Hitman 2 (or "I could've done better than that where's the 'Restart Mission' key?!")

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The map is not just an accessory, it's absolutely vital in your mission,

your targets actually MOVE around, forcing you to strategize and re-strategize

every moment.

You could butcher everyone in sight, but that is SOOO Quake, earning you

the scorning title of 'Mass Murderer.' You can be elegant, too, you know.

Think with your head, you stupid moron, not your BFG. The first

St. Petersburg mission was genius. Hitchcockian suspense with a steely edge.

Kingz, darling, this thread is dedicated to you.

Okay, okay. You're a paid assassin. Imagine you have to dispatch your target from a distance, but you need to go through a 'No civilians allowed' part of St. Petersburg where the guards may shoot on sight. You must smuggle an unconcealable sniper rifle with you to an unpopulated apartment building patrolled by guards, and once you reach it you have to choose from several possible sniping points. All in a window of under five minutes. Once you're there you discover that there not one, but FOUR identical generals to choose from, you are NOT allowed to hit anyone else, you inform your Agency, and they feed you mere crumbs of more detailed info as it comes, as you scramble to find the best sniping point from floor to floor while avoiding the patrolling guards in the building, all in the required time of only a few minutes. But that's only half of it. Once you kill the right general you must get out of the building undetected, negotiate the 'No civilians allowed' zone again undetected but via a new route different from whence you came, and reach your exit point, undetected.

You could simply blast your way through, but you'll have a very slim chance of surviving. The game does NOT have any medkits, period. The only health you have is what you started with. Tough shit. On 'Normal' you get 5 saves. On 'Expert' you'll get 2 saves. On 'Professional', NO saves. So far I successfully finished the first 3 missions with the highest ranking of 'Silent Assassin', no kills other than the actual target, near perfect stealth, and not a single bullet fired (except for the sniping in St. Petersburg, I strangled my targets with the piano wire). I am looking forward to the next missions.

I am loving this game. The postman finally dropped it off yesterday and I started it last night. This is one of the very, very few games that truly challenge me on different levels. It offers the cleverly architected puzzle design and exploration of an adventure game, the demands of quick wit and resourcefulness of strategy games, and the open ended freedom in playing of tactical shooters. Alongside the Thief series, this is one of the most consuming experiences for any gamer who has the patience and cunning to meet its challenges. Truly a thinking man's game. Mmph.

PC Gameworld's review pretty much sums up my sentiments about it thus far:

Perhaps still too challenging for some gamers.

Oh please! That's what it's supposed to be all about, baby. The game demands that you think your way through dynamically. A combination of intellect, calculation, and prompt execution of choices. This is the first game I would ever use the world 'elegant' on. It really is such an elegant game.

So, anyone else here played it or the other Hitman games? I know Erkki has. Kingz, you up for this one? Got the balls and the noggin for it?

[MrChlorophyll]

I thought the same thing for the first one and halfway through the second one. Then something clicked and the patterns of when the windows of opportunity opened became painfully obvious.

I understand that they have to give you patterns of guard movement otherwise it would be impossible to play it right, but I think there's a better system. Perfect World: Make a system that can make random paterns on the fly so that the guards move differently each time you play and not make it just a mishmash of movement that's impossible to sneak past. The Real World (But Still Friggin' Hard to Do): Design a few different patterns with interchangalbe sections that are randomly chosen when the level starts. Like for Hitman, instead of the same guarding rotation every time, make the guards on different floors with differentiating routines. Stuff like that.

Even on the hardest levels, just play it enough and eventually you'll pick up the pattern just out of rote learning.

Or heck, why not just wish for true AI that instead of: If shot at A)Duck B)Run/Hide or C) Shoot Back. Cus, you know, that'll happen real soon.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I thought about that too, but then you would have to make it at least somewhat fair for the player as well. The patrol patterns, for example, could be randomly selected on the fly from 3 to 5 different patterns, so that you don't know exactly where a guard will be at what time, even if you study the map for a while. But to make it more fair to your advantage you could subtlely alter things in the environment. Shoot out a lightbulb, and one guard may notice it and leave his post momentarily to tell another guard, etc. But, when the first guard returns you don't know which pattern he'll take on his route. So, you may be able to distract them, but you cannot repeat the same strategy if you screw up first time because the patrol patterns are relatively unpredictable. At the same time, a failed chance may reveal one or two new alternate chances.

But despite all that, I really love the game for forcing me to think dynamically and laterally. Besides, how many times did you die trying to make it through a level?

[MrChlorophyll]

Oooh. I like it. That whole lightbulb scenario never occured to me. I like it.

About half the time, I died more times than I'd like to admit. A quarter of the time just a couple deaths. The other quarter, once or never, and damn well near Silent Assassin, if not.

Unless you count Hitman: Contracts, which half of the game is levels from the first two with a new coat of paint. Then I beat half of that game with no more than 2 deaths per level. Amazing how long you can remember the sweet route in those levels.

And some people didn't like Contracts because of the whole re-doing thing. I was tickled pink. Loved every moment.

And mind you I wasn't knocking on the series at all. I'm a Hitman fanboy. All the way. Played all three 'til I could beat 'em with a stopwatch and I can't wait for more.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The concept behind the game is what I find brilliant. Of course, there are a plethora of possibilities in how to realize that concept, so many ways of going into it. I could discuss for days! One of the best details about it is that your targets actually move around the map on their own agendas, they do not stand still waiting for you to get them. This forces you to strategize dynamically, allowing for X or Y factors. I love that.

If had the chance to do another Hitman game I would keep the solid game base but absolutely deviate from there. The lightbulb > patrol pattern ratio is just one little way. I'd love to make the details even more intricate. For example, why not request the individual files on your assigned target and learn even more information on them - their wine preferences, recognizable scars or birthmarks, peculiar habits, regular work schedules, etc. The planning can literally at times be more fun than the actual execution. Especially if your target is in a public place full of civilians and you have to find him using information that the in-game map can never give you.

Another idea would be bribing civilians into giving information or even creating a diversion to make your hit less tricky.

[MrHoatzin]

Don't tempt me, man. I can resist anything but temptation.

I do like games that give me an almost chess-like control over the strategy, but there aren't many of those... and I am not adverse to collateral damage. Why don't you understand that some guards just have to die? Of course, it is much nicer to just bonk them on the head and move them into a shadow, and that I do if it is possible.

[MrHoatzin]

I always wanted a level in any kind of 3D game in a ballroom full of masked people.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

There you go. That scenario would be where the extra homework on your target could pay off and you absolutely must pay attention to the smallest details. What if you read that the target was claustrophobic and suffered an injury in childhood that rendered him for life with a slight limp?

[GregD]

Hitman 2 rules imo...

So cool the way you can complete the levels extremely quickly without being seen or firing a shot in a short amount of time if you know how... (i.e. speed running)