Hitman III - January 2021 - Xbox One, Series X|S, PS4/5, & PC

[Danster]

2 hours ago, Parksey said:

So if I buy this on my imaginary PS5 from the future, all my PS4 H1 and 2 levels will be there, and this time it's going to carry all my progress over too? 

 

I want to buy it on my Series S but I'm presuming it's not going to carry PS4-Xbox as we can't just all get along. 

Yep. It copies over just fine and runs silly smooth too.

[James Lyon]

Have they still not said how elusive targets are going to change in this? I'd like to join in from the start for 3 if they're still going to be date dependent but rather hoping for a bit of a drop on the price first. I suppose they have repeated them in the past so not too worried about missing out at release unless there's a significant change in the way they do them.

[Hitcher]

https://www.gameinformer.com/video-interview/2020/12/24/79-rapid-fire-questions-about-hitman-3

[Vemsie]

https://www.gameinformer.com/2020/12/24/5-things-you-should-know-about-hitman-3

 

Quote

2. Hitman 3 Has Some Of The Best Levels Yet

For my money, the Hitman trilogy is home to some of the best all-around level design in games. Each of its sandboxes tells multiple stories thanks to smartly executed layouts that encourage emergent storytelling, and an overall focus on the little details that matter. Levels are meant to be replayed over and over again before they fully give up their secrets, and I’m honestly in awe that IO Interactive is able to deftly encourage that without becoming repetitive. That tradition definitely continues in Hitman 3.

The game’s first mission, set in Dubai, is a bombastic intro worthy of a Mission Impossible film. It’s set in the Sceptre, which is the tallest skyscraper in Hitman’s world, and Agent 47 gets to explore both its lavishly decorated interior and dizzying exterior. Even as someone who isn’t particularly sensitive to heights, snaking around its outside via beams and scaffolding made me a little woozy at times.

It’s a stark contrast to the second mission, a murder mystery that’s set in an English Manor – one that happens to be owned by Providence member Alexa Carlisle. The layout is already great, capturing the essence of both the English countryside and a stately family home. The level is more compact than some of the places we’ve explored from a purely square-footage perspective, but it’s home to an expansive story. In this mission, one of the optional storylines lets Agent 47 assume the role of a private investigator who is trying to solve a murder. Agent 47 has pretended to be a barber and a real-estate agent in previous games, but this is his most ambitious attempt at putting himself in someone else’s shoes. To solve the mystery, players will have to interrogate witnesses, look for clues, and piece together what actually happened. Or, you could just walk up to your target and shoot her in the face. That kind of misses the point, however.

 

GI also revealed that one level takes place in Berlin, Germany.

[glb]

All sounds like an evolution rather than a radical revolution, which I’m totally good with. Why tinker too much with a fantastic formula?
 

The last two games have been brilliant fun, with just exploring and testing the boundaries (and then going beyond them) in each level a joy. And if the level design remains strong then that’s the key to more fantastic moments to be had.

 

Think this is my most anticipated (confirmed) game for 2021. Torn between it being the last game I get for the PS4 Pro, or waiting until PS5ing becomes viable later in the year. Quandaries!

[fragglerock]

I just am grumpy I need to wait for the steam release (presumably anyway... I want the 1 and 2 content in 3)

[Harrisown]

When I was getting ready for PS5 I downloaded everything I owned. I got Hitman on plus and thought I’d give it a go and I like it a lot. I bought the GOTY upgrade then Hitman 2 and the expansion. I’ve pre ordered Hitman 3 now.

 

 

Im super impressed with the globe trotting design and presentation in the menus and the sheer amount of content.

 

I finished the first game last night , I spent about a month on the Paris level alone before moving on.

there’s so much they could do with these games to take them to the next level. Personally I think animation is the main thing as its pretty stilted and robotic currently.

 

There’s a few things they did that really pay off now. The option to remove the frame rate cap is fantastic on ps5. The quite excellent HDR support takes everything to a new level if you have a good tv And the fact you can plug in the previous games to the current one (2 or 3) and receive all the benefits of the improvements is genius.

 

The NoClip documentary on IO interactive is really good and I’m very happy to be supporting such a good developer.

