HITMAN 3 - final chapter of the nu-Hitman trilogy - now available on Steam

[Ivan]

The AI actually used to be even better but was dumbed down, for example Master difficulty had things like guards getting suspicious if you were in their disguise and carrying a non-standard issue weapon. For some reason IO nerfed it.

That was standard in earlier Hitman games. No steps forward, two steps back as usual.

Piggybacking off this, this is an element I've seen included in some of the harder Escalation variants. I don't think it would apply to specific weapons, but there are definitely ones that require you to carry a weapon that would aggro all NPCs (e.g. the final variant of an escalation I played last night required me to use a barbed wire melee weapon), which had the effect of changing how I infiltrated the locations of my targets). At first I thought, damn why do they make you replay the same setup three times, but I quickly noticed how my play was encouraged to adapt to the new rules. Good stuff, again probably stuff that most folks won't even see if they just stick to the hand-holdy "profressional" setting and call it a day once the "story missions" are done.

 

[maydaymemer]

The AI actually used to be even better but was dumbed down, for example Master difficulty had things like guards getting suspicious if you were in their disguise and carrying a non-standard issue weapon. For some reason IO nerfed it.

That was standard in earlier Hitman games. No steps forward, two steps back as usual.

It always floors me the levels of self-delusion Hitman boomers employ to justify their preference for janky, outdated pieces of shit. Like that somehow the AI gunning you down for holding the run button was a brilliant feature and incredibly intelligent

I had the most fun when playing a mission blind on Master difficulty. That said, I do wish there was a customizable difficulty b/c I feel like the "Professional" one is ruined by the unlimited saves. I liked the added pressure on Master and it encouraged me to squeeze as much info and intel from the maps and NPC routes as I could to carry out a plan..

You've hit the nail on the head there. I wish the third game added a custom difficulty like in Dishonored in order to add or remove a lot of the casualized features. Like for example adding back in the suspicious items in disguises, changing sniper behavior, making the rating system more restrictive or less restrictive, making NPCs investigate shot cameras and boxes. Stuff that I know they can do in their engine but they don't

I've always thought the Hitman 2016 locations look much better than the rehashed versions, which should be benefitting from the updated engine in Hitman 2. I see I''m not alone.

I get it with Hitman 2 because consoles and whatever. But with Hitman 3 they should scale the game to look better than ever across all maps. Adding back in the moose easter egg, upping crowd density, etc. Like I personally think 2016 pre-GOTY edition had the best and most realistic lighting engine of the trilogy so an option to add that back in would be good too

 

[Hace El Oso]

It always floors me the levels of self-delusion Hitman boomers employ to justify their preference for janky, outdated pieces of shit. Like that somehow the AI gunning you down for holding the run button was a brilliant feature and incredibly intelligent

Yeah, the AI forcing the player to conform to certain behavior to escape suspicion and alarm is just too janky. Much better to let players sprint around with inappropriate, dangerous implements while dressed in a fur-suit. Makes for great thumbnails to get those zoomer views.

It’s not as though Hitman is special, AI in almost every game has gotten measurably worse over the years.

 

[maydaymemer]

It always floors me the levels of self-delusion Hitman boomers employ to justify their preference for janky, outdated pieces of shit. Like that somehow the AI gunning you down for holding the run button was a brilliant feature and incredibly intelligent

Yeah, the AI forcing the player to conform to certain behavior to escape suspicion and alarm is just too janky. Much better to let players sprint around with inappropriate, dangerous implements while dressed in a fur-suit. Makes for great thumbnails to get those zoomer views.

It’s not as though Hitman is special, AI in almost every game has gotten measurably worse over the years.

