Got 'em. Had to retrieve the codewords, THEN go back and forth to make the phone calls (starting with the general, as he has further to walk) so that both got to the tunnel at roughly the same time. So much back and forth. But it's done, so whatever.
Just a couple of silly challenges to clean up, then I'll move onto House Built On Sand.
Nice straightforward SASO on House Built On Sand. Really like this mission, after being rather indifferent to A Gilded Cage. Netted me an unexpected achievement, too, which is nice.
I’d love to go for the Platinum equivalent and get all the achievements on this game, but I know I’ll never have the patience for the Sniper Challenge missions.
Ugh, a disappointing 2 stars on Mr. Giggles.
Spoiler - click to showEnded up just shooting him in the head, in full view of multiple witnesses, as I'd already picked up the guest list and couldn't restart the mission to equip a subtler set of gear.
Better luck next time, I suppose!
To be fair, Giggles deserved it.
Right behind you, Gar, I've just done everything on Gilded Cage. Sounds like fun.
Moved onto House Made Of Sand this morning before work, since I finished the last escalation in daytime Marrakesh. You're right, Gar, it's a better level purely by being so condensed. Already got a bunch of cogs whirring and done SASO, so now it's just about finishing off the challenges before moving onto… Bangkok, is it?
Yeah, Bangkok next. It's another one with the two targets in separate locations, unfortunately, but the place isn't nearly as sprawling as Marrakesh.
I like the Bangkok level a lot, although the targets are a bit unbalanced: one is extremely easy to get at, he's literally wandering around at the start of the level, while the other is very well fortified. But the mission stories are great and it's a convincing location.
I think Patient Zero kicks off there too, so that starts another thread of Stuff To Do.
Don't forget Season of Gluttony starts tomorrow, with an especially horrible suit. Don't think we've got a full roadmap yet though.
I still haven't managed any of the Lust escalations 😩
I haven't touched any of this, since they're all H3 levels. By the time I get there, Microsoft will be releasing the next Xbox.
It'll never happen, but I wish they'd sort out the licensing issues for the Sarajevo Six. They were all fairly straightforward, but it's More Hitman, and the last one had an interesting twist on the formula.
It's surprising, looking back, how much more post-release content H1 got compared to the other games. Loads more Elusive Targets, Patient Zero, the three Bonus Missions, a whole bunch of escalations that have never made it into the later games, the Sarajevo Six… just loads of it. I guess that's what Square Enix funding gets you.
Bring back Sean Bean. I think I'm competent enough to take him down now.
Have they fucked up the sniper detection again? My Series X save doesn't have the "both targets in 10 seconds" challenge marked off in Paris, and I couldn't get it last night across five or six attempts.
I know it's not the time (the on-screen timer backs me up); but the guards do seem to head in my direction immediately, even if it never goes from Searching to Hunted.
I haven't seen anyone on the Hitman forums complaining about this and they are usually very hot on regressions like that, so I'd say it's unlikely.
I got that exact challenge a couple of months ago (having always failed to get it on the PS4) so if they have fucked it up, it's been the very most recent patch. That was a minor collection of very specific bug fixes so again, unlikely I'd say.
On a slightly different note:
Storming ahead with Bangkok, it's a nice level with a lot of opportunities. Still not entirely sold on the lack of accents - there are plenty of Thai people with British or American accents, and it breaks the mood a little. Nowhere near as badly as Marrakesh, but still.
I'm getting better at spotting ways to do stuff and how to get targets, but Suit Only and SASO seems like a challenge here (already got SA and Sniper done). Will take a proper crack it tomorrow.
ELUSIVE TARGET KLAXON
Two header. Hmm.
Dartmoor again, excellent. The story mission was overly scripted but the level's turned out to be a fantastic playground for all sorts of other stuff.
BUT I DON'T KNOW IT, GAR.
Big house. You'll work it out.
A house?
A very big house?
In the country?
Is it regular Dartmoor, or sunny Dartmoor?
Well, balls.
Spoiler - click to showSpotted while replacing Burk's cigarettes.
Would have been flawless if only I'd been a little more patient… 
That was actually pretty straightforward - managed it on the third go, after a couple of abortive recon runs.
