Topic: Hitman 2 (2018)

This is a place to discuss Hitman 2, the forthcoming entry in the long-running assassin-'em-up franchise (which is actually the seventh game, and not Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, so it's the second Hitman 2... stay with me).

Releasing on November 13, the game sees the return of Agent 47, the world's best hitman, in gameplay which looks much the same as the previous episodic entry released on PS4. This time, though, the whole game is on the disc and comes with a few added extras, including a head-to-head silent assassin multiplayer mode, and a standalone companion game called Sniper Assassin, which can be played solo or co-operatively (the first level of which was made available early for those who pre-order). Elusive Targets are also back, the first one of which will be Sean Bean, because Sean Bean.

Chat about your hopes, experiences and extremely-bizarre takedown stories here (and whilst we wait, feel free to share stories from your playthroughs of previous Hitman games).

@Tjuz Apologies for any inconvenience I've caused by dividing our chat up into two separate locations, but it just seemed the fairest way to proceed. It's always awesome to make a new gaming friend and I didn't wanna lose the threads we were discussing.

Sometimes I will periodically save throughout a mission, but quite often because the levels carry on regardless, I've found that I've missed certain triggers or opportunities that are difficult or impossible to go back for, so I frequently do restart from the beginning, yeah. Which is an utter pain in the b... arcode and what makes playing Hitman so uniquely frustrating, yet so incredibly rewarding when it all finally does come together, at least for me.

How often do you tend to save during a mission, then? I genuinely don't consider it cheating or anything, so don't worry, I'm not some purist who rallies against saving!

I'd love to be able to disconnect myself from emotions and morality during games because, hey, it's just a game and none of it is real. You're right, it quite often depends on the game. I think with Hitman, I'm already feeling a small measure of guilt for playing as a villain, or at least somebody who society deems a villain (the pressure comes off when you realise you can play quite heroically, and Diana goes to great lengths to explain how your targets are really nasty folk who totally deserve to be shoved off a balcony or blown up with a rubber duck). I'm worse with animals. Okay, I play Tomb Raider, a franchise with possibly the biggest animal body count, but I'll only kill things that are trying to kill me and that's kinda justified, and I genuinely dislike games that expect me to hunt things like rabbits, deer, etc. in order to progress the core story.

I didn't realise Dreamfall was that kinda game, more out of ignorance than anything else; at least it was a "bravo for making me feel" moment, or at least I hope it was!

Which is an utter pain in the b... arcode

Great sense of humor <3

Forgive my ignorance on this series ... but I was wondering about it. I have seen some of the discussions previously but haven’t invested the time to learn much since I have so many other gaming diversions to occupy my brain space. Nevertheless, I was perusing the current PSN sale just out of curiosity and the PS4 Hitman GOTY Ed is on sale for $24. Then when I clicked on the regular Hitman game it says it’s “Free.” This had me even more curious (who doesn’t like free?) but upon further review, it seems it’s just the first couple missions that are free, so more like a demo? So basically, is this series like a episodic type of thing with separate releases like a Telltale game or Life is Strange? (I know the gameplay is nothing like those, but I mean the way they try to get you hooked by giving you the first episode for free then it’s a Season Pass to get the whole game?). Obviously the GOTY Ed would have all content, but is there any point in just starting the base game for free and then purchasing the full game later versus just buying the GOTY Ed? And does the game have much story that relates each mission to one another? And furthermore, is Hitman 2 likely a continuation of story from the earlier games? In other words, do you think jumping in at Hitman 2 and skipping all the previous games would be difficult to understand what’s going on?
Sorry to be so uninformed.

@Th3solution I just downloaded the free version and played the free 2 missions (let's call them "tutorial missions"). Storywise I feel the cutscenes between missions are just an excuse to introduce you to different locations. The only think that could hook me is the variety of funny things you can do to end a mission, but it felt too much as a "try and repeat" experience to me.

@RogerRoger I can't quite remember how often I saved in Blood Money, but I'm currently making my way through Dishonored 2 and that's the same in that your strategy can go to hell quite quickly. I tend to save there pretty much any time I've gotten past a guard, entered a new building or successfully neutralised a threat, and I imagine it was pretty much the same in Blood Money. I don't remember if the saving system in Blood Money was more prone to this kind of "save exploitation" than Dishonored is, though, since the latter saves and reloads you on the exact place where you stood.

I would actually love to see Hitman do a mission where you're not sent to assassinate someone who's morally worse off than you are, but for whatever reason have to get rid of some perfectly nice lady who has never harmed anyone in the world and does like... charity work every Sunday or something. I'm sure they've already done something along those lines in the past, but not that I can remember playing. It would be a fun change of pace, if not slightly heartbreaking when you see photos of all the kids she has helped throughout her career sitting on the cupboard, looking like they're smiling right into your soul.... I'll calm down with the masochism now!

