Doors: Code lock vs keycard vs camera hack

Hitman 3 (2021)
1

Interested in what you think of the new access control mechanics to various doors.

We used to have keycards and card reader doors everywhere. The advantage to me was

  • clear naming and color coding of cards and doors
  • you probably find a lab keycard close to a scientist
  • option to bring a scrambler
  • keycards highlighted in instinct

Code locked doors seem to have replaced most doors that would have been keycard doors in H1/2
I personally do not like this feature

  • entering the code is clumsy
  • no idea where the code may be noted
  • the code might be on a post it on a whiteboard, but then again there are tons of copy and paste whiteboards, so you have to zoom in on all desks and boards like an idiot
  • after some playthroughs, you will just know the codes by memory, so all that remains is the clumsy code entering mechanic

Camera overwrite doors

  • very cool new feature if used well
  • overwriting doors and panels seems a legal action which gives a lot of freedom
  • shines best when e.g. tinting windows in the ICA facility and hacking workstations

Imo standard doors should have stayed with keycards. The code doors are like the permanent shortcuts, it alters the game beyond a single playthrough once you memorize the codes.
The camera should be expanded but the handling could also be improved. I also wouldn’t have called it camera. Taking pictures is the smallest aspect of it.

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2

Yeah, I’m split on this one. On one hand I think it’s a cool idea, 47 using information he’s learnt through observing the area. And it’s a lot more realistic imo that’s there’s a balance of keys/keycards/combination locks

My only issues are

#1 - It impacts replay-ability. Like the shortcuts it’s cool the first time around as it makes you want to examine the environment for clues or listen to NPCs dialogue. But then on subsequent playthroughs you can just ignore all that and quickly blast through the level.

Hokkaido’s door mechanic is almost as fun now as the first time I played it. Because I still have to route and do interesting stuff to get disguises/keycards. Whereas I’ve already memorised most of the keycode numbers and now it’s just a chore inputting them everytime

#2 - It doesn’t really effect me but I’m not sure if speedrunners will like having to clumsily input the code each time seeing as it’s so easy to mess up and lose a few seconds

I generally liked the camera tho, thought it was a nice addition for gameplay but it’s not a phenomenal photo mode

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