for the soviets, and is currently being extracted to the soviet union. Lore-wise, just like the previous one, this is a re-enactment of a mission that's already happened years ago, and just like the previous one, you get one guided run, where your handler tells you what to do, before getting into freeform training.
And this one's much more intricate than the little boat. There's a handful of mission stories to get players used to that system, along with a bigger selection of challenges to complete. Generally speaking, it's a bigger map with more stuff going on. Nowhere near as big as the "proper" destinations that come after this, but it's a great way of getting the player used to having more freedom in choosing their approach.
Though yeah, with that said, while we do like the tutorial sections of the game and how they're constructed, let's get into the first serious mission. Let's talk about....
-Paris-
The Paris mission takes place at a fancy palace, which is being used as the venue for two events: On the ground floor, you have a fashion show by Sanguine, a brand owned by one of your targets, a shady Russian oligarch-type by the name of Victor Novikov.
But you're not just being sent to take out the head of a fashion company. Because on the top floor of the palace, away from the prying eyes of the public, his partner and your second target, a certain Dalia Margolis, is running the -real- show, that being a secret auction, at which the clients can attain information gathered by a secret spy network.
It's quite a cool setup, and does a nice job in showing off the variety the game's destinations can produce: You've got the huge, bustling crowds at the show, the professional activity of the areas behind the scenes and the shady, but extravagant vibes of the auction upstairs, along with some smaller, more localized areas that each have their own vibe.
There's the backstage area of the fashion show for example, which is frantic and chaotic, with models and make up artists practically stumbling over each other while the chief designer of the collection is yelling at people.
There's the dusty attic, where the security detail has set up a sort of command post, managing cameras, communications and the like.
Around the entire palace you also have gardens and plazas, some of which are publicly accessible, others are used by various staff and organizers to run the event.
While we were playing the map, it also just so happened that the elusive target played by Mads Mikkelsen was available, so we did that mission. We also dropped a fiver on the related "Banker" pack to see how these packs actually worked, specifically whether you'd unlock the items in the pack as extra rewards for completing the elusive target, or whether it's just a case of "buy pack, stuff magically appears in your inventory". It's the latter, by the way. Kinda meh, but now we know. And in all fairness, the elusive target mission is great!
They redesigned large parts of the level, making it so the palace hosts a casino this time around, rather than a fashion show. You can even play poker and such, but it's not a very robust system. Feels quite scripted, and weirdly, you immediately leave the table when you fold a hand.
In any case, this is a great mission to do when it becomes available (just as a reminder, you don't need to buy the Banker pack to play it. That DLC just unlocks the mission in arcade mode and gives you some items.)
There's also a Christmas-themed mission, but to be frank, we've not touched that one. Might get around to it eventually, but y'know, we're looking to play through the whole game, and we don't wanna hang around trying to 100% each location.😉
So overall, Paris is a good introduction into the game after the tutorial levels. It's big and complex enough to show you what the game can do, but it keeps everything reasonably focused and within reach.
Next, imma hand it back to Michael and let him talk you through the final two destinations of this post, starting with....
-Sapienza-
Aaaah, Sapienza!
There's a reason this destination seems to show up this game's marketing all the time, and that's because it's absolutely gorgeous.
Especially after Paris which, while quite pretty, can feel a bit stuffy with it's dusk setting in an old, aristocratic palace. Sapienza, meanwhile is bright, sunny and colourful! But of course, Agent 47 is here for work.
And the work in question is taking out Silvio Caruso, a well-to-do Bioengineer working for the Ether corporation, who's working on a rather special virus that's meant to target specific strands of DNA. Alongside him, 47 also has to eliminate Francesca De Santis, the head of Caruso's on-site lab. Destroying the virus is also a requirement.
But beyond that, you have access to the streets of Sapienza itself! It's not like there's an entire open-world city here, but you can navigate through some streets and alleys. Down by the beach, there's a lovely plaza, along with a fully accessible church, including the morgue, catacombs and convenient sniper lookout church tower.
Even further, below the villa itself, there's an actual secret lab, complete with armed guards, lab-coated scientists, CBRN suits and decontamination showers!
And this big, open map design is actually well utilized. Not only does it allow for a lot of wiggle room for the non-story game modes, but even for the actual campaign mission, there are mission stories and other opportunities scattered all over the map. It's a pretty brilliant setup and, and most importantly, it's just really fun to play.