[fragglerock]

I hope the 007 deal has brought them a cash injection that can upgrade the engine. It is great, but as you say could do with a bit of polish here and there. Also I got the impression (from noclip) that there was a fair bit of string and tape holding the scripting together!

[Harrisown]

56 minutes ago, fragglerock said:

I hope the 007 deal has brought them a cash injection that can upgrade the engine. It is great, but as you say could do with a bit of polish here and there. Also I got the impression (from noclip) that there was a fair bit of string and tape holding the scripting together!

A lot of people like the games and the depth and the excellent first class support from the developer but if this was cyberpunk people would be memeing some of those transitional animations to exhaustion.

 

Also after all this time I still haven’t really gotten comfortable with the controls. Even my mate asked me what the reload button was while doing some co op sniping.....and he’s finished both games.

 

47 needs a walking animation, not a mince.

[Harrisown]

Awww man I thought Elusive Targets were just people within the levels that weren’t the main targets and perhaps just popped up for a limited time.

 

Now I find out they really are limited and I’ve missed them all , of course.

 

cool concept for sure but it unfortunate they went to the trouble of creating a little intro for each target and I can’t take advantage of it

 

[Vemsie]

https://gfycat.com/identicalalarmingaustraliansilkyterrier

[Hitcher]

9 hours ago, Harrisown said:

Awww man I thought Elusive Targets were just people within the levels that weren’t the main targets and perhaps just popped up for a limited time.

 

Now I find out they really are limited and I’ve missed them all , of course.

 

cool concept for sure but it unfortunate they went to the trouble of creating a little intro for each target and I can’t take advantage of it

 

They did reactivate them so hopefully they'll do the same for III.

[Vemsie]

First 5 minutes of Dubai mission:

 

[Majora]

18 hours ago, Harrisown said:

A lot of people like the games and the depth and the excellent first class support from the developer but if this was cyberpunk people would be memeing some of those transitional animations to exhaustion.

 

 

Context. You're comparing developers that  could afford to hire Keanu Reeves for hours of voicework for a single character to a game that has to use the same no-name voice actors over and over again for different NPCs. And in the case of Hitman 2, a game which was completed on such a tight budget it doesn't even have proper CGI cutscenes like the first game did.

 

The disparity in budget and resources between CDPR and IO is enormous which is why nobody cares if the Hitman games aren't always incredibly polished. It also helps that IO don't spend years making ridiculous claims about their games and setting themselves up for a fall.

[Harrisown]

18 minutes ago, Majora said:

 

Context. You're comparing developers that  could afford to hire Keanu Reeves for hours of voicework for a single character to a game that has to use the same no-name voice actors over and over again for different NPCs. And in the case of Hitman 2, a game which was completed on such a tight budget it doesn't even have proper CGI cutscenes like the first game did.

 

The disparity in budget and resources between CDPR and IO is enormous which is why nobody cares if the Hitman games aren't always incredibly polished. It also helps that IO don't spend years making ridiculous claims about their games and setting themselves up for a fall.

As I’m now finding out as I play through the second game. 

I think it’s pretty incredible what they pulled off in such a short amount of time with so much going on at the studio.

It’s actually more interesting to see what the outcome on a product is from such a financial earthquake.

 

Not sure where they would be without having such a good value proposition due to the front end that holds it all together as one big package with endless amounts of content.

[MikeF]

Looking forward to this, pre order in on PS5

 

Trying to stay away from videos, as want to go in blind so to speak

[Hitcher]

Mattias Engström creative director:

Quote

One thing I think all of you will be happy to hear is that we have managed to get the size of the game down significantly. All three games with all content will take up around 100gb.

[Harrisown]

1 hour ago, Hitcher said:

Mattias Engström creative director:

I was just going to do some research on that comparing hitman 2 to hitman 3 on the store size information.

Currently I have hitman 2 with everything possible and it’s 125gigs

 

When I pre load I wonder if it’ll allow me to install previous content into the game so it’s ready of release. 
 

Just really interested to dive into Paris first to see what’s changed.

 

I just found the bonus missions in the destination menus. I knew about the escalation mission but didt realise there was full blown extra missions with new assets.

