Elusive Target #31: LeCHIFFRE (Returns: August 25 - September 14)

[Axwage]

The Good:
Great celebrity get; effective and successful cross-branding promotional content.

Paris redesign is beautiful. We like map redesigns.

Side characters and targets from other missions that expand the lore.

Agent Smith showing up to the poker game in his boxers. He’s American.

Some great lines in this mission, e.g. “Didn’t recognize you with your clothes on,” “FCKRULES47,” “I don’t need a license, I just need a reason” etc.

Multiple ways to approach the kill (of course). You can do the drawn out story mission, or just make your way up to the top floor and drop a chandelier on him. Lots of content that can be missed.

Choosing to let the map be un-enforced once poisoned was a smart balancing choice.

All the martini-related dialogue was very astute. People have been debating the “shaken not stirred” concept since the beginning. Yes, martinis should be stirred. You don’t want a chunky drink with lil bits of ice sloshing around. You’re a grown up and you’re not drinking a slushy. On the other hand, YES, it is posited that Bond chooses his martinis shaken so that the alcohol is diluted and he can be more sober while on the job. Or is it just because he’s actually a working-class boy trying to fit in with the elites, and he doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing? Anyway, very solid writing from the team that shows they’re aware of the “shaken not stirred” lore.

The Bad:
Minor quibble but the antidote is in a weird location. Diana says it’s in the “stash point in the parking lot” so I assumed it was in the Logistics Trailer agency pickup… nope lol.

The 47-poisoned-timer-running-out mechanic is a bold choice. If I hadn’t known already that it lead to more gameplay, I would have quit and restarted. I’m not betting my ET on a new mechanic I’m unfamiliar with! I don’t know how else you could telegraph that “this will not fail your mission” but I wish there had been a way to do so.

No lethal poison on the level, despite multiple poison opportunities (would have been good to have for new players, as you might not think to bring poison in until a second playthrough).

Not much you can do with manipulating Murillo and his guards. If you KO and hide them all, then eventually win the poker game, Le Chiffre is brought to the attic storeroom as usual, but then just starts escaping since there’s no one there to murder him.

The Banker Pack items are lame. B-tier gun, fiberwire reskin, and coin reskin. Not to mention the grammatical and stylistic errors and inconsistencies The suit is nice though.

The Ugly:
Target escaping! I hate when they do this. The tension gets really high and there are basically no ways to still kill him SA (unless you plan ahead for this contingency). Even if you do manage to kill him while escaping, you’re likely to get into a shootout. Also, for new players who don’t know that they can restart, escaping targets surely lead to high failure rates.

Wish there was some time of Le Chiffre actually in the helicopter where you can see it flying off, in-game, so you could still shoot it or have a bomb planted in it or something. I understand the limitations as to why this wasn’t possible, but you did it for The Disruptor so I assumed at first you’d do it again here.

[Heisenberg]

Only have one negative take: the loss of 47’s suit and items if he is captured. He should be able to reclaim them after Smith sets him free, instead of opting to take Smith’s outfit. They could have been put away in the security section of the basement area, and reclaiming the starting outfit especially, without putting on any other disguise of any sort, should still count as Suit Only, as it was not a voluntary change.

[LandirtHome]

Good highlights

• The casino floor. The revamp of Paris.
• The games.
• Pretty much all possibilities around the invitations and game are taken into account.
• Classic Hitman opportunities still present (croupier/favour a player at the table opportunity, eye drop, drinks, chandelier…)
• It’s a great “routine” target (compared to “loop” target)
• The work.
• 99% of it.
• The Black Tuxedo

Meh highlights

• The mandatory threatening/bribe of the dealer. The dialogue is out of character for 47. And as a player it takes away both my agency and my fantasy of being able do it by myself. 47 is supposed to be capable.
  (it would also have made the mission completable only by legal wit, a first which I would have loved to see)
  • make it harder, have it be a test for the player, make it rewardable, but above all make it possible; maybe have Diana say that she’s intrigued but trustful of 47.
• The croupier “follow me” opportunity could use some more work.
  • First it’s too hidden compared to what the rest of the level presents (I think I’m the first one talking about it).
  • Second, there is a further hidden curated behaviour if you go to the side room (Le Chiffre leans to the table, under a chandelier linked to a winch) but the window of opportunity is less than two seconds and with too much guards, it’s unworkable.
  • It feels inconsistent. Which is a shame, because you have new dialogues.
• The trespassing zone of the new Lounge area (where you meet Smith) are not consistent with the physical barrier (ie you are trespassing while still in the lounge if you are a meter away from them)
• Trespassing areas, especially their partial removal when poisoned, are a bit janky in general.
• No dialogue to claim our gains. It would have been neat to butter the landing of the end of the mission.
• The Banker pistol from the pack has an inconsistent thumbnail compared to the rest of the inventory (weird angle). It looks like a moded-in off-brand addition.

