Hitman (2016) Episodic Catch-All

I picked this up on Steam over the weekend and it might be my favorite game this year. I am terrible at it, but the ways things can go downhill keep me playing.

PWAlessi wrote:

Do y'all use the hints system (I forget what it's called). It seems like it takes away a lot of the fun, but I don't know if I'd ever figure out all of the different hit techniques without them.

I have only played with them on, but I'm new to it. I may turn them off when I get the hang of the levels.

PWAlessi wrote:

Do y'all use the hints system (I forget what it's called). It seems like it takes away a lot of the fun, but I don't know if I'd ever figure out all of the different hit techniques without them.

I've been using the Intel to help guide me on what to do--at least on my first playthrough of the Paris mission, it helped me get a better grasp of the options. I agree that I would be at a loss if I did not have access to them.

I generally run no hints, but will flip on the full waypoint hints if I really can't figure something out. I definitely refrain from doing that until I feel I have explored the level properly, as discovery of how the little sub-areas work is a big part of the fun for me.

I dove in on the $30 Steam price as well.

I picked up the game originally back in April (full price / full season) but abysmal PC performance made me reluctantly nab a refund before my 2 hours were up. I've been salivating for the game ever since, knowing that it was an unwildly beast on the optimization front that just didn't agree with my aging laptop. I was absolutely NUTS for Hitman 2 / Blood Money and was ready for some modern-day Silent Assassin-ranked shenanigans.

Well, turns out $30 was my breaking point. Decided to pull the trigger again in spite of nothing changing on the hardware front. I did look at a couple Optimization Guides before purchasing and subsequently leaned into a few graphical toggles that seemed the most taxing. I've only been messing around with the Tutorial missions but so far I'm mostly happy with performance, given the circumstances. I'm currently getting roughly 30fps with occasional dips into the mid-20s and even some spikes into the mid-40s. Not ideal, but not game-breaking either.

Managed to score all the Challenges on the cruise ship tutorial level last night. Had an absolute blast the whole way through. Still kind of nagging to know the game is performing in an un-optimized state, but hey...as a huge fan of the franchise I'm just glad to be enjoying it either way.

PWAlessi wrote:

Do y'all use the hints system (I forget what it's called). It seems like it takes away a lot of the fun, but I don't know if I'd ever figure out all of the different hit techniques without them.

I totally do. I feel like there's enough challenges where they just leave you to figure it out on your own that being walked through the more intricate "showpiece" ones is okay. I might try turning them off for the next area though.

I use hints and opportunities on my first run to learn some basics, then from there start free forming.
Really learning area transition points is critical and how you can circumvent what you thought was a single entry path.

Cool, thanks for the advice folks! I'll leave them on for now until I get a better feel for each level.

Started Sapienza. Got frustrated and stopped because two different times, I bumped into someone with a white dot, walked/ran away from them, and somehow got the "Crime noticed" notification and went into being hunted mode. Like, literally I bumped into you and then walked away, but that's a crime in Italy?

I'll go back to it, I'm just not in the patient headspace today.

NPC's with white dots over their head indicate that they'll see through your disguise if you get close/they notice you. So it's not that bumping into them was a crime. It's the fact they recognized you don't belong there.

Yeah, I mean, I get that. The first time, I was dressed as just a normal guy, bumped into a PI (who I can't imagine had a reason to recognize me), and I immediately walked away from. I wasn't in his line of sight when I got "crime noticed", and suddenly all the random street people were hunting me. it's really more stupid wording in "crime noticed", and then that it was a horde of drones coming after me.

I was in Italy, so maybe the crime was my wardrobe?

Chaz wrote:

Yeah, I mean, I get that. The first time, I was dressed as just a normal guy, bumped into a PI (who I can't imagine had a reason to recognize me), and I immediately walked away from. I wasn't in his line of sight when I got "crime noticed", and suddenly all the random street people were hunting me. it's really more stupid wording in "crime noticed", and then that it was a horde of drones coming after me.

I was in Italy, so maybe the crime was my wardrobe?

Your crime was alerting him and then not hanging around to follow instruction.

I'm not an expert on Italian law, but I'm pretty sure a PI and waiter don't have jurisdiction to arrest me, even if I am a secret assassin.