It certainly was a "bravo for making me feel" moment in Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, especially since they made me feel for what were essentially robots!

@Th3solution When you download Hitman (2016) for free, it essentially gives you the training levels, which are maybe good for an hour or so. They're a good way to familiarise yourself with the gameplay and mission structures in the game in case you're on the fence about getting it. The game was an episodic release in the style of Telltale and Life is Strange, but this was the only game in the franchise to go that route and is therefore the exception to the rule. Hitman 2 will have all missions available at launch, as Hitman (2016) does if you were to buy it now. There's no point in trying out the demo before buying the GOTY Edition outside of wanting to try out how the game plays before coming to a conclusion on whether or not you want to buy it. If you were to buy the GOTY Edition out of the gate, you would still have to go through the training levels before getting to the meat of the game, so no XP or rewards are lost on you by not trying the demo beforehand. The game does have an overarching story, but like andreoni79 mentioned, they're only cutscenes between the missions and often feel like nothing more than an excuse to get you to whatever next location. Hitman is all about the gameplay, and definitely not the game for you if you're looking for an enthralling story. I do believe Hitman 2 builds on the revelations in Hitman (2016), but you wouldn't miss much by starting out with Hitman 2 as there's not all that much to really be recapped. I'm sure you'd have no problems starting out with Hitman 2 if you wanted to, but I would suggest playing Hitman (2016) first, since it's cheaper, to see if you enjoy what the Hitman franchise serves you. The two games seem pretty much identical in gameplay.

The one thing that these new Hitman games do that might motivate you to pick up Hitman 2 sooner rather than later, is official weekly missions in which you have to eliminate a non-story related target within 48(?) hours from the start of the event, sometimes in a specific way, which don't reappear once the event is over as far as I know. You'll have missed out on those extra missions with the first Hitman, but could get in on those if you purchase the second closer to launch. They don't offer new maps though, as they're set in the maps available in the main games. I believe they do also have community missions, where you can play missions made by the community, which are basically a slightly less polished version of those official weekly missions as far as I know. Hitman 2 does have a new mode where you can compete against another player in eliminating targets as quickly as possible, which is not present in Hitman (2016). If I got anything wrong, I'm sure @RogerRoger will correct me, but I hope that basic information helped.

@Tjuz The maps of the tutorials missions were too small for me. What about the actual maps? The tutorial ones were also built as a TV set and that really add a strange feeling to the ambience: I felt I was surrounded by robots and not by humans...

I was quite interested in Hitman but if it is weak in the story department I may end up skipping it. However, I didn't even realise there was a free version I could try! So I'll grab that at some point this week and give it a go. The gameplay certainly looks good.

@andreoni79 The actual maps are much bigger and give you a lot more freedom. The training missions have a lot of hand holding and limited space to introduce players to the mechanics, but once you get past them you have much bigger sandboxes to try out your crazy ideas in. The first mission's map is a fashion show in Paris where you get access to quite a few floors of the building, the fashion show itself and it's backstage rooms as well as the surrounding area outside of the building. There's also more interaction with NPCs (listening in on conversations) and it doesn't have the "TV set" gimmick. I think that if those were your main complaints, the main game is still worth it since it eliminates your concerns going forward.

@Tjuz Yes, that is helpful info. Just what I was wondering. Thank you!

@Tjuz I think any Hitman game with a mid-mission save capacity (Absolution had lots of checkpoints instead) saves you at the exact moment and position of where you activate the feature. Silent Assassin would limit the number of mid-mission saves you could create per mission, depending on the difficulty level which you selected; I think it was something like seven for Easy, five for Medium, three for Hard and none for whatever they called the top level. Knowing the right moment to save became pretty tricky for me, which perhaps fed into why I'd just restart from the beginning sometimes (although the missions were much, much longer in those days).

I don't think there has ever been a target quite like the one you describe; I'd remember, because I'd have either used a cheat to skip it or stopped playing. That's just one thing we can't agree on, sorry! I'm pretty extreme when it comes to stuff like that; wasn't always, but have been mostly since I started playing Hitman games, at least. From what we've seen of Hitman 2, I shouldn't have a problem going forward, either, but fingers crossed there'll be some non-essential DLC which fits the tone you're looking for; best of both worlds then, as I could skip it and you could revel in it!

@Kidfried So, how are you stuck in Marrakesh, specifically? Happy to help if I can.

@RogerRoger I just don't know how to maneuver effectively around this level. So, getting close to the targets is my main difficulty. Completing the level once helped me in the previous episodes to get a feel for everything that's happening along the way, but this one feels extremely complicated in comparison to Paris and Sapienza.