I forgot that sliding around the map as a pale bald guy in afganistan was incredibly realistic. Like, you can literally bypass Hitman 2 & Contracts AI by just holding run and tapping W. The whole thing of AI getting worse with Hitman specifically is a retarded argument because back in the day the AI would ignore you holding a shotgun in your suit if you pulled out the detonator in Blood Money, not to mention you could get shot at in the suit and still recieve SA. The new games have incredibly sophisticated AI compared to the old ones - targets can tell guards to investigate sounds for them, guards investigate weapons and disable bombs planted by you, NPCs report and give suspicious items to guards, targets run to lockdown points when alerted, they can spread information about your identity to other NPCs, NPCs react to items being messed with an will try to fix them, etc. There are places where the AI is made more accessible and I think that's a bad thing that it simplified elements like blood and suspicious items but to say the AI has only ever taken steps back because you saw an out of context clip of a kill everyone challenge is ridiculous. Like in the newest games there's so much interaction between the player and the world, in the new games you can mix and match items and NPC routines to create reactions. You couldn't hold a screwdriver without a plumber disguise in the old games but you also couldn't use that item to puncture oil drums, short out machinery or create electrical hazards in the old games. It was literally just a knife with different animations. The old games a mission was considered pretty good if it had a max of three ways to kill a guy, keep in mind

 

[AwesomeButton]

This post was too accurate, Infinitron give him a developer tag!

 

[kangaxx]

On sale for 30 quid on Steam this weekend. Worth? Honestly my hype for this has died on its arse anyway, so I'm thinking I'll wait on.

 

[forumvisitor#451]

On sale for 30 quid on Steam this weekend. Worth? Honestly my hype for this has died on its arse anyway, so I'm thinking I'll wait on.

I would still wait a bit longer once its all content (aka GOTY, Deluxe or whatever) and then hit buy. I mean, its singleplayer game, not like you would be missing out on some MP momentum.

 

[Terra]

We're already at 40% off after just over a month on Steam, I'd keep waiting, smart money is on the price continuing to drop sharply.

 

[random_name]

Ah yes, the game where you can knock out someone unconscious by throwing spaghetti sauce at them. The perfect game for streamers to giggle at. Miss the originals, even the dumbed down Blood Money was better that these.

 

[kangaxx]

My thinking too. Cheers.

 

[ferratilis]

I got this in a sale recently and decided to play through the entire trilogy in Hitman 3's engine. It's great for the most part, minus the botched lighting in older levels, especially noticeable in Hitman 1's levels due to how bright they were originally. Still, I'll take it over having three separate installs on the SSD. As for Hitman 3, most levels are more thematic than before. You have the best scripted sequence in the trilogy in Dartmoor (you can solve a murder mystery in an old English mansion, Sherlock Holmes style), huge rave party sandbox in Berlin (there are no mission stories so you have to make your own), sprawling vineyards of Mendoza, the nvidia RTX advertisement of neon lights, wet roads and shiny bald head of Chongqing, and the remaining levels are not that special to be honest. Hitman 3 is definitely the weakest in the trilogy. If you want to buy it, wait for at least 50% discount and buy it to save space and have everything in one package. But it does tie the story nicely, and the story itself isn't half bad when you put everything together. Although the tone of story presented in the cutscenes clashes with the tone of missions, but maybe that's for the better, otherwise the missions would be boring.

My top 5 levels in the entire trilogy:
5. Dartmoor
4. Haven Island
3. Hokkaido
2. Mumbai
1. Sapienza


Worst 5 levels:
5. Dubai
4. Marrakesh
3. Santa Fortuna
2. Carpathian Mountains
1. Colorado

 

[maydaymemer]

Ah yes, the game where you can knock out someone unconscious by throwing spaghetti sauce at them. The perfect game for streamers to giggle at. Miss the originals, even the dumbed down Blood Money was better that these.

