Analysing the Mission Objectives of WoA

Hitman General
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We don’t have word if H3 will have any bonus missions but the main series is now done. So I want to look back on the missions we got and how the mission objectives were structured across the trilogy and how they changed

Hitman 2016

Freeform Training

This mission was our first introduction to the WoA so they kept it simple. It’s objective was

  • Eliminate 1 target

The Final Test

This again was just testing our new skills so it’s objective was just

  • Eliminate 1 target

The Showstopper

Now our first ‘true’ mission in the series so they doubled the challenged.

  • Eliminate 2 targets

World of Tomorrow

Again increasing the number of objectives we got

  • Eliminate 2 targets
  • Destroy the virus

A Gilded Cage

Now interesting we sort of reverted back here and went back to

  • Eliminate 2 targets

Club 27

Similarly the objectives didn’t change for this mission

  • Eliminate 2 targets

Freedom Fighters

This mission tried something really interesting. It not only added a mandatory exit for story reasons, they also just doubled the number of targets. The most ‘real’ targets we’d see in one level in the whole trilogy.

  • Eliminate 4 targets
  • Exit via the bunker

Situs Inversus

Capping off the first game in the trilogy once again returned to the classic format of

  • Eliminate 2 targets

Those are all the main missions in Hitman 2016. We got 16 targets and 1 other objective (not including the bunker exit). It is notable however that Soders in Situs Inversus was unique in the sense he was a completely static target.

Hitman 2

Nightcall

This was a soft tutorial for players to be introduced to the mechanics before the game began. Therefore it had objectives that revealed as the level went on

  • Infiltrate the house
  • Access the computer
  • Eliminate 1 target

The Finish Line

Once again the ‘default’ objective format

  • Eliminate 2 targets

Three-Headed Serpent

Increasing the challenge slightly by being the first of the main missions to have

  • Eliminate 3 targets

Chasing A Ghost

Another step up here where they introduced a brand-new mechanic, an unknown target. So we had

  • Identify The Maelstrom
  • Eliminate 3 Targets

Another Life

Less targets here but made up for it with a new type of objective

  • Collect 3 clues
  • Eliminate 2 targets

The Ark Society

Once again we’re back to 2 targets but we also have an ‘anti-target’ here (which isn’t an objective, as it’s simply to NOT do something but)

  • Eliminate 2 targets
  • Do not kill The Constant
  • [Optional] Extract The Constant

Golden Handshake

Now here is an interesting case. Two wildly different ways to complete the same objective, allowing for very different routes.

  • Eliminate 1 target
  • Rob the vault OR Pacify 2 NPCs

The Last Resort

A tried but true mission format

  • Eliminate 3 targets

That conclude Hitman 2. We got 17 targets and 3 truly substantive other objectives (Identity Maelstrom, Clues, NY Data). Interestingly this game seemed to variety the number of targets in each mission much more than the previous. A notable target here is Sierra Knox, who starts the mission driving her car.

Hitman III

On Top of the World

This game choose to ditch the soft tutorial mission idea and go straight into a ‘proper’ mission with only a small into section. It started the objectives out simple

  • Eliminate 2 targets

Death in the Family

A mission with objectives reminiscent to Golden Handshake in the sense of number of targets and the multiple ways to achieve the other objective

  • Eliminate 1 target
  • Retrieve the file

Apex Predator

A truly unique mission and perhaps the most daring IO have tried. The identifying objective can be skipped on subsequent playthroughs, but in the initial playthrough the objectives are

  • Identify ICA agents
  • Eliminate 5 targets

End of an Era

Nothing too unique in terms of objectives here

  • Eliminate 2 targets
  • Wipe the data

The Farewell

This had two story objectives just for story reasons that didn’t in themselves add much to gameplay

  • Rendezvous with Diana
  • Eliminate 2 targets
  • Dance with Diana

Untouchable

A rather simple objective for a rather simple level, driving us towards the end of the trilogy

  • Eliminate The Constant

So the trilogy is over and it definitely have more of focus on completing the story. Therefore it focused on smaller numbers of targets, who’s death had more meaning. It had 7 ‘true’ targets and 11 targets who perhaps don’t fit in that category (ICA agents and The Constant). It could be said there were only 2 substantial other objectives (Retrieving the file and identifying ICA agents). The notable targets of this game would be the ICA agents who use guard AI and The Constant who won’t react to 47.

