I've gone back on a fresh run, and am now slowly save scumming working my way through Haven Island. So far, I've managed to kill one target (the woman) in an undetected suit-only accident, and I think I've worked out a vector of approach for target #2 (sweaty codebro); however, I'm still completely at a loss for the guy in the mansion.
I found a few possible options for him but in the end I just popped him in the head and ran away, as indeed I did for the other two as well. My next run should be more considered, now I’ve got the lie of the land.
Vetrova's relatively easy to accident kill.
Spoiler - click to showSneak into Jason Portman's cabin while she's talking to him out on the balcony and turn on the tap in the bathroom; that'll distract the guy snoozing on the couch, so you can take him out and stuff him in the hamper. After Ljudmilla leaves, Jason comes out onto the balcony to have a phone call; you can take him out as he walks through the bathroom, too. After that, the guards will notify Vetrova that Portman's not in his cabin, and she'll come back; you have a couple minutes to shoot the water tank (next to Portman's computer) and switch on and damage the extension cable to make an electric trap. Then flee to your own cabin, lie on a sun lounger, and wait.
Bradley I think I can get with poison, as long as I'm careful on the approach, but Williams is a mystery; I've not really explored the mansion yet.
I spotted a couple of opportunities on my first go through:
Spoiler - click to showYou can poison his medicine, though I'm not sure when he takes it; or dress as a handyman and sabotage his jacuzzi
but the mansion was crawling with guards and I wasn't able to avoid them long enough to actually put either of those plans into action.
I think there's an underground section there as well, at least judging by the challenge list.
I've done one run through and killed off all targets on the basis of pretty obvious mission stories. It feels like quite a small level, and is really pulling me back to the game like the others did.
Finally complete. SASO, because I'm a fucking lunatic.
The official time is 50 minutes and change, but with reloads it's probably closer to three or four hours over three days. Still, a win's a win, and I got enough challenges unlocked to bump me straight to Mastery 10.
If anyone's interested in my Williams approach:
Spoiler - click to showUnder the mansion is a massive server farm (also, helpfully, the location of a security camera station); I was able to sneak in and slowly work my way around, taking out enough guards and server techs for relatively free movement. One of the distractions is tampering with servers; turns out if you disable all four, the whole place shuts down and it summons Williams (or all of them, maybe, of challenges are any indication?). In an ultimately-failed attempt, I noticed he comes down into the room via a particular set of (unobserved) stairs; hiding there, I dashed out with fiber wire as he reached the floor, dragged him to a cupboard, and bugged out.
EDIT: My angle on Williams didn't work; apparently for all the sweating and exercise, he doesn't hydrate very much. A bunch of distractions and bodies in bushes saw him quietly dispatched, though.
Spent the evening hopping around saves, just following mission stories and trying to get a few more challenges, and that's Mastery 20! Along the way, picked up The Classics, plus a couple of the more long-winded kills.
It's a really good little puzzle box for some of the challenges, but a lot of the bits feel isolated; except in specific circumstances, there's very little interaction between targets, and they stick to their own areas of the map, so each has to be approached basically independently. Each of them has clever possibilities, and the couple of interactions they do have are pretty great - it'd just be nice to have it all feel a little more cohesive.
From the official website: HITMAN 3 will be available in January 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC. Death Awaits.
Spoilers for Hitman 2 await, also, if anyone has yet to finish it.
Players of our previous HITMAN games will be pleased to know that it will be possible to ‘import’ locations that they own from the previous two HITMAN games into HITMAN 3, essentially putting all 20+ locations from the entire trilogy in one place.
[…] we’re pleased to say that HITMAN 2 players will have the option to carry over their hard-earned unlocks and progression into HITMAN 3.
Hitman 3 (and presumably, therefore, all the H1 & H2 levels you can import into it) is going to be PSVR compatible. Roll up for your fully immersive murder simulator, boys and girls.
It did say the entire trilogy. So yeah.
No interest here, only because I've not even scratched the surface of the other two.
God knows how it's going to run, my PS4 sounds like it's going to take off on some of the Hitman 2 levels as it is.
Still, good news for me that it's coming out on PS4 still, that makes my (likely) decision to get a Series X this year seem more sensible as it's really only Hitman 3 and carrying over my progress that was tying me to the PlayStation platform.