Codex users when they cant have sex because streamers like it

I got this in a sale recently and decided to play through the entire trilogy in Hitman 3's engine. It's great for the most part, minus the botched lighting in older levels, especially noticeable in Hitman 1's levels due to how bright they were originally. Still, I'll take it over having three separate installs on the SSD. As for Hitman 3, most levels are more thematic than before. You have the best scripted sequence in the trilogy in Dartmoor (you can solve a murder mystery in an old English mansion, Sherlock Holmes style), huge rave party sandbox in Berlin (there are no mission stories so you have to make your own), sprawling vineyards of Mendoza, the nvidia RTX advertisement of neon lights, wet roads and shiny bald head of Chongqing, and the remaining levels are not that special to be honest. Hitman 3 is definitely the weakest in the trilogy. If you want to buy it, wait for at least 50% discount and buy it to save space and have everything in one package. But it does tie the story nicely, and the story itself isn't half bad when you put everything together. Although the tone of story presented in the cutscenes clashes with the tone of missions, but maybe that's for the better, otherwise the missions would be boring.

My top 5 levels in the entire trilogy:
5. Dartmoor
4. Haven Island
3. Hokkaido
2. Mumbai
1. Sapienza


Worst 5 levels:
5. Dubai
4. Marrakesh
3. Santa Fortuna
2. Carpathian Mountains
1. Colorado

Great list, I think I would agree with this, tho my top three would be Berlin, Miami and Sapienza those are all great picks for top and bottom. Maybe you can answer this for me but why is Dubai so boring? I was thinking about this while playing the Dubai elusive. The map is small but it's not like I dislike small maps inherently, New York is a series of corridors that takes like five seconds to beat but that level has so much more character, gameplay potential and a sense of realness to it. I don't even think I dislike it it's just weirdly lacking despite being such a great concept. I think what does it is the fact it feels so purposeless. I think that's the point of the setting, it's a new money cashsink built for the sake of building it but because there's nothing really in it in terms of hotel rooms to visit, office working spaces to infiltrate or even really any guard quarters for them to chill out. It's the most lifeless map of the trilogy that isn't intended to be timeless. I dont know if it's salvagable with any additional missions or updates

 

[ferratilis]

Ah yes, the game where you can knock out someone unconscious by throwing spaghetti sauce at them. The perfect game for streamers to giggle at. Miss the originals, even the dumbed down Blood Money was better that these.

Codex users when they cant have sex because streamers like it

I got this in a sale recently and decided to play through the entire trilogy in Hitman 3's engine. It's great for the most part, minus the botched lighting in older levels, especially noticeable in Hitman 1's levels due to how bright they were originally. Still, I'll take it over having three separate installs on the SSD. As for Hitman 3, most levels are more thematic than before. You have the best scripted sequence in the trilogy in Dartmoor (you can solve a murder mystery in an old English mansion, Sherlock Holmes style), huge rave party sandbox in Berlin (there are no mission stories so you have to make your own), sprawling vineyards of Mendoza, the nvidia RTX advertisement of neon lights, wet roads and shiny bald head of Chongqing, and the remaining levels are not that special to be honest. Hitman 3 is definitely the weakest in the trilogy. If you want to buy it, wait for at least 50% discount and buy it to save space and have everything in one package. But it does tie the story nicely, and the story itself isn't half bad when you put everything together. Although the tone of story presented in the cutscenes clashes with the tone of missions, but maybe that's for the better, otherwise the missions would be boring.

My top 5 levels in the entire trilogy:
5. Dartmoor
4. Haven Island
3. Hokkaido
2. Mumbai
1. Sapienza


Worst 5 levels:
5. Dubai
4. Marrakesh
3. Santa Fortuna
2. Carpathian Mountains
1. Colorado

Great list, I think I would agree with this, tho my top three would be Berlin, Miami and Sapienza those are all great picks for top and bottom. Maybe you can answer this for me but why is Dubai so boring? I was thinking about this while playing the Dubai elusive. The map is small but it's not like I dislike small maps inherently, New York is a series of corridors that takes like five seconds to beat but that level has so much more character, gameplay potential and a sense of realness to it. I don't even think I dislike it it's just weirdly lacking despite being such a great concept. I think what does it is the fact it feels so purposeless. I think that's the point of the setting, it's a new money cashsink built for the sake of building it but because there's nothing really in it in terms of hotel rooms to visit, office working spaces to infiltrate or even really any guard quarters for them to chill out. It's the most lifeless map of the trilogy that isn't intended to be timeless. I dont know if it's salvagable with any additional missions or updates

