Hitman 2

I like the iterative approach, lots of work can be re-used and improved. I wonder if it will sell though.

I was actually thinking they'd release new content as "seasons" but they decided not to. I hope this game turns out as great as it looks.

The price-tag is not justified.

It is a good game, but not a full-price brand new game. Maybe in a year, when the price comes down 'like, maybe...60-65%...then it'll be worth it.

I think this video does a good job of explaining why it's well worth its price tag. 10/10.

Quote from blackdog

1 hour ago, blackdog said: What you mean that is not a new game, that it feels like an expansion?

No. Just over-priced for everything it offers. General VFM.

Quote from blackdog

6 hours ago, blackdog said: Everybody has a different perspective on "value". I have stopped buying at full price ages ago, I've done some preorders in the last couple years, but only because there were occasional major pre-sale deals (-40% on Mad Max and Batman Arkham Knight!)

The Hitman serie definitely goes way beyond what the average AAA offers, in terms of hours of playtime for a SP title… that for me has become actually a reason not to buy because I struggle to play standard length games.

I'm quite the fan of Hitman and still plan to play World of Assassination… after I finally play Absolution

Oh, don't get me wrong - I like the series, but always felt it was overpriced. The levels remind of playing chess, in that the game is very simple, but there are a lot of moves. Like Chess however, I can only move my piece in a very narrow set of directions.

So, the amount of money being asked for a game which is limited by level design feels forced to hide the fact the levels are very simple for the money. Lots of waiting for the NPC's to move into their pre-determined positions and animation sequences, laid out by the game designer.

I think it's odd level designing in that it could be argued the level designing is more about placing NPC's into a pre-built level, rather than line of sight geometry of say, an FPS. If you or anyone has any talks on the level designing for Hitman series, or even some design documents; I'd love to read them.

But yah, the levels feel like a forcing of the player, whereby they must sit and wait a lot of the time, just to make the level/session take longer than it would probably need to be.

A small point: why has DX12 been cut from this release? And the CPU demand seems way higher than 2016. Glacier engine revamp for consoles? Something under the hood has changed somewhere. Wouldn't mind finding out what and why.

Quote from blackdog

On 11/22/2018 at 9:12 PM, blackdog said: I see where you coming from @Mitch Mitchell… I would argue that’s what most stealth games do.

Mind you, there are speed runs, something popped recently on my Yt feed for this title already(!), I think IO is very good at providing a range of different options. What you suggest is diluting and padding, I’d counter saying is exploration and tension building. It wouldn’t feel rewarding to line up a shot if you didn’t have to wait a certain time. I remember the satisfaction in Blood Money after finding the attic in the swamp level when you can shoot the groom whilst they say “yes” on the altar ?

It’s the same principle as horror games, wouldn’t work without spacing and timing certain events. I agree that to the seasoned player, especially developers, the system are quite blatant… but isn’t it true for basically every game? Like when they give you an RPG in a shooter, you know a big fight is coming up.

I haven’t seen or read anything you look for, but you can try and see if Gamasutra has any Post Mortem or search the GDC channel. The closest thing I’ve seen on this is Mar Brown’s analysis of the previous Hitman

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GDC:

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1022840/M…esign-Tools-and

So, as far as I can tell, they do design levels in two parts geometrically with a main pass and then an interacting layer, like a cooker which can be turned on or off. The NPC's appear to be added as part of the level design with a lot of tweaking. So it is a little bit like designing a level using AI/NPC, so the focus of the game and the value is really on the strength of the level design.

But still - I guess my point is really about what you get for your money. A few levels (as vast as they are) does not justify the amount being asked. The reply value I will agree with completely, the levels do have replay value, just as 2Fort does...but the overall value is not high enough for the $'s.

It needs to come down in (probably) the new year sales, before it will reach max penetration.

Quote from blackdog

On 11/24/2018 at 11:59 PM, blackdog said: @Mitch Mitchell well what do you think of Splinter Cell or MGS? Hitman offered replayability from the first release, the others took 2-3 titles before that, then maybe even going back on the their offering…

Never played them, sorry