I know that's supervague.

@Kidfried No, you're making perfect sense. I think it's how the level is supposed to feel. It's not a closed event or location, but a section of a living city going about its business. It's also why a lot of people say that it's their least-favourite level in the game.

The best tip I can give you is to follow a couple of Opportunities religiously. The best ones will almost take you on a guided tour of the two separate locations and bypass the large areas of the city which are interesting to return to later (and are packed with other, more complex Opportunities) but are otherwise there to confuse and confound, or simply to add realism to the location. Once you can see past the crowds, you'll notice that the entire level is essentially these two smaller closed locations, separated by a lot of fluff. I found it much easier to tackle once I realised this.

The best Opportunities to follow for eliminating Reza Zaydan are "Open Sesame" which you'll find if you head immediately left from your starting position; once you've tracked that to conclusion and you're inside the location, look to find and follow "Bad Blood". I found these the two easiest and useful to begin with, but there are some other excellent, more complex ones to come back for later.

By following "Bad Blood" you'll gain access to an outfit with a red hat (I'm trying to be as spoiler-free as possible) which will allow you to walk right in the front door of the second location where Claus Strandberg is and, once you're inside, it's another pretty straightforward, self-contained Hitman level; there is also a good entry point to the left of the main entrance, over a wall, which will lead into a basement car park, but the red hat will give you relative freedom once inside to discover and track Opportunities.

Hope this hasn't given away too much. The levels beyond Marrakesh are fantastic (although Colorado suffers from some of the same design trends, having locations within locations, and it can take a lot of patience to peel back the layers and find the right Opportunities to track) but I agree that it can be a little overwhelming at first.

Fingers crossed I've been able to point you in the direction of a good start.

@RogerRoger what were your favorite stages then?

And thanks for the help by the way, I'll surely put it into practice and give the game another go soon. This really helps.

@Kidfried Anytime; if you're anything like me, you'll see reviews and feedback on Hitman 2 and get the bug, even if just for an evening or two. Best of luck in Marrakesh.

My top three levels from Hitman 2016 are Paris, Bangkok and Hokkaido. Whilst I really do love some of the more open areas, and did enjoy getting lost in Marrakesh when I had the free time to, I like simplicity and precision (as you know) and those three levels offered contained environments which were fun and focused. Still tons of variety, but I always felt like I had some sense of purpose; as you discovered, half the battle in Marrakesh is discovering what to do, before you even attempt to do it.

Oh, and they're also the most gorgeous. When you reach the starting areas for Bangkok and Hokkaido and swing the camera around, you'll know what I mean. Also, Bangkok reminded me of a similar place I was once sent on assignment, so I'd say that's probably my favourite overall.

In fact, the only level I think I didn't like was, weirdly enough, the game's most popular. Sapienza is a beautiful location and some of the DLC remixed versions were fantastic, but its main story appearance disappointed me because after assassinating the two targets in that wonderful mansion (exploding golf ball for the win) you've got to suddenly go and destroy the virus, which can be really tricky to accomplish because of the cramped and crowded cave area... I dunno, it just felt a little "un-Hitman" if that makes sense?

@RogerRoger At least in part I agree on Sapienza. It was the most beautiful level so far and the assassination options were pretty cool, but the virus was a letdown. I get where the devs were going for, trying to switch the assassin formula up, but it just didn't work very well.

Also, I like simplicity and precision in my stealth games as well, so hopefully I'll rather enjoy the later episodes!

@RogerRoger Well, I couldn't resist and booted up the Marrakech episode this evening (after getting fed up with Resident Evil, haha). Thanks to your advice I was actually able to enjoy this episode a lot. Mentioning there was a lot of "fluff" really helped as well, as I now realize I focused way too much time on unimportant parts of the level on earlier tries.

Your guide struck the perfect balance between helping me on my feet and not spoiling the level.

I'm excited about the other opportunities now I'm more at ease with this level. But... I should be heading to bed.

@Kidfried

Glad I was able to help. I was so nervous about giving away too much information, and the fact that you said you'd played the level before made me wanna say things like "head to the school first, then the embassy once you're dressed as an Elite Guard". Hope your subsequent playthroughs are more enjoyable and that you find some of the other Opportunities; I have a particular favourite but I won't mention which it is yet!

And yeah, previous Hitman games have added extra objectives quite well, but they've always made sense or felt natural. Things like "assassinate this guy and bring his briefcase back with you because it contains sensitive information" but nothing on the same level as the virus lab. I've always quite liked them; here's hoping Hitman 2 can add a few without them feeling so superfluous.