Elusive Target #35: LeCHIFFRE (Returns: 25 August - 14 September 2025)

Hitman: World of Assassination
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Played and enjoyed it. Very good, clearly a lot of work went into this. As a Bond fan, I really appreciated all the nods to Casino Royale. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Le Chriffe’s tell is a red herring, and that Diana is wrong.

I did encounter a funny, well, not bug exactly: I spent a lot of time on my first run just exploring the basement and first floor. I finally went to talk to Mr Smith. He started explaining how I can get his invite. Then half way through him talking he suddenly stopped, and walked out the room. The time limit for the poker game must have hit and he had to go to it. Quite funny when it happened, it’s like he got bored of 47.

I find it funny people are saying Smith is actually competent in this mission. But since his target is Murillo, and we kill Murillo later in his own Elusive Target, doesn’t that mean Smith and the CIA fail to get him? Although considering the nature of this ET, I guess it is up to speculation if it is even canonical.

Easter egg I found, not sure if anyone has mentioned yet. After Smith rescues 47 from the basement, in the basement you can find one of Murillo’s guards talking to a member of staff. They have a conversation, and the staff member panics when he hears about Le Chiffre, saying something like “oh god, doesn’t he eat people?” The guard says he must be getting him confused with someone else. Nice little Hannibal reference.

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So, I just completed the mission twice (first was for fooling around, second was SA). The way they redesigned Paris was cool. The poker tables, the new uniforms they gave some of the staff, the area where you reunite with Smith…you can tell they put a lot of effort into this makeover and it shines. It’s a wonderful homage to James Bond.

I went for the basic mission story Diana spoon feeds you just to play it safe. However, Diana has once again proved herself to suck at reading tells lmao. This is the Maelstrom all over again. Our guy’s gotta learn to not trust his handler when it comes to this kind of thing. Even I could see that Le Chiffre’s “tell” was not genuine. And then when it was revealed 47 was poisoned?…Is this man not the easiest dude to poison ever? What is this, the third time? At least it wasn’t neurotoxin.

I will say though, it made me burst out laughing when 47 ran out of the room and said, “I need to use the bathroom,” all the while I’m running into people, vaulting through windows and running in circles in a blind panic. I nearly had to pause the game when Diana’s distorted deep voice cut in and said, “you need to pick up the pace, 47!” as 47 was sprinting across the parking lot, a guard blocked him, and then said, “sir, you can’t go here.” I then had to quickly maneuver around the guard and practically fly to the cure. Talk about anxiety! But FFS man it legit felt like Le Chiffre had given him bubble guts. it looked like my 47 was struggling to find a toilet I WAS LOSING MY MIND :weary_face: fucking hell

Overall, great mission. Have yet to explore everything but the inclusion of Agent Smith and all the little details in this one are awesome. Excited to come back to it.

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Let the timer run out next time for even more fun !

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174

This was a pretty good ET… I think the truncating of the movie plot down to the size of a hitman mission was really well executed, and I found all the references fairly cute while not being super distracting.

I’m still not a big of a fan of the overly scripted mission stories these latest ETs have had, but I think this mission probably has the best one by far. Here’s hoping that this sparks IOI into answering my many many emails about a casino map for the next game :clinking_beer_mugs:

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175

Not putting the antithing on the map is such a troll.

:eyes: :sport_utility_vehicle: "FUUUUUUUUU

Oh. It’s not exactly like it is in the movie. :face_with_bags_under_eyes:

:joy:

Agent Smith be like; “Yep… You’re gunna need an invite… You, uh… know what to do, 47.” :smirking_face:

“You could’ve just handed it to me. Why did you have to make it be creepy!?” :grimacing: :confounded_face: (as he stuffs the unconscious but smiling Smith into a crate)

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Loved getting into a gunfight with Murillo!

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Another funny Bond reference: When threatening the croupier, he asks 47 if he has a licence to kill. And 47 answers something like: “I don’t need one, I just need a reason.” Loved it!

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178

Oh I loved that line! Honestly it was more threatening than anything else he said to the dealer.

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179

Could I ask for some good and some bad highlights?
doing some feedback to the team, would love to get some constructive feedback going. :slight_smile:

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This request is not to the development team itself, but to the translation team. In the Russian translation of Le Chiffre, some descriptions are not translated and one item is not translated.

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here are the screenshots

20 characters

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Good:

  • Loved the subtle (and not so subtle) nods to Bond everywhere
  • Really great changes with the casino and the former styling area
  • Finally that one guy on the patio isn’t an enforcer anymore
  • Great kill methods for Le Chiffre
  • The poisoning was a nice twist

Not so good:

  • So many possibilities/opportunities and story lines to explore, seems a waste for an ET (would love to play this one a bit more. Of course can do this with Peacock…).
  • The invisible timer: Le Chiffre escapes after about 25 minutes. Didn’t give me enough time to explore the whole level.
  • Agent Smith was a nice touch, but it was very unspecific where to find this second target. Had to look around for way too long.
  • The games didn’t feel natural (roulette and poker). And it was annoying that after one round of poker everyone just stood up and walked away. Would have loved to play a few more hands. Although I get this isn’t a poker game, it’s Hitman after all…

That’s just some stuff off the top of my head. I’m sure I will add some more things later.

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The good:

  • In-depth ET with a fun storyline and innovative game mechanics.
  • The painstaking re-imagination of the Paris map makes it feel substantially fresh and new.
  • Mads Mikkelsen - ultimate Danish synergy achieved :slight_smile:
  • Agent Smith interactions are fantastic and hilarious.
  • The poisoning twist is great.

The bad:

  • It’s an ET. This deserves to be a special assignment if you purchase the DLC.
  • A couple more scripted ways to kill Le Chiffre would have improved the variety and replayability, but this is a minor niggle.
  • Players are generally conditioned to treat timeouts as fatal - I bet a lot of people straight-up restarted when this triggered because they expected they’d fail the ET. a voice line from Diana like “It’s not fatal, but you need to be quick” would probably have helped this land.
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185

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 :wink: 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.

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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.

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188

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. :frowning:
  • 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.

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189

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.

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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.

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@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.

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192

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

AMEN!!!

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