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MrHoatzin

Hitman - Codename 47 sucks ass

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Even though it is pretty much anatomically impossible, the first Hitman game sucks ass. I have played through the first two-and-a-half missions and, Trep, there is virtually no need for strategizing at all. In fact, the game directly penalizes you for thinking things through and looking at your options. The first mission...

...I climbed to one roof, took out my sniper rifle, and while I was observing the movements of guards bellow (thinking all the while how I would like to first kill one guard, take his uniform and then after I assassinate my primary target leisurely walk to my getaway car), some scripted things took place and, :fart:, the game told me the mission had failed. Dear mother of tedious design bottlenecks!

It turns out that the proper way to solve this is to run to the roof, take the sniper gun out, shoot at the little guy in the black kimono and then run back to the car, avoiding the helicopter that had waited for the assassination to take place so that it would appear on your neck the very second.

Whoop-de-fucking-do. The only way the player may figure out certain important things is by letting the mission fail time and time again, while paying attention to details the world over to figure out what he should anticipate next time. And even taking this into account, the missions feel like one-move games of chess. Designer man: no twinkie for you, motherfucker!

The AI is hypersensitive in parts, with urban dwellers — having nothing smarter to do (such as run for cover) — reporting even the least disturbance in a matter of seconds to the local gang lords. I don't know where the fuck I can hide in this place, as the guards see me through the dumpsters... there are no shadows and no way to know if I have been seen. Furthermore, everybody likes to look at me when they're passing me by. In some parts of Galveston, if you don't keep your eyes on the pavement in front of you, you can get beat up.

Also the engine sucks. I may need to tweak that some more; it is annoying for a building to have one face of a polygon in focus and another blurry, with copious amounts of artefacts added for good measure.

The interface is atrocious, hinting at an ease of use due to a higher purpose (no jump button, the game must handle all jumping on its own, that means I get to think about strategy!), but failing repeatedly. What is up with the little menus? Whose stupid idea was that? What else could one do with a button but press it, or with a door but open or close it, or with an ammo pack but pick it up? When it comes to more extreme cases, such as a body that you may drag or undress, they could've as well inserted an extra button there; in addition to 'perform action', a 'drag body' button; or in addition to 'use', a 'pick up' button (where 'use' would 'dress' your character, but also be used for pressing buttons, opening doors and such). Why complicate an already complicated interface by adding another tier to it? If you're gonna still force me to read through a menu, at least pause the game while I'm at it. Or how about giving me some hotkeys for the weapons? Again, I have to scroll through a menu to find just the right gun to shoot at the thug who just appeared around the corner looking for me to litter my person with ak-47 bullets.

Bah, yarbles! :bomb::cens0r::finger::deranged::fart:

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I've only played the first Hitman (If we are not counting the time I played Hitman 2 demo and Hitman 3 demo)

It was fun at times, but hard as hell.

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Am I not allowed? :shifty:

I didn't suggest such a thing, I merely asked why.

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Well, it's not like the games get any better from there. Hitman was always mediocre at best. Totally shitty at worst. Usually worst. So many games have done stealth action so much better, I really do not see the appeal.

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I didn't suggest such a thing, I merely asked why.
I saw it on the shelf and picked it up... seemed like a reasonable thing to do... :hmph:

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I could've told you the first one kinda sorta maybe a little bit isn't quite as good as it used to be. To me, it has one redeeming feature, the level where you whack the triad dude and a cop in a restaraunt. Straight outta The Godfather... through trippy kalydoscope glasses. Still fun though. It's in the third one too. Beat it perfectly on my first try. I think I may have played that level too much in the first place.

But yeah, I can't imagine that I'd be able to stand the first one anymore. And stealth-action? How can you justify calling it stealth? More like... Bad-Ass Ken Dress Up-Action. Seeing how 47's favorite past-time is killing people then stripping them to their underdrawers. Which is a rather disturbing realization... kinda puts him in a different light. Icky.

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I saw it on the shelf and picked it up... seemed like a reasonable thing to do... :hmph:

Fair enough. I only asked because I've heard the second one was a huge improvement, and I suspect they're both available on the cheap these days.