At the end of day this is a Hitman game so you’ll always be killing people, but I do think the mission structures are as important as the story. Obviously there’s a mold that works and IO has been using it, however I do enjoy when they try something new and I would have enjoyed a mission I think without a target. Anyway, my stand out missions of the trilogy on objective merit alone would be

  • Freedom Fighters
  • Golden Handshake
  • Apex Predator

It should also be noted that IO used bonus missions, special assignments, escalations, and elusive targets to try out some different and unique objectives and mechanics that never made it into the main missions. For example

  • Diana describing targets - The Vector
  • Non-targets becoming targets via their actions - Patient Zero
  • Targets changing disguises - The Stowaway

Discuss what kind of missions you liked, what worked for you, and what you’d like to see in future missions if we get any

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A post so good you typed it twice… :laughing:

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Fml :joy: I wondered why it seemed so long when I scrolled down to the bottom

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Really feel like 2 targets is the sweet spot, or 1 target + 1 other interesting thing to do (New York/Dartmoor).

More targets isn’t a total dealbreaker of course but those missions feel a bit more onerous to replay.

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Just to add, I believe in Colorado they changed it so that you only have to access the basement the first time, then it just becomes an optional objective on other playthroughs. China, wiping the data core is only mandatory the first time, becomes optional on other playthroughs. And on Mendoza, you can skip the rendezvour with Diana, and the exit with tango dancing with Diana is only mandatory the first time, becomes an optional exit on other playthroughs. (I think, I havn’t replayed China or Mendoza yet to check.)

Not to mention Berlin is a little odd since if you do the first time story, you get an 11th ICA agent in the woods who is basically a free kill, but you have to identify the other 10 ICA agents by overhearing their conversations with the handler. Whereas on other playthroughs, the 11th ICA agent isn’t there, but the other 10 ICA agents have all been highlighted on the map for you.

I do find it interesting that no Hitman 3 has 3 targets, besides Berlin but then Berlin does the smart thing of being a more medium/large size map with all the targets nearby and lets the player pick and choose which to kill. I like Santa Fortuna and love Mumbai, but those missions could really take a while to do, even when you have full mastery and know where everyone is. Santa Fortuna the 3 targets are all really far away from each other, and Mumbai has the added complication of the Maelstrom’s identity. Seems like Hitman 3 doesn’t really have that problem where a mission can take too long in my opinion.

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I wouldn’t call A Gilded Cage’s having just two targets a reversion over Sapienza because to me it felt like a what they were going for was another variation on what you could do with two targets. Marrakesh was the second large scale city map after Sapienza and where Sapienza was huge, the targets (including the virus) were all reasonably close to one another and the rest of the map was there more for opportunities to get you closer to your targets (the detective, psychiatrist, laptop dongle). Marrakesh on the other hand seems like an experiment where the map itself is huge, and the two targets actually use that space to distance themselves.

This is a bit of an oblique comparison but what Situs Inversus did with Soders gave me hella flashbacks to a certain quest in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. The targets in Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood questline are more or less straightforward: There’s a couple gimmicks but largely it’s a matter of just going up and murdering someone with a sword/mace/bow etc. However one actually rewards you for using stealth and not interacting with your target at all: Replace the target’s medicine with poison instead, and while he’s still alive when you leave the room, you’ve ensured his demise. In Situs Inversus sure you can find any number of ways of directly ending him on the operating table, but you can also destroy the heart they’ve got on ice in the basement and leave without even seeing him outside the opening cutscene.

I know a lot of people knock Nightcall for being a second tutorial but I like really liked it a lot. The new gameplay mechanics are substantial enough I’m glad we got a level designed to act as a sort of tutorial/demonstration of things like mirrors and hiding in bushes. The one misgiving I have with it, and this is something that only just occurred to me as I type this, is that they could have demonstrated the new crowd blending mechanics too if they’d expanded the scale a bit. Maybe set it during a house party and give Niels Bye Nielsen an excuse to whip up another banging EDM track, and give us crowds to hide in. You could still have an infil/exfil route through a garden filled with armed guards, and maybe have Alma decide to turn in early so she brushes her teeth in front of a mirror while Orson showers. Bit of an aside but I was replaying GTAV a few months ago and the mansion where you assassinate the Azerbaijani “terrorist” while he’s throwing a house party gave me big Hawkes Bay vibes.

I’ll need a little more time to process Hitman 3’s levels but Chongqing almost gave me Bangkok vibes: Like Jordan Cross, both Hush and Royce reside deep in their respective towers, in a way it’s almost like you took the half of the Himmapan with Jordan Cross, mirrored it, then flipped the new half upside-down.

I’ve definitely got more thoughts on the levels but I’ve already written 500 words so I’ll leave it at this for now.

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Personally I would consider Soders a virus-like objective and not the target. As for a stationary target - we have that dick in Berlin above the dancefloor who won’t move on his own :laughing:

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