I know I'm getting a Series X. All the games I have on Xbox that I care about will work (so, Sea of Thieves and, er, um, well) and I have so much on my PS4 to play already, I don't need to upgrade. That State of Play last night just cemented my decision. God, that was terrible.
Phwoar.
I've read a brief description of the level, but haven't watched the video; I want to go in as unspoiled as I possibly can.
Hitman III is the only thing I know is coming up that I pretty much have to get day one.
Preorders are up, if anyone is interested in that sort of thing any more? Release date is January 20th, and preordering gets you the "Trinity Pack", a trio of monochromatic suit/gear sets (white, red, and black).
There's also the obligatory DELUXE EDITION, which has even more suits, soundtracks for all three games in the trilogy, "director's commentary" mission intros, and exclusive Escalation contracts.
The deluxe pack preorder has 10% off on PlayStation if you're a PS+ subscriber, which is… just me, at this point?
I have PS+ too.
I'm torn. I mean, I want it, obviously. But I've barely scratched the surface of the first two, so it might just be me wanting it for the sake of it? Hmm.
Not sure I'm ready to pay even the PS+-discounted £67.50 for this one, next-gen upgrade or no. I paid a total of £47 for both the previous games.
I want it. I want all the Hitmen.
I see that getting the PS4 version now nets you the PS5 version in the future, which answers my initial question - it at least means that I'll be able to play it on release even if I don't get a PS5 this Christmas (and won't left feeling like a mug for buying the last-gen version).
Have they clarified how progress unlocks carry over? I'm assuming that PS4 -> Xbox transfers will be impossible so I'm locked into the PlayStation ecosystem (I mean, they could do it if they wanted as all the information is going to be server-side, but they won't). And I'm assuming that physical copies of Hitman 2 will still let you transfer all the levels over (they got this working for Hitman 1) but again I don't think they've explicitly confirmed that.
Plotting out your Hitman 3 upgrade strategy is more complex than anything in the game itself.
I'm sure they said that challenge progress and unlocks will carry over from Hitman 1 & 2 into 3, and it'd be idiotic if they didn't go between generations to PS5. Saves might be a different matter, though.
I'm thinking more of how you export the levels from the first two games into the third. Ah well, they got it working last time around, I have faith in them this time.
It's speculation on my part, but they should have a way to track via IOI accounts what you've played/have access to, and just let you have access? Dunno, I've had everything digitally all along, so that'll presumably be the minimum-fuss version of whatever the system ends up being.
After much consideration… I've simply gone and bought the whole lot all over again on the Xbox. Can't see myself getting a PS5 any time soon and I can't see any way in which ownership or progress will work cross-platform so sod it, I'm starting again.
In my defence it's all on hefty discounts at the moment - £10.99 for Hitman 2, another six quid or so for the DLC levels and similar reductions for the Hitman 1 GOTY Legacy Pack. No regrets. Even if I only end up playing the stuff I never touched on PS4, there's more than enough here to justify the price. Also, it all looks glorious at 4K/60 on the Series X.
Now I have to decide whether to pre-order the standard or deluxe version of Hitman 3 - I'm not interested in the digital soundtracks, art book or commentaries at all, but extra suits are embarrassingly tempting and there's a mention of exclusive deluxe escalations? Not sure. What did you go for, Ninchilla? I do want all the Hitmen.
Don't worry I bought Cold Steel 4 twice to save myself two days of waiting, your reason is much more sensible.
Now I have to decide whether to pre-order the standard or deluxe version of Hitman 3 - I'm not interested in the digital soundtracks, art book or commentaries at all, but extra suits are embarrassingly tempting and there's a mention of exclusive deluxe escalations? Not sure. What did you go for, Ninchilla? I do want all the Hitmen.
I have to admit that I've not yet preordered it; I will be going for the Deluxe edition, though. I do like the soundtrack, but suits and escalations are of course the big draw.
In my defence it's all on hefty discounts at the moment - £10.99 for Hitman 2, another six quid or so for the DLC levels and similar reductions for the Hitman 1 GOTY Legacy Pack. No regrets. Even if I only end up playing the stuff I never touched on PS4, there's more than enough here to justify the price. Also, it all looks glorious at 4K/60 on the Series X.
Oh, re-he-HEARLY? Consider that bought today then.
