Hitman: Hitting Men

I’d be hilariously bad at that. Let’s do it.

Presumably you're playing on separate instances, and don't cross over?

That seems like it could be great, but doesn't it just descend into 'throw the explosive at the target and run off'?

There is a tactical advantage, sometimes, in just doing things the messy way too kick off the timer on the other player, but you don't get a point if the kill is witnessed, or if the body is found within something like 10 seconds.

It's only available in Miami yet, presumably to give people the best chance to get acquainted, and it's also officially in beta; on at least one occasion, I've had a target just not spawn.

The idea that there are, what, five other levels of this stuff before I even make it to the second game is honestly mindboggling.

This is kind of how I feel every time I load the game, I've been playing it for several weeks now and I've only played three of the levels (and even having achieved/nearly achieved Mastery of those, I've done less than half of the challenges on each, and none of the escalations or contracts).

There's been a lot of talk recently about gameplay loops, the "thirty seconds of fun" that a lot of games aspire to, but Hitman might be the only game I've played that has a ten-to-fifteen hour gameplay loop. You start by exploring a level, just trying to get a handle on what's where and working out the beginnings of an opportunity; then there's a period where you're starting to get a feel for the layout and maybe you can get close to the targets but not really pull anything off; then there's the period of confidence where you've worked out some of the mission stories and are starting to work through the more unlikely challenges; then finally you're the master of all you survey, totally familiar with all the routines and able to pull off assassinations without even changing out of your suit. Then you start a new level and the whole thing begins again. Every level feels like a whole new game.

If you're going for challenges, remember that you don't technically have to finish the mission - you can do one thing, reload a save, and do something else. So, in Paris, you can
Spoiler - click to showget rid of Sato, then set up the meeting with Decker; save while that's going on, then blow up the gas lamp (2 challenges); reload, let the meeting play out, then follow Victor to the ledge and push him in the river (1 challenge); then reload again, head back to the fashion show, wait for Victor to take the stage, then shoot him in the head (1 challenge, or 2 if you don't have Straight Shot yet).

That's true, though you only get the XP for the challenges you've completed when you actually finish the level.

What happens if you get a challenge then quit completely and start the level from a different starting point? Does it save the completed challenge rewards for the next time you finish the level, or is that then effectively lost?

You get credit and XP immediately, you just don't get the tick on the ending screen until you finish the level, but as long as you've done it once, you can't lose credit.

Colombia is a great map, a bit easier to get your head around because it's pretty flat and each of the main targets has their own area that they mostly stick to. I managed to do a couple of the mission stories and got all three targets on my first run through. Though breaking into that compound looks… challenging…

The mansion, or the fields?

Spoiler - click to showThe fields seem harder, to me; I haven't been able to find an unguarded approach yet. There's a broken wall off to the right of the main gate of the mansion you can reach by climbing a vine, so getting in isn't that hard, you just have to be really careful of patrols once you're in.

The mansion.

Spoiler - click to showI got into the mansion as the tattoo artist but I don't fancy my chances on a less scripted assault. For the fields, I went in through the caves behind the pharmacy, it wasn't unguarded but it wasn't too hard to take out the two guards there. Then there's a little bit of sneaking through the caves and you're through. The actual fields seem pretty straightforward though, there's so much foliage around that you're pretty much in cover the entire time.

Yeah I really like Santa Fortuna as a map. It's more open to different approaches than some of the others I've played, and stringing together a Silent Assassin run (beating Ninchilla's time ) was really fun.

All the maps have been excellent but of the four main ones I've played I'd probably rate them Paris > Santa Fortuna > Miami > Sapienza. Sapienza is very cleverly designed but compared to the others it feels overly scripted - you're always trying to trigger different scripted events rather than really tackling it as a freeform challenge. It'll be interesting to see how the bonus missions mix it up on that one.

SASO on Santa Fortuna:

Spoiler - click to showNo idea at all! I did Silent Assassin via the tattoo artist (plus a detour to the basement to erase the security footage), hand-delivered letter and hippy souvenir; and I could do a Suit Only run fairly easily in a violent kind of way, but SASO is beyond me at the moment. The only ways I know to get Rico out of his compound are either via the festival (which requires the drummer outfit) or the submarine (which requires the engineer outfit) and I can't see myself being able to sneak through the compound in my civvies so is there something I am missing?

I'm working on it, but it's going very slowly.

I've not been chasing high scores, but if you want a challenge, Gar…

Noooooo

I was just amazed to see something other than the usual #2 of 2 message when I finished the level!