Bad highlights

• The mandatory security feed at the start. Maybe have it not play in other entry point. (like I think the news crew has a new dialogue, but it’s impossible to hear it because of it)
• Diana mandatory talk. I get it. But having to wait for her to end to be able to call/raise/fold is a chore. Have her, but make the player able to act independently.
• The antidote is tracked only through the story mission waypoint. Many here, me included, have story mission guidance off. Turning it off is many people recommendation to new players. So for us, we were blind.
  • The game has blue marker on the map for items objective, it could have been one, with an [OPTIONAL] bracket.
  • The issue might be caused by the elusive target package, since it is an objective: objectives never appears in instinct nor the map in ETs. The splitter made them visible as an exception. Maybe it should have been the case here too.
• The soft lock and T pose on the edge of the NPC behaviours. Namely if Le Chiffre dies in the basement while we are prisoner. And Murillo T-poses if he goes into panic.
• The Banker Pack suit (this model is cheap looking in its fabric and too large for 47, I hate it in my “formal” category)

Consistency is the name of the game.
Again 99% of the mission does it. Beautifully.
But when it breaks, it breaks hard.

---

[Yacob]

@Axwage

Or is it just because he’s actually a working-class boy trying to fit in with the elites, and he doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing?

It’s neither. It’s bc he’s an expense account snob who wants it his way, but more importantly wants those around him to know that he wants it his way.

[lukefsje]

The good:

• Reworking Paris to make it a casino is great
• I love that even though the mission story guides you, there are many ways it can play out so there is still some variety (how you get the invitation, whether or not you get the antidote)
• I enjoy all the references packed into the mission, both to Casino Royale and the Hitman series. I appreciate that it’s still enjoyable as a mission itself even if you haven’t watched the Bond film.

The bad:

I don’t really care for the ET Arcade format that these Celebrity ETs have had. There is so much detail in the missions, but most players aren’t able to fully enjoy or appreciate it due to their restrictive nature. I would much prefer it if buying the DLC packs for them unlocked a Special Assignment version of the mission instead. Playing the mission with no restrictions, being able to save, being able to change difficulty, having access to the mission offline, and completing challenges which highlight the different kill opportunities are all advantages of the Special Assignment format over the ET Arcade.

[Yacob]

@Combatglue
Good:
The level was great. As others have said it’s beautiful and fun and having Smith save us for once was fantastic (please don’t over use this, maybe the next 6 times now he shows up it’s gotta be standard Smith who we save, then you can do it again).

The bad:
Le Chiffre escapes by helicopter but there is no cutscene nor does the chopper fly away in game. This robs the player of the option to place a bomb on the helicopter. It’s odd to me how some hitman levels work this way (Silvio in his plane) and some do not (Knox and Le Chiffre in their helicopters). It should always be an option to bomb the getaway vehicle.

[Rimland]

@Yacob

some do not (Knox and Le Chiffre in their helicopters).

And Ingram and Stuyvesant, who don´t even use the bloody helicopter!!! (fun fact: it was sort of possible to do on the Disruptor)

@Yacob

It should always be an option to bomb the getaway vehicle.

AMEN!!!

[Joseph]

I am sure there will be constructive feedback at ET. For me, personally, it is only one point.
Le Chiffre is ET.
With ETs that are as complex as Le Chiffre or The Splitter, it will be better to make them “Special Assignments,” like in Hitman 2, possibly with proper challenges.
I understand it will be more work around, but it seems like wasted potential if such complex stories end like ET/Arcade ET.

PS. If part of the DLC are tools for killing, it will be good to make them special also in contract mode. For example: The Banker Rope is in contract mode, counted only as Fiber Wire.

[Danger_dog_guy_7]

Question:

In the briefing we see Le Chiffre applying eyedrops. Is it possible to poison these anywhere like you can in Miami for Robert Knox?

[Axwage]

Yes. Dalia’s office.

[Tom-Kannaduki]

Good points

・The “abundance of branching” within the mission story. (three side characters with invitations and how to obtain them, successful detoxification after inoculation, failure, escape by oneself, rescue escape)
・Sub-characters involved in the mission (Murillo, Smith, Langan, Tim).
・The variety of assassination methods (eye drops, fall down, falling objects, indirect killings, etc.)

Bad points

・The notes menu does not show Diana’s description of the mission story.
when you close the menu, you can’t hear her voice anymore.
・The change in the target’s behavior after knocking out the three people holding the invitations(If you stun all 3 people with invitations without getting them, they will not play the poker game after you pick them up).
・The point that the lethal poison drug is no longer available due to Dalia’s disappearance.
・When the target was in a state of running and fleeing, even if you hit or strangle him to quiet him down, you can’t stun him and he will just run away…
・When the target escapes, for some reason, the background music at the time of clearing the game is played.
(It would be better to play the BGM when the campaign fails in Freelancer)
・This is a complaint about DLC items, but many of them are not translated.