 

Damn impressive support for this game.

[MikeF]

Ive downloaded the Hitman 2 starter pack to get a feel for the game again on the PS5, its only the Hawkes Bay location but I intend to rinse it before 3 is released

 

 

[MotiVater]

I'm going to pick this up for one of my kids on PS4 (we have VR too) so was looking at the best place to buy it from, has anyone used Coolshop?  Seems cheapest at £40 but I haven't heard of them.

[Garwoofoo]

1 hour ago, MikeF said:

Ive downloaded the Hitman 2 starter pack to get a feel for the game again on the PS5, its only the Hawkes Bay location but I intend to rinse it before 3 is released

 

 

Do you get the ICA training facility levels in that too? They're simple but very replayable.

[MikeF]

38 minutes ago, Garwoofoo said:

 

Do you get the ICA training facility levels in that too? They're simple but very replayable.

 

No, just the Hawks Bay area

[Hitcher]

 

[Harrisown]

That’s quite a cool idea.

The game basically looks the same as the last few iterations , that’s fine, those are decent looking games.

They aren’t using ray tracing at launch but the developer interview said “not yet...” when asked if the game would launch with ray tracing.

I don’t know how they do they reflections but it could be a second camera rendering a lower resolution. Either way they look really really good even in the last two games.

I’ve got about 3 levels and patient zero to do before release.

[Hitcher]

The Bank level had some amazing reflective floors in it.

[Uncle Nasty]

Haven't played much of the modern Hitman games but did enjoy the old ones - do they still have small levels like A New Life from Blood Money? Always preferred that kind of tight, enclosed level to the bigger spaces which just felt overwhelming and complicated to me.

[Majora]

8 minutes ago, Uncle Nasty said:

Haven't played much of the modern Hitman games but did enjoy the old ones - do they still have small levels like A New Life from Blood Money? Always preferred that kind of tight, enclosed level to the bigger spaces which just felt overwhelming and complicated to me.

 

The two newest games have tended towards enormous levels over the tight and compact. You only get 6 levels per game now, excluding the DLC, so they can't really be tiny anymore. The only smallish level in Hitman 1 was Hokkaido and the two DLC bonus episodes which repurposed small parts of existing locations into new scenarios and was probably all the better for it.

 

Hitman 2 has a better balance of levels in terms of size though, including a spiritual sequel to A New Life. Haven't paid too much attention to the levels in Hitman 3 but the murder mystery/British country manor level looks like it will probably be reasonably compact too.

 

I usually turn all this stuff off but IO have put in a lot of work in terms of guiding the player to 'opportunities' so despite the bigger levels it's probably far more accessible then the old games were if you don't mind a bit of handholding.

[mexos]

I'm hoping for more of the sniper levels - I can play that all day long.

[fragglerock]

Really? I have played each one, but they are dull to me, and I wish the dev time was used for real levels!

[Uncle Nasty]

47 minutes ago, Majora said:

 

The two newest games have tended towards enormous levels over the tight and compact. You only get 6 levels per game now, excluding the DLC, so they can't really be tiny anymore. The only smallish level in Hitman 1 was Hokkaido and the two DLC bonus episodes which repurposed small parts of existing locations into new scenarios and was probably all the better for it.

 

Hitman 2 has a better balance of levels in terms of size though, including a spiritual sequel to A New Life. Haven't paid too much attention to the levels in Hitman 3 but the murder mystery/British country manor level looks like it will probably be reasonably compact too.

 

I usually turn all this stuff off but IO have put in a lot of work in terms of guiding the player to 'opportunities' so despite the bigger levels it's probably far more accessible then the old games were if you don't mind a bit of handholding.

 

Thanks for that. I liked the small levels because they felt more relatable and creative, in a way. Booby-trapping the barbecue, shooting the neighbour's dog, poisoned doughnuts, the setting in the cul-de-sac, it was so immersive and darkly funny. The bigger levels didn't have the same pull for me.

 

A celebrity add-on would be amazing. Presidential assassinations, killing TV personalities onset, arranging deadly car crashes for footballers, that kind of thing. DLC1 could be Trump, Holly Willoughby, Lewis Hamilton. Who wouldn't love that?