I was just thinking, we've not done any Society challenges in a while, but Contracts mode offers intriguing possibilities…

That's a really good idea. I've barely touched that mode but it's pretty much designed for exactly what you describe.

New patch and holiday event tomorrow:

https://www.ioi.dk/hitman-2-game-update-2-12/

Lots of bug fixes in there and good to see two fixes for things that have definitely been bothering me: the abrupt ending of the Miami race when you load a save, and sporadic crashing on the PS4.

I managed my first SASO tonight – on The Final Test. I feel simultaneously very accomplished and terrified to attempt it on the more complex levels. I've still only finished Paris twice, once on the tutorial and once very messily with zero stars.

It took me a while to even remember how to SASO Paris, never mind how long I must have spent on it the first time round.

Sapienza, oddly, I found much more straightforward this time round.

Still haven't even attempted it on Marrakesh, Bangkok, Colorado, or Hokkaido; or Santa Fortuna in Hitman 2 (though I have some ideas for that one).

I need to finish unlocking some of the gear, though; having the keycard scrambler, in particular, makes a few of the levels a lot easier.

I'm having a bit of an issue with the first game. The two training missions were just the right size to learn and master, and I had a lot of fun going through the various challenges. But as soon as I loaded Paris I got completely overwhelmed, and I'm not sure how I'll ever really know the level.

It just feels like so much work, rather than fun, to go through those first five or six plays where you don't know what's happening. (I'm aware this stems from me being shit, not the game being shit.)

Take your time, turn on the Mission Story UI if you like, and explore the level. Switch disguises as and where you can, learn where you can go, and just tail the targets for a while.

I spent an hour or more in Paris wandering around, swapping disguises to get into all the areas just to get the labels on the map. Found some story mission stuff and discovered a few potentially-useful items, but still get hopelessly lost and struggle to see how to take the targets out without making a huge mess.

Paris is the densest of the four maps I've played and perhaps initially the most confusing - there are a lot of rooms that look kind of similar and it's easy to get lost. Stick to one floor if you can until you get the hang of the layout and use the light of the sunset to orient yourself. The two targets stick to their own areas - Novikov patrols the ground floor on a loop and Margolis commands the top floor - so you can simply observe what they do until an opportunity presents itself.

Following the Mission Stories (which I think were called Opportunities in Hitman 1) is usually a good way to get an idea of possibilities. For instance if you bear left once entering the mansion you will overhear two people talking about Helmut Kruger - if you listen to them you can start to follow the mission story which leads you through a few different steps and ultimately gets you access to the top floor of the mansion. (There are other ways of getting up there, but this is probably most people's first experience).

There are various levels of UI for the Mission Stories. "Full" gives you exact icons to follow (go here, do this) which is useful if you're completely confused or can't work out where to go. I tend to prefer "Minimal" which tells you what you need to do but not exactly where or how. Or you can just turn them off and blunder about until something happens. You can switch at any time.

I find looking through the Challenges (especially the Assassinations section) can give some clues as to what's possible. Once you know there's an opportunity to murder someone by dropping a chandelier on their head, you'll be looking out for it…

Also, turn on subtitles. It makes a massive difference.

Margolis is actually pretty straightforward, providing you can get to the auction; Novikov is harder, but you can get him silently in a couple of ways, especially if you're not shooting for Suit Only.

Spoiler - click to showYou can disguise yourself as a waiter and mix him a bare-knuckle boxer with extra poison; you can disguise yourself as a CICADA bodyguard and set up the meeting with Decker; if you can take out his bodyguard, you can call in a Code 17 and he'll run to a room in lockdown, where you could conveniently hide yourself or an explosive, or crying down the chandelier on his head. That last one works on both targets, in fact, and it's possible (though not exactly easy) to do Suit Only.

EDIT: I second what Gar said about subtitles. Some of the NPC conversations are bloody difficult to hear, but incredibly useful.

For instance if you bear left once entering the mansion you will overhear two people talking about Helmut Kruger - if you listen to them you can start to follow the mission story which leads you through a few different steps and ultimately gets you access to the top floor of the mansion. (There are other ways of getting up there, but this is probably most people's first experience).

I don't remember if that was my first experience, but my preferred option (because it doesn't involve a disguise) is
Spoiler - click to showto grab the invite that some careless soul left in the toilets near the bar/terrace. You can take a gun past the first set of guards, then out the back door, around to the left, and up the drainpipe to the auction balcony.

The subtitles are especially useful because they tend to highlight important stuff and not general background chatter. Several times I've picked up a mission story that was just on the edge of earshot and would have missed had it not flashed up as subtitles. Playing with headphones really shows up the detail in the soundscape too.