Spoiler - click to showStarting from the default location, snuck around the house to get the walking stick for secret room access, took out one of the guards with Burk and stole his clothes. Across to the lawyer's room, relieved one guard and walking stick'ed the other, stashed him in a box. Lethal Poisoned the bottle on the desk, then back out and down to the dining room. Managed to get a bead on Roe with the emetic dart gun, and drowned him in the toilet. Leisurely stroll to the exit.
And that's all challenges done in Paris. The 10-second-sniper one dropped first time tonight - I think that hitting Dahlia first helps, as her body doesn't get spotted as quick as Victor's?
I think the Escalation tracks are still causing it to show as 70-odd out of 90-something.
Speaking of, I've still got three Escalations to finish in Paris, two of which are bastard five-parters, so I'm not quite done with the place yet.
I think the Escalation tracks are still causing it to show as 70-odd out of 90-something.
Yeah, it's a pain - all the global tracker challenges are counted for each individual level, so escalations, The Classics, etc. keep the progress counter lower than it really should be.
You guys are too impatient with the Elusive. 
Not going to say how I did it just yet, want to be sure everyone's had a go first. Took me a few recon runs before I nailed it. I recorded a video clip, will post that eventually.
Spoiler - click to showSuffice to say, SASO and I didn't even enter the building. 
All done. I think that was my favourite Elusive so far, really enjoyed that. Took me a while to work out a route but it was fairly easy once I knew what I was doing.
Spoiler - click to showStarted as the security guard just by the kitchen and used the emetic pistol to take the staff uniform from the guy nearby. Picked up the wrench from the toilet. Jakob Ro wanders into the little unguarded corridor right there after a few minutes so I choked him out there, stole his cigarettes and stashed the body in the wardrobe. Then out the window, up to the balcony, sabotaged the gas lamp, swapped over the cigarettes and I was halfway to the exit by the time I heard the muffled boom.
Notable though that this strategy depended on having the emetic pistol and having unlocked the ladder shortcut to the balcony, so I'm keen to hear how Mart did it.
Okay, I'll share. :)
Spoiler - click to showOnly having done Dartmoor once for the last Elusive Target, I didn't really know what was going on apart from two things: how to get into the house unnoticed and where to get a House Staff outfit. So I did that, then spent about half an hour following the chef about to see what he did. There were a couple of places where he could be easily taken out on his own, but the thing I noticed was after his first serving of the taster dishes, he calls the other guy for a private chat. A private chat upstairs, surrounded by enforcers. In a corridor. Directly underneath a chandelier. By an open window. Facing the front of the house. HMMMMMM.
And so (video hidden so it's only a spoiler when you click it!): https://youtu.be/DYxMjdCo-9s
Spoiler - click to showTook several runs standing on the ledge outside the window watching the meeting, as well as the use of the on-screen mission timer to work out the period when the guys were meeting under the chandelier. Once I had that down, I just waited in the bushes until the right moment. Easy.
Bravo.
This is clearly my best work and I can retire.
Just got one challenge left to do in Bangkok (the one that requires you to create a contract) and then it's onto the Escalations. Will also tackle the first part of Patient Zero, since that'll mean I can then go back to Sapienza and do the second.
Liking The Source, it's a nicely condensed version of a level that was already pretty tight. Think I've got SASO worked out, though one of the accident kills didn't happen. Got a save spot, so will go back to investigate…
Certain accidents on that level are only possible if you hit the targets in a certain order, I think - I'm pretty sure taking out either target means the other won't go to the upstairs private demonstration bit, for example.
Certain accidents on that level are only possible if you hit the targets in a certain order, I think - I'm pretty sure taking out either target means the other won't go to the upstairs private demonstration bit, for example.
Yeah, I had one instance where I bumped off the man quietly so no-one noticed, but the woman went AWOL after seeing he was missing and tried to make a run for it. Interesting.
This one, though, I dunno. Having loosened the valve on the gas canister behind the screen, I managed to jab the lady while the man was wandering around the exhibition, sending her to the loo for a chunder. Drowned her and then made a run for it, expecting an explosion and… nothing? He just went back upstairs, from what I can tell based on using Instinct from down on the front dock. Weird. I'm going to need to go back and check what's happening, since I'm still on track for an SASO here and wouldn't want to lose that.