Oh, re-he-HEARLY? Consider that bought today then.
You might already have realised this but the reduced price for the Legacy pack only seems to apply if you go through the in-game store. On the Xbox store itself it still seems to be showing up as full price. Not sure why that is, as the game just takes you to the store page anyway, but there you go.
What am I doing wrong? The only version of the legacy pack I see is €24, and that comes with Hitman 2 as part of the bundle. I already bought Hitman 2 for €13. So did I get the wrong thing?
EDIT: Fuck it, there's no way to get the Legacy AND all the levels in H2 cheap without buying H2 twice. Pffft. Oh well.
Ah, I probably got it wrong too then, I bought Hitman 2, then the expansion pass (in-game), then the legacy pack (in-game). Didn't need to buy the game twice, but maybe there was a cheaper way of doing it.
Just load up the game and see what it offers you in the in-game store. It's really odd if you just try and find it on the Xbox store, it doesn't show you the same items or the same prices.
I did use the in-game store though. I went to the Store tab on the main menu and everything. :(
All told then, that was just over €40. That's the price of a game. Not sure that's the bargain I thought it would be, tbh, considering those 'normal' prices are an embarrassment. Oh well, done now.
Didn't need to buy the game twice, but maybe there was a cheaper way of doing it.
If yours is the same as mine, I bet you did… you just didn't realise it. It's not obvious that the Legacy pack has H2 in it unless you scroll down and check the 'Included in bundle' section, or click the See Versions button, which then shows the different purchase options (where the Legacy pack shows H2 in its description).
The reduced price on Hitman 2 will thankfully (unfortunately?) last until I get paid again, so I may yet join you all in double-dipping on this one. Gonna be tough to replay the levels without all my fancy gear. 
Oh, I see what's happened, Mart.
I'm pretty sure the Legacy pack just includes the "free" version of Hitman 2 - i.e. the engine and the ICA facility training missions. Not the actual H2 levels themselves (which is what you'd describe as the full game). So you haven't bought the game twice. It just means that anyone who buys the Legacy pack as a standalone can actually play it (the H1 levels run in the H2 wrapper, then if you want you can buy the H2 levels later…)
Meanwhile the upgrade pass you mentioned is for owners of the original Hitman 1 to upgrade their content to the GOTY edition, which gives them Patient Zero and some other bits. So that's not relevant, and you've bought the right Legacy Pack.
You've bought what I bought. Which is, I think, the best way of getting everything all in one place right now. (I think I may have been able to save a couple of quid by buying "Hitman 2 Gold Edition" rather than "Hitman 2" plus "Hitman 2 Expansion Pass". But I was getting confused myself by that point).
This is actually really bloody complicated and they badly need a "Hitman Complete" bundle that just has everything in it, don't they?
Anyway I still think it's good value. That's two full games plus two excellent bits of DLC for €40. And the amount of content is frankly just embarrassing, you'll never reach the end of it.
The reduced price on Hitman 2 will thankfully (unfortunately?) last until I get paid again, so I may yet join you all in double-dipping on this one. Gonna be tough to replay the levels without all my fancy gear.
Oof, you’re not wrong. I hadn’t appreciated how many of my strategies relied on having lockpicks from the start of the level. I need to work out the quickest way to unlock those, and probably emetic poison too.
They're both related to Mission Story challenges - emetic poison is in A Gilded Cage (Marrakesh), the lockpick's in the ICA training facility.
Also, in a move that will shock absolutely no one - except how long it took to get around to it - I've pre-ordered the deluxe edition.
The lockpick seems easier to unlock with just level 2 mastery in Miami.
But oh god there is so much to do in this now. Even since I last played it there seem to have been a whole load of Escalations added. I assume the Elusive Targets have been and gone now though?
I assume so. They did reactivate them before, but I wouldn't expect that to happen again unless it's as a Legacy event in Hitman 3.
I've come back to the first game after dipping my toe last year. (Jesus this year has gone quickly.)
It's just perfect, isn't it? I can't think of a single thing that could have been done better – if you're going to build a Hitman game, this is Hitman perfected.
Having said that, I have a bit of a mental block when it comes to starting new levels. This isn't the game's fault at all, as it's incredibly accessible. But it just feels really intimidating knowing you'll have to learn an entire new level. As a result, I didn't even get past the second level last time (and I've only completed a third of the challenges on Paris).