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Crap. I wasted 10 bucks that I could've otherwise spent on gin tonic and burritos. I figured it would make some sense to play a series of games in their natural order.

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Crap. I wasted 10 bucks that I could've otherwise spent on gin tonic and burritos. I figured it would make some sense to play a series of games in their natural order.

I know what you mean. I still find it hard to get over that natural inclination, but in series of games that are not explicitly story-based (like Hitman), I've decided to stop caring.

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I know what you mean. I still find it hard to get over that natural inclination, but in series of games that are not explicitly story-based (like Hitman), I've decided to stop caring.

Especially since almost all the missions in the third game are near-carbon-copies of the missions in the earlier games.

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Now, maybe I'm suffering from severe fanboyishness, but I really liked playing through the old levels with the new detail work. Or maybe I've just become a nostalgia freak. Am I the only one who liked that?

Or maybe I just should stop assuming that everyone is complaining when they mention that they're copies.

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Especially since almost all the missions in the third game are near-carbon-copies of the missions in the earlier games.
Does anyone even use carbon paper any more? In this day and age of microscopic scanners and color laser printers, we still bring up these indigo anachronisms of yesteryear, that, to boot, weren't particularly good at what they did. Why?

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Because calling something a "laser-printed reproduction" of something else is not nearly as catchy (nor alliterative) and it indicates the thing is extraordinarily accurate. A level that is a "carbon copy" of another level is clearly just a fairly close copy rather than a pixel-perfect doppelganger (ha ha).

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Because calling something a "laser-printed reproduction" of something else is not nearly as catchy (nor alliterative) and it indicates the thing is extraordinarily accurate. A level that is a "carbon copy" of another level is clearly just a fairly close copy rather than a pixel-perfect doppelganger (ha ha).
Ok, you win this time — ‘cause I am going to bed — but tomorrow is a new day and I will have your ass on a platter then!

:ratched:

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:hah: Ha!! Serves you right, Kingzerella, for not doing your homework. I made the mistake of getting Codename 47 three years ago. From reading previews back then I was definitely interested, to the point where I didn't read enough reviews, or least paid attention to the critics complaining about the awful control scheme and the horrible lack of in-game save options. When I tried playing the first mission I was stumped, not by the mission itself but by the embarrassingly complicated controls. I spent more time fumbling the keyboards than looking at the screen.

I'm deep in the middle of Hitman 2 now (Japan mission, but I'm taking a break from the game and instead playing Jedi Knight II - more on that later). I know that Hitman: Contracts is practically a remake of the first one, but with a control system that actually works. So, I am leaving the first Hitman on the shelf to gather dust, am playing Hitman 2, and will get Hitman: Contracts and play that one as the first Hitman game. There you go.

[imagines Chris's ass on a platter.....throws up]

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It's all your fault, man, you keep praising this game to high heavens! How was I to know that the first installment was to be avoided at all costs? You never said that! :frusty::cens0r::bomb::(

I trusted you man... :\

All the smilies above are red. I colorcoordinated my smilies...

:ancient:

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Did you like the H2 and H3 demos though? One thing remains the same in all three games -- you'll come to success by trial and error. I don't remember a single mission that I've completed on the first try.

Actually, as I remember, Hitman 1 does get better after the first few missions. But there are just 3 or so that are really worth playing.

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The H3 demo is real annoying since its like a quarter of the way through the game so it makes no sense.

I loved Hitman 2 & 3 though 3 was a bit short.

Hitman1 is very old gameplay wise compared to the other 2.

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It's all your fault, man, you keep praising this game to high heavens! How was I to know that the first installment was to be avoided at all costs? You never said that! :frusty::cens0r::bomb::(

I trusted you man... :\

What are you talking about? I was praising the second and third games in the series (not entirely fairly, I'm only halfway through H2 and only played the demo to H3, but still I noticed a dramatic improvement over the original).

And goddammit, stop crying, 'cause it's working on me. Nothing like seeing a hot man bawling to turn one one.

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I beat most of the missions in H2 on my first try, just taking a crap load of time on each one watching all the guards (on the map) and planning my route. I thought they were easy as long as you were willing to wire/pistol a couple of guards.

The only really difficult ones from H2 I thought were the Japan ones (all of them) and the last level.

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