EDIT: Never mind, got it. Taking out the lady disrupted his pattern a touch but, thankfully, he kept going and died in the end. I did have to reload once just to subdue and move a couple of waiters out of the blast zone, but otherwise it all went like clockwork. Just a couple of challenges to do then, and I'll move onto the Bangkok escalations.
Bangkok - done.
First two missions of Patient Zero - done.
Going to give this a break until the weekend now, as the next Elusive Target will be up (Bangkok again) and then I can spend time getting to know Colorado.
KLAXON.
I really want to try and not kill him with poison… I mean, he's a food critic, it seems really obvious. Too obvious.
At least I know this level well, so that's something.
I kill a frankly ridiculous number of elusive targets with poison. Occasionally, I'll start one intending to go for a different approach, but I inevitably chicken out.
Well, that was certainly a contract.
Spoiler - click to showGiven the target is a foodie, I figured I'd start in the kitchen as a chef's assistant and then just head to where he is, which turns out is upstairs on the balcony directly above the kitchen. Stood around outside the trespassing zone for ages and just watched what he and the surrounding NPCs did. He doesn't really do much, except complain (there's a lot of dialogue) and occasionally pop to the kitchen. Thing is, his pattern isn't a perfect loop and it changes slightly on the second time round… after spotting that, seeing the route to SASO was easy.
And so…
https://twitter.com/martTM2/status/1439142843377934336
Patience is one thing I have an abundance of.
Where the hell even is this guy?
Where the hell even is this guy?
Spoiler - click to showHe's a food critic, where is he likely to be?
Check the whole area. It's not just one floor.
Done - even managed Silent Assassin (though not suit only). 3:39. And although it was a poison kill, I took a much more active approach than usual.
That was massively underwhelming, as Elusives go.
Spoiler - click to showHe sits in a tiny trespass zone with one access point and two guards for ten solid minutes, then walks (with his bodyguard) through a public area with multiple bystanders to another trespass zone with loads of witnesses, and then back to where he started for another ten minutes.
Spoiler - click to showI don't know how the hell you're supposed to do it without poison, but even with the most boring approach it took me 24 fucking minutes.
Having done this, I've looked to see how others have done it. Someone managed to
Spoiler - click to showdress as a guard, then use the game's silly wonky AI physics and a coin to lure him to the balcony, before pushing him over the side.
I hate kills like that, exploiting the game engine just for the sake of doing it quickly sucks.
That approach did, in fact, did occur to me; the only reason I used poison instead was because I thought the guards below might spot the push.
That approach did, in fact, did occur to me; the only reason I used poison instead was because I thought the guards below might spot the push.
Spoiler - click to showSeems there's one waiter who walks back and forth who'll see if he's in the spot opposite the balcony rather than under it. Otherwise, it's okay.
Spoiler - click to show Watching your video, the only thing you did differently was a) throw the coin rather than place it on the balcony edge, which is what gets him close enough to push him over, and b) use a coin to get his attention rather than walk into him to get him to stand up. That's the janky physics bit I mentioned earlier.
I want them to bring back Sean Bean. I always feared elusives because I was never good enough to do them. Now I know what I'm doing, I feel sad I missed out on him. I doubt it'll happen because licensing, but one can dream.
I hope that, one day, when support for Hitman 3 finally ends, they'll add all the Elusive Targets back into the game on a permanent basis. There's a lot of great content there and it would be a real shame if it was all permanently lost.
(I also hope their final patch makes the game fully playable offline, there's no real reason for it to need a permanent server connection other than IOI's own diagnostics but it would be a terrible shame if the entire trilogy was eventually rendered unplayable due to a server shutdown).
I hope that, one day, when support for Hitman 3 finally ends, they'll add all the Elusive Targets back into the game on a permanent basis. There's a lot of great content there and it would be a real shame if it was all permanently lost.
I'm not sure that'd work though, they'd no longer be elusive and the whole drive that makes them work would be gone. Having them on permanent rotation, kind of like how Animal Crossing events are back every year, maybe. That might have been what you were suggesting?
I think they'd be best if they were permanently available to start, but kept as one-time success/failure.