I'm very excited for the next-gen version; the SSD should be a lifesaver for my "save/load every ten seconds" approach. And I can't wait to see what they do with the activity cards on PS5.
I'd say it is perfect at what it's trying to do for sure. And that level thing is why I imagine the release schedule worked in the first place, can definitely see it being intimidating in one go.
I always just resign myself to exploring the first time I come to a new location, and usually don't even attempt the hit. Just find some disguises, some tools, work out what areas are restricted, and how different bits connect up.
The thing that always gets me is how often I'll be playing a level for the umpteenth time, and find something that I had no idea was there.
(Jesus this year has gone quickly.)
I've thought a lot this year about a line from Jackson Cannery by Ben Folds Five: "the seconds pass slowly, the weeks go flying by."
Oh yeah it's the perfect episodic game. I imagine so many more people explored the challenges and alternate assassinations than would have done otherwise.
It is truly exceptional. The amount of detail, all the little events, the way things interact and the way in which you can disrupt things without the whole house of cards collapsing in a heap is really remarkable. I'm enjoying it as much now, going back to it, even having put god-knows-how-much time into it on the PS4, and while I can remember broad approaches for most of the levels, the sheer intricacy of everything means that it's all still quite a challenge. That's without getting into all the challenges and escalations I never touched before, the Patient Zero campaign, the new varieties of the Hitman 2 levels they seem to have added while I wasn't looking, or indeed the two Hitman 1 levels I've never even played.
The levels aren't all quite the same quality, but there are roughly equal numbers of exceptional levels in each game, and the two DLC levels are very good too. I'm sure Hitman 3 will broadly just be more of the same, and I am totally on board with that.
COKE CAN RAGE
Pretty sure that wasn't diet.
Apologies if I've misled anyone but turns out this isn't always 4K/60fps on Series X - a few areas, especially those with lots of vegetation, still cause the framerate to drop. It's most noticeable in the coca fields in Santa Fortuna, or the gardens and creek in Whittleton Creek. It's not a big dip (it's still well north of 30) but I guess there's a limit to how much the machine can brute-force without specific Series X enhancements.
That said, if it bothers you, you can always put it into high framerate mode, which I think outputs at 1440p and therefore still looks pretty good, and that never dips at all, ever.
I'm sure all this will be sorted out with whatever specific next-gen enhancements they roll into Hitman 3.
Laughing at the suggestion that anything in 1440p only looks 'pretty good'. What a world we live in.
Fair point, but relatively speaking, in this game the 4K mode does look quite a lot better. It's easy to switch backwards and forwards to compare. The framerate is consistent enough (and the graphical upgrade sufficiently large) to make the high quality mode the best way to play this, I think.
The next gen version will probably be 15fps with ray tracing, and we'll all be happy with that.
Interestingly, I've triggered rare achievements by completing every 'opportunity' on Paris and Sapienza. Not every challenge, not Mastery 20. Just all 6 or 7 kill opportunities.
On Paris, 99.1% of people haven't done that.
On Sapienza, 99.5% of people haven't.
How crazy is that? Almost no-one is scratching the surface.
Bear in mind that probably only 20% of people who downloaded the free demo/ICA training actually went on to buy the game, and probably only 20% of those bought the Hitman 1 Legacy pack. So that will be skewing the figures.
But yes, the series has always struggled with this: people play through each level once, think "yep, completed that one" and move on. It struggles valiantly to point you towards all the other things you need to do (and the Mission Stories are always front and centre), but there's only so much they can do I guess.
I don't think this is the legacy pack, this is just the base game, played in Hitman 1. I got it free with Gold a while back, never did the linking thing. And now I'm in too deep and don't want to lose my progress!
Also, as much as I enjoyed Paris, holy crap some of the assassinations on Sapienza. The wood chipper! The telescope sniper!
Ah, fair enough. I think Hitman 1 also had a free demo though, and of course there are all the people who got it free with Gold, loaded it once then never went back to it - so some of that will still apply.
Paris, Sapienza and Hokkaido are the standout locations in Hitman 1, though I don't think they've ever done a bad level. Some of the escalations are amazing, too - just when you think you know a level inside out, they can throw up the most unexpected surprises.