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Tuesday 25 September, 2018
I played a lot more Hitman today, experimenting with various ways to complete the first episode. The game does a fantastic job of providing the player with a plethora of options for completing each mission without feeling overly guided and still allowing for improvisation. It also does a phenomenal job of fostering replayability by unlocking more gadgets, spawn points, etc. the player can bring with them at the start of the level as the player completes more challenges. Even with opportunities turned off, which I would recommend, the game does a fantastic job making an observant player aware of the various possibilities while still leaving the player to figure out how to complete said possibility.
Playing the game for the purposes of this class made me aware of something that I had never thought of before when playing a Hitman game that I wish had been included here. Hitman games, this one being no exception as far as I’ve gotten, always seem to feel the need to make sure the player knows what a terrible human being their target is via a pregame briefing and events throughout the mission. I think it would be much more interesting, however, if the game presented you with a target who was neutral or benevolent, forcing the player into a moral dilemma while they’re forced to take out someone they don’t want to because it is part of a hitman’s job. I think this would be a lot more interesting from a story and gameplay perspective than having a bunch of targets you don’t even think twice about taking out.
At least with previous Hitman games, such as Hitman: Blood Money, there was a really dirty and uncomfortable atmosphere to that game. You saw some terrible things in that game that really motivated you to take out early targets. When you get to your first target, you tell him you are there to kill him, as per the request of your client, and he begs for mercy. It creates an interesting, temporary moral dilemma before you remember all the awful things this person has done and you have witnessed being done on their accord, and you complete the job. This new game feels clean by comparison. There are nefarious deeds you can overhear, but likely in part thanks to its setting in a public venue, you never witness anything too upsetting, removing some of that personal drive to complete the contract on the player’s end, even though they control an apathetic hitman that doesn’t care either way.
The closest this game gets to something like this is when a character panics and asks you to stop or mentions they have a family while you’re chocking them out. This does a good job creating a temporary moment of guilt, at least until players that chose to do so remember that they only knocked that person unconscious and they’ll wake up fine and all guilt goes away pretty quick. That said, the game’s emphasis on a nonlethal approach for non-targets is appreciated. Aside from making sense for a true master assassin to want to leave as little of a footprint as possible and only taking out targets, it also adds an appreciated gameplay benefit. Taking characters out nonlethally takes longer, and thus is more difficult, but such difficulty is rewarded with a higher score. It adds an interesting dilemma for players choosing whether they want to take a lethal or nonlethal route. It is also a pretty interesting example of a game about unethical characters and deeds still having a hard-coded morality system.
All things considered, I had a fantastic time with the new Hitman game and look forward to completing it in my free time. While it may be missing some of the grungy atmosphere from the series’ best offering, Hitman: Blood Money, it marks a triumphant return to the series sandbox level design that made the series’ best the best in a manner that may even trump all previous entries in the series. While the game still seems to be focusing primarily on gameplay over story, likely a response to the series’ last offering, Hitman: Absolution, which was the odd child of the series, I still have hope something will happen with the narrative given some interesting setup in the opening hours. At the very least, I’m sure combing through each level trying to complete all the various challenges will remain engaging throughout, even if it does miss out on the potential for some interesting moral dilemmas. I think I may still prefer Blood Money thus far for its atmosphere and character moments, but this is definitely a fantastic entry into the franchise with some truly exemplary gameplay
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