And clearly, the developers thought so, too. Because this mission has some really cool content beyond the story mission!
There's a fun sniper-focused escalation, along with a couple others. But the real draw here are a couple of bonus missions, complete with modified map layout, mission stories and what have you!
They're both somewhat smaller missions, more focused on one area of the map. One of them tasks you with taking down a corrupt politician who intends to become mayor, taking place mainly in the lower portion of town, down by the beach and around the church. (Though the upper part of town is also available for some shenanigans)
The other mission is quite heavily focused around the plaza just in front of the villa, with other sections of the map blocked off. It's a very elaborate redesign though, with the plaza being turned into the set for a sci-fi movie!
This mission feels a lot more compact than others. Basically, there's just two areas here: Outside of the film set, and on the film set. As soon as you get any disguise, you can move freely around the set, with just a few enforcers to avoid, depending on your disguise. The target also doesn't really seem to drink, eat, or do anything to give you a good opportunity, so largely, this mission revolves around mission stories leading to unfortunate filming "accidents".
It's cool in it's own, more focused way, but it does feel rather small and scripted when compared to any of the "normal" story missions.
But with all that said, let's go even further south. Let's visit...
-Morocco-
Specifically the streets of Marrakesh, where Agent 47 is tasked with eliminating two targets: General Zaydan, a military leader who's preparing to enact a coup d'etat, and Claus Hugo Strandberg, a banker who's helping Zaydan destabilize the country by committing horrendous acts of financial loophole exploitation.
Zaydan has established a headquarters in an abandoned school in town, while Strandberg has been arrested, then broken out by armed mercenaries and is now seeking refuge in the consulate of his native Sweden. In turn, protests have erupted outside the consulate for providing a safe haven for such a...... disagreeable person.
This destination feels quite interesting in that it's design is very heavily focused around the actual main mission. Where Sapienza felt like it could be happening on any day of the week, this mission has a mob of protesters hanging out right outside the Swedish consulate, and the streets are full of background chatter about the whole affair. It really feels like you're getting into the middle of a crisis situation.
More than even the previous two missions, this one really shows off the variety within the destinations. Just look at these images, and remember they're all from the same map:
Some very stark differences in vibes between the areas, here.
The Swedish Consulate has classic music playing on the speakers along with a nice water feature out front and very angular architecture. There's some trouble in paradise though, as the staff are having to shred files and wipe hard drives in case the protest outside turns into a proper invasion.
The school meanwhile is basically a military base, complete with soldiers drilling in the yard, guarded armouries and a general feeling of discipline and efficiency in the air.
And the streets are the most crowded, bustling area yet, with the authentic bazaar-feeling that comes from about 5 music sources all playing over each other, vendors haranguing you and the acute feeling that you're probably gonna get pick-pocketed any second.
Mission stories and opportunities are sprinkled throughout the map, mind you. So it does feel worthwhile to explore and see what you can find.
There's a couple of escalations, which ain't bad, plus an extra one that actually takes place on a modified version of the map.
Specifically, this modified version is part of a bonus mission, where your targets are an asian real estate businessman and an architect who's looking to sell company secrets to him. Much like the other bonus missions, it's a bit more compact, mostly revolving around a shisha bar/club in the centre of the map, though much of the level is still accessible, safe for the interiors of the consulate and school.
The mission also takes place during the night-time, which the developers clearly used as an opportunity for some really fancy lighting:
But yeah, Marrakesh is pretty cool, all in all. Has it's own flair to it, with a real sense of "big things are happening". And with all the different sub-environments and opportunities, it stays fun even after a few playthroughs!
And with that, fellow Wombatants, i think we can end our first big post on this game!
If it isn't abundantly clear, we love this game. But because we do, we wanna take it in stages. If we forced ourselves to play through all of it in one big go, i guarantee you we'd lose that love and burn ourselves out on it. It'd be like forcing yourself to eat a whole big cake all in one go. We need breaks in-between. Palette cleansers, if you will.
So like we said, our approach will be to play a few levels, thoroughly explore the story and bonus missions, probably complete and escalation or two, and then write a (smaller) post about it before taking a break and playing something else in-between Hitman posts.
And don't worry, those posts will be much smaller than this big, foundational megapost, since we'll just be focusing on a few missions at a time. If you stuck with it all the way, thank you very much! Glad you enjoy our writing style.😉
But yeah, until our next post, stay safe, and don't get assassinated!
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