I don't like Dubai because verticality is pretty much the only thing it has, there's nothing memorable about the level except for the intro sequence. Generally, I don't like levels that are too simple, underutilized, or feel disjointed. For example, Marrakesh seems like such a great level, but doesn't utilize its best part - the market. Most of the action takes place in school, the embassy, and the club, which feel like three maps that are far too separate from its location, thematically. Compare that to Sapienza and Mumbai where you always feel like you're playing on one huge, interconnected, map. Santa Fortuna has the same problem, the three targets are in such wildly different parts of the map that it feels like someone smushed three separate levels into one without much thought. It removes a lot of what makes the murder sandbox so interesting. Colorado would be so much better if everything wasn't so hostile, it feels out of place. Another bad one if Chongqing, because of how jarring the transition from Chinese town to underground facility feels. Then there is Bangkok, an amazing locale, but it feels underutilized here, at least compared to other levels.

But overall, the good levels more than make up for the mediocre ones, so in the end it provides for a great experience. Hokkaido, Miami, Sapienza, Paris, Whittleton Creek, New York, Berlin, Dartmoor, Mumbai, Mendoza, Haven Island - there's definitely more good than bad here.

 

[Alphons]

Marrakesh seems like such a great level, but doesn't utilize its best part - the market

That's why the bonus Marrakesh mission was so great.

Shame they decided to make paid escalations instead of bonus missions.

 

[Kainan]

It always floors me the levels of self-delusion Hitman boomers employ to justify their preference for janky, outdated pieces of shit. Like that somehow the AI gunning you down for holding the run button was a brilliant feature and incredibly intelligent

It created very movielike tension. And lets not forget the music.

 

[Kainan]

So i played some H2:SA (2002) today and yes, it has the most balanced mechanics, the most perfectly tuned running, walking and sneaking. H3:Contracts while still good, disrupted this balance by making sneaking slightly faster than walking. Blood Money completely wrecked the formula but had other great things going for it. These new Hitmans however look uninspired and dont interest me.

 

[maydaymemer]

It always floors me the levels of self-delusion Hitman boomers employ to justify their preference for janky, outdated pieces of shit. Like that somehow the AI gunning you down for holding the run button was a brilliant feature and incredibly intelligent

It created very movielike tension. And lets not forget the music.

If you turn your back on the AI it can't recognize you, which notably means in for example tubeway torpedo you're kissing the walls and won't get caught while guys walk past you. I don't know what movies you watch but I don't remember Bond turning his head to a wall and all the Russian soldiers ignoring him. It's also just a silly point because praising a game for being movielike just means it's usually a shit game. If your best praise of old Hitman is the same praise given to Last of Us and Heavy Rain then that's not praise at all

I don't like Dubai because verticality is pretty much the only thing it has, there's nothing memorable about the level except for the intro sequence. Generally, I don't like levels that are too simple, underutilized, or feel disjointed. For example, Marrakesh seems like such a great level, but doesn't utilize its best part - the market. Most of the action takes place in school, the embassy, and the club, which feel like three maps that are far too separate from its location, thematically. Compare that to Sapienza and Mumbai where you always feel like you're playing on one huge, interconnected, map. Santa Fortuna has the same problem, the three targets are in such wildly different parts of the map that it feels like someone smushed three separate levels into one without much thought. It removes a lot of what makes the murder sandbox so interesting. Colorado would be so much better if everything wasn't so hostile, it feels out of place. Another bad one if Chongqing, because of how jarring the transition from Chinese town to underground facility feels. Then there is Bangkok, an amazing locale, but it feels underutilized here, at least compared to other levels.