I did the 5-stage escalation on Paris last night which was a really interesting challenge. Then did Colombia on Master difficulty, which I'm pleased with (they move items around - I didn't realise that!). Ready to move on to the next map, but I might take a look at the holiday event once the patch is out and the servers are back up. Why oh why does this game have an always-online requirement when it's overwhelmingly a single-player game?

No idea.

I've done Hawke's Bay on Master, but haven't even attempted any of the others yet.

use the light of the sunset to orient yourself.

Goddamn boy scout.

There's also a North marker on the minimap, but to each his own.

Well Holiday Hoarders is going to take some time to figure out.

Oh, it's Paris again? Is it the same one?

Yeah I think it’s the same one, but it’s only available for three weeks. I want that Santa suit.

Yeah, I never managed to get it in Hitman. Some of the challenges are just cruelly difficult.

Mumbai is pretty overwhelming. I've wandered round for ages and haven't seen a sniff of a mission story yet. I haven't yet managed anything more graceful than shooting two of the targets in the head and running away.

I'm impressed by how different each of the levels are, though.

Spoiler - click to showParis is all about finding the right object for the right situation. Sapienza is about stringing together scripted events. Miami is more about tweaking and manipulating the targets' pre-existing routines. Santa Fortuna revolves around disguises. And Mumbai is… well I don't know what Mumbai is about so far, but it looks focused on people rather than situations and items.

(Sorry to use this as my own personal blog for the first game)

Okay I've mastered the ground floor of Paris. I've made that floor my bitch. The upstairs not to much. The upstairs scares me. It really is incredible how you go from scared newbie to master assassin; you can actually appreciate your own skill and knowledge advancing as time passes.

The catwalk was genius, too. This is the funniest game I've played in a long while, and it's all intentional to boot.

MPH - might be worth pointing out (before you go too far) that if you have the first game, you can download the demo/prologue of Hitman 2 and unlock the Legacy Pack for that without actually having to pay money for the second game; essentially playing the first game's levels in the second, with the various improvements that offers. It also means that if you decide to buy the Hitman 2 levels at some point in the future, all your unlocks etc will be in one game. Not essential though obviously.

Just to clarify (Google is a bit unclear!)…

I have the first game but not the second. The legacy pack means I can download (what is essentially) the menus and bones of the second game, without any of the second game's levels, for free… and then play the first game's levels within the second game? Without paying any more?

If that's true that sounds cracking. But it's a bugger to work out from the official wording!

You can get the Hitman 2 Prologue (the training levels) for free, yes. You can download the Legacy Pack through Hitman 2016, then the season 1 stuff should show up in Hitman 2.

That's exactly it. You'll need to redo what you've already done though, the progress doesn't carry over. So it might be worth doing it now before you go too far. Then when Hitman 2 is under a tenner in…. oooh, about three weeks' time… you can get all the other levels and have it all in one game.

Cool, thanks for the heads up! I'll decide tonight whether I can be fecked drowning what I can only assume was a friendly actor in the training level for a second time.

You don't have to replay the training levels; there's no mastery/unlockable gear, so unless you particularly want the trophies/challenge XP, you can skip it just fine.

Lots of useful info occurring here, thanks. :D

Right - I've done a Contract. It's on Paris, so I think most people should have access, and be getting towards fully familiar with the location. You can find it by searching for the ID, which is 2-02-1927349-14 (trips right off the tongue…).

Oh, or you can search for contracts by friends (if I'm on your list), and it'll show up there.

I just found one by Gar, and managed to beat his score by a massive 7 points, so I got the Top Of The Class trophy!

Presumably that's the one I made on the Training Facility for the express purpose of getting that trophy!

I'll set up a proper one for you shortly. Got a good idea for one on Santa Fortuna, just need to find the time to put it together.

Wait, we're getting free trophies now? I want free trophies!

There's a trophy for getting the high score on a contract; the easiest way to do that is to be the first to finish it; the easiest way to do that is to make it, play it once, and enjoy the ding.

I think you need to play it twice. It’s a trophy for beating the high score, not setting it.

Oh, maybe. Just play it really shit the first time, then.

I decided that I struggled enough with Holiday Hoarders last year, so I cheated this year and used a guide for "Santa's Little Helper"; I'm now 3/4 towards the Santa 47 suit.

Then, once I have it, I'm going to make a Santa Fortuna contract.

How about making one on the Training Facility or Final Test? Then Mart and Mr Party Hat can join in, using the PS4 free prologue version.