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Chaz wrote:

I'm not an expert on Italian law, but I'm pretty sure a PI and waiter don't have jurisdiction to arrest me, even if I am a secret assassin.

Right but this isn't Italy its a game. Letting them be suspicious and then leaving once its cleared is the mechanic of the game.

boogle wrote:

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Chaz wrote:

I'm not an expert on Italian law, but I'm pretty sure a PI and waiter don't have jurisdiction to arrest me, even if I am a secret assassin.

Right but this isn't Italy its a game. Letting them be suspicious and then leaving once its cleared is the mechanic of the game.

If they ever want to get serious about making a hitman training simulator, they need to up their game regarding jurisdictions and international law.

Funny thing about this game... bystanders don't seem to like it when they see you garrote someone.

(just started the tutorials - my first time playing a Hitman game :D)

BadKen wrote:

Funny thing about this game... bystanders don't seem to like it when they see you garrote someone.

(just started the tutorials - my first time playing a Hitman game :D)

I bought this yesterday and played through the tutorials. Super impressed so far. Need to get back into the hitman mindset. Observe and learn and then action then chaos!

I followed the Boogle protocol, and managed to ace the Chef Elusive Target. Man, getting out after the kill was unlike anything i've experienced in any game in a long time. So much tension (in a good way!), given the all or nothing nature of those elusive target missions. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest.

BadKen wrote:

Funny thing about this game... bystanders don't seem to like it when they see you garrote someone.

(just started the tutorials - my first time playing a Hitman game :D)

Yeah, don't do that.

I got shot by guards less than 5 min. into my first (Chef) Elusive Target mission.

#Dr. Choke

I missed my chance at the Chef. I thought I had another day on it.

Picked this up for $17 complete for PC on GameStop. Act of faith after briefly playing through first tutorial mission.

Tips for someone brand new to the series?

Don't garrotte someone in front of a crowd of bystanders.

Chaz wrote:

Don't garrotte someone in front of a crowd of bystanders.

Seems like a good tip.

Sometimes you want to cheese escalations and that means using a pistol to clean floors.

chooka1 wrote:

Tips for someone brand new to the series?

Same here!

The tutorial was a nice little bubble and then they dropped me in Paris... A zillion things are happening! I guess I should treat each opportunity as a distinct path and not cross the streams? For example; I overheard a woman that needed a camera lens and then when I walked away from that, overheard a dude on a phone talking about a meeting. Then ended up seeing a helicopter land with male models that I know I could steal the identity because of game reviews.

Basically, I'd say start with one opportunity and focus on that. If you leave all the prompts on, it'll walk you through pretty effectively. One thing to know is that the opportunities will only get you to your kill window, they won't necessarily say something like "and now kill the person by doing X." They will get you most of the way there, though. Along the way, you'll start to build up the bigger picture of how all the bits of the level fit together. Then you can start going off on your own a bit more.

So far (two levels in), I usually do Opportunities for maybe two runs, then start going in aiming to get some of the different Assassinations and Challenges, and explore the alternate areas of the map. That gets easier as you start unlocking more starting locations. Mostly, remember that you're going to need to go through each level multiple times if you're planning on getting even half of the different challenges. Also, the levels are REAL BIG. Paris isn't super huge, but Sapienza is, and there's a bunch of stuff hidden in various nooks and crannies. I like looking at the challenges and going "wait, how do you even get that person to go there?", then figuring it out.

I have now played through all episodes except Hokkaido, decided I'd first like to go back and do some challenges and escalations, ended up spending probably the last 5 hours of playtime just in Paris. I just finished Silent Assassin with only the starting suit - which was one of the most satisfying thing I've done in any game in a long time. This game is awesome.

Heh, I spent my first 10 hours focusing on Escelations, Challenges, and Assasinations in the first 2 Tutorial missions!

Think I'm ready for Paris now. :p

I got this my own self after hearing all the good buzz. I can't even pass the tutorial mission. This is the first Hitman game I've ever played so I just need practice I hope.

Veloxi wrote:

I got this my own self after hearing all the good buzz. I can't even pass the tutorial mission. This is the first Hitman game I've ever played so I just need practice I hope.

It takes some getting used to compared to other games. It's not a game you rush through or can run and gun with. Slow and steady wins the race.