Personally I like this mission very much.
I would even like to play the contract mode with this mission if I could.

[MelonMan]

If you get Smith’s invite by knocking him out/stowing him, he will not reappear to rescue you in the basement. In this scenario, the mission story directs you to reclaim your suit from the basement locker room; I have not yet tested to see if it always reappears there, regardless of whether Smith has been stowed or not, but I suspect it might. (EDIT: It does, whichever suit you brought with)

[MelonMan]

It shows if you have full mission story guidance turned on. Partial guidance won’t show you the blips on the map for antidote or suit retrieval in that mission story.

[LocoGamingRocker]

@Combatglue

I completely agree with everything @Olipro said.

I especially agree with “The Bad: Number 1” about the Special Assigments. I personally believe all the paid CelebrET Targets should be available in both ETA and Special Assignments.

I love what you guys are doing with the CelebrET targets. Keep up the good work!

Edit:

I ALSO agree with @Joseph about his point about Special Assignments, which he said something similar, and what he said about the items in Contracts mode.

[Yacob]

I saw someone mention a dealer follow me opportunity… I can’t make out how to make it work. Can someone help me?

[Yacob]

Also if you don’t play the poker game but instead eliminate LeChiffre before the game takes place the two other players will hang out upstairs but Smith takes off down stairs. Anyone know where he goes? I tried to follow but it was level 2 so I got spotted trespassing and insta-failed.

[Pagan]

Kidnapping Le Chiffre! Hitman WoA (Suit Only)

old boi here!

[UrsamRableckBearmon]

I wish the poker game was, you know, a full poker experience and not just an scripted set.

Would have been cool to have a full poker game in Hitman for the Arcade version of the ET, with some fair challenges 'cause why not.

[LandirtHome]

@Heisenberg here is the location of the suit if you get poisoned. No traces of the item inventory though.
And this is when Smith is up, running, and rescues you. It’s present in all possibilities.

---

@Yacob Here is the “follow me” opportunity.
It’s a rather standard prompt to talk for a “I have something important to tell you in private” opportunity.
Just beware: the timing before the target decides to leave is (too) quick. So if the pathfinding ever takes a bit of time, he won’t even go to the side rooms before. And frequently leaves after a second or two.
The interesting part is that Le Chiffre acknowledge the side rooms and leans on the table. A chandelier linked to a winch is above him in all of them

• On the balcony one, the guards don’t seem to have any set positions, and organically keep (too) close. Chandelier even has collateral. So the opportunity is a bit wasted.

• But!
  On the office one, the guards do have set positions.
  So the chandelier is much more feasible here. No collateral.

• He also recognise Dalia private room.
  But not only do guards have no set positions, he leans on the window in a way that doesn’t give any elimination opportunity.
  (you also need to remove the enforcer beforehand)

@Combatglue adding to the feedback.

• Sincere kudos on the opportunity, the new dialogue, and the leaning over the table.
• Further kudos on the office curated positions.
• A bit of a kudo for recognising all side rooms.
• But a loss for not doing curated position in the other room. Especially as its the room a croupier is isolated, certainly the one you took the disguise from, and so the one you think for first to isolate the target. Same in Dalia private room.
• Timing is too tight, and frequently cancel the opportunity while it’s still taking shape.

Consistency, and here uneven consistency is felt.

[Fleur]

@Combatglue

It was simply the best ET you’ve done. I like these more substantial ETs over many smaller ones. Quality over quantity.

Good:

• One of the best targets because: Mads Mikkelsen, the character of Le Chiffre from one of the best Bond movies. Simply great.
• The ambitious redesign of Paris
• The number of options was great, from dialogues, to the three invite holders, the games, the mission story. It felt almost like a new level
• The dialogue with references to past Hitman and 007. Many chuckles here!
• Mr. Smith role reversal was brilliant! Good to see him on top for once.
• Paris(!) Still the best Hitman level, and weirdly underrated amongst fan (likely due of overexposure)

Bad:

• I think the team covered a lot of the scenarios that players will inevitably get themselves in, like KO’ing Smith etc., but they could have gone further with this and really filled in all the options.
• I don’t mind the timer on Le Chiffre’s escape, but I second other people here that a kill option on the chopper would have been cool.
• I wish Le Chiffre would have ended up in the basement again, and we could do a kill like the prisoner in Marrakech or with the rope somehow.

@lukefsje

I would much prefer it if buying the DLC packs for them unlocked a Special Assignment version of the mission instead.

And also, more incentive to actually buy the DLC. It would be a win win for IO and fans. To get to have the full mission experience with saves etc. will be worth more to people. I second this!