But overall, the good levels more than make up for the mediocre ones, so in the end it provides for a great experience. Hokkaido, Miami, Sapienza, Paris, Whittleton Creek, New York, Berlin, Dartmoor, Mumbai, Mendoza, Haven Island - there's definitely more good than bad here.

Oh definitely, i'd saw about sixteen of the 20 to 22 levels are good and that's a great ratio for a game developed in three seperate pieces over five years. It's also a better ratio than Silent Assassin had with a similar amount of levels

Marrakesh seems like such a great level, but doesn't utilize its best part - the market

That's why the bonus Marrakesh mission was so great.

Shame they decided to make paid escalations instead of bonus missions.

I blame IO realizing they could get money off of whales with the DLC packs the second game had. When 2016 was out they only made post-game DLC to fund Hitman 2 and even then it was an entire bonus campaign. I know it was divisive when it came out but in hindsight while it could've gave more for its price it was very experimental and replayable. Then IO realized they don't have to put in effort, which they felt they had to last time, so with Hitman 2 while the DLC maps were excellent the special assignments where unceremoniously shat out at the release of the main levels for no reason. The sniper maps were good in a vaccuum but I haven't revisited them much at all. Now we've got DLC that's got zero replayability and lasts 20 minutes. Sloth, Lust and Envy were good but none of them are even the best by escalation standards. The best escalations in the previous games were the GOTY escalations, the New York and Maldives escalations, that Whittleton escalation where you steal shit, the Miami escalation with the shotgun, some other ones I can't name or remember because of the naming scheme and the Lee Hong Derivation. All were either free or came with other levels. The only people buying these escalations at full price and thanking IO for the letting them shit in their mouths are whales

 

[Kainan]

Its a myth about turning away from guards in Tubeway Torpedo. It's just the formula is so potent people do it unintentionally bc of nerve wrecking tension, so they think it does something.

 

[maydaymemer]

Its a myth about turning away from guards in Tubeway Torpedo. It's just the formula is so potent people do it unintentionally bc of nerve wrecking tension, so they think it does something.

nah the ai is just busted. it can be outsmarted by tapping w

 

[Kainan]

The ai is busted, like in 100% of games. So whats your point? Its still a better game. And how about dont tap w like a retard.

 

[forumvisitor#451]

I can understand how nuHitmans would fall apart once you put away amazing graphics, tech, production, writing, comedy and all the options to kill. It's not a stealth game as a Thief for example or older Hitman games, rather its sort of hybrid between puzzle game and CYOA with sometimes too straight lines which lead to too samey outcomes. It's a weird approach because there is almost no simulation per se so almost the whole experience has to be hand crafted and accounted for. But, if you put away this and start to go your own way or even challenge yourself it can be pretty fun experience. Better than previous ones? Different but probably better overall. Better music? No but the progressively changing music suits the game, looping H2 Exploration would kill the vibe.

 

[maydaymemer]

The ai is busted, like in 100% of games. So whats your point? Its still a better game. And how about dont tap w like a retard.

Good in what sense? AI is a big part of the Hitman experience - it's a stealth sandbox game focused on simulating social spaces. 2016 onward's AI is very advanced and that makes it better than H2SA on that alone. Is it level design? Well H2SA has some pretty poor levels like Hidden Valley and At the Gates. Combat? I don't like the NuHitman combat but even that I would take over 2002 stealth game combat

 

[Kainan]

Tbh I haven't played NuHitmans. Yes the old Japanese missions have to be put up with but whatever. However H2SA has excellent combat, almost as tense as stealth is.

 

[maydaymemer]

Tbh I haven't played NuHitmans. Yes the old Japanese missions have to be put up with but whatever. However H2SA has excellent combat, almost as tense as stealth is.

lol

 

[Kainan]

LoL video games aren't rocket science. I saw some videos, saw that it sucked and that was it.