I think it would be cool if the ETA contract that’s supposed to have one target from each of the three games was one that featured the serial killers from each game. From H1 would be the Angel of Death, of course, and from H2 would be the Serial Killer (the Censor), but which one to pick from H3?
The Procurers don’t count because they’re not even killing their victims, they’re just gross, and the one death attributed to one of them was a confirmed accident. The Iconoclast and Liability don’t count because one is an assassin and the other is just negligent.
That leaves us to pick between the Collector, the Heartbreaker, the Ascensionist, and the Rage (the Crusher), serial killers all. Well, maybe. The Rage was more about the fighting than the killing; that was more of an unfortunate consequence of the fights. We don’t know exactly how many people the Collector and the Ascensionist have killed before we encounter them, and since they might kill as the first or second part of their objective, their murders are more part of the means to the end, rather than the end. That leaves the Heartbreaker as one who’s definitely killed the right number of people to meet the definition of serial killer, and since his entire ritual inevitably leads to murder as the last action to achieve the end he wants, he’s the worst of the lot, I think.
If they go this route for that cross-game contract, I think the best lineup will be Angel of Death, Serial Killer, Heartbreaker. Since it would be 47 acting as a killer of serial killers, maybe they could jokingly call them the Dark Passengers in honor of Dexter or something (not likely, but fun).
There would be no reason for them to make a special mention of it if that was the case, because that’s already what has been happening: 3 contracts from all 3 games with ETs from only that game. There is no reason for them to bring it up as this particular thing if it wasn’t any different from that. They are emphasizing that it will be 1 from each of the 3 in 1 contract.
I see it differently. The reason to bring it up is that after the initial batch of contracts they didn’t release anything nor did they really say anything about it. This is nothing more than a reassurance the mode is not dead, it isn’t abandoned, and content will be coming quicker this time than the last.
It’s hard to know i’m seeing it like this now “This batch will also include an Arcade Contract (consisting of Elusive Targets) from each game in the trilogy” it kind of makes sense
It’s just open to interpretation I think. We’ll see in 20 days what they actually release and I’ll be happy to post right here that I was incorrect if that turns out to be the case.
"This batch will also include an Arcade Contract consisting of Elusive Targets from each game in the trilogy. "
Honestly it doesn’t look open to interpretation. The subject is clearly an Arcade Contract.
Now if I may jump right into speculative and over interpretating territory, this is much more open for it :
"changes that will also be arriving on March 3rd that will impact on the Arcade Contracts we have already released, including those arriving today. "
It might mean that the released batch, the six current contracts, are all from the backlog of the already made contract from before the change of direction was acted. This would explain some of the weaker complication/contract (I mean, “No Evidence” for The Genera…)
The hope (irrational hope, but hey we are on a fan forum, so I will be there from time to time), would be that a new direction in the curation of the contract will arrive, maybe first with just this one contract. With a more carefuly chosen complication, with the best ETs for it. Maybe as a try, for the metrics.
Nonetheless, I get your point @schatenjager, hope were high for the release of the mode, and we’ve seen how it went.
I will always try to err on the side of the least expectation possible.
Remember when they were discussing the release of Hitman 3 and the “6 maps with 20 mastery each”? How many posts on this very forum were there about how IOI outright lied to the fans because Carpathian Mountains turned out to be just 5 mastery levels. There are still players who will bring that up and attempt to remind IOI that they “owe” us a 20 mastery level map.
Now that wasn’t a misunderstanding. IOI actually said it and they didn’t deliver it when the final game came out. This may well be a slightly different situation where their statement isn’t as clear cut (to me anyway), but I still see a situation where misinterpretation could lead to disappointment. Instead of being glad that new content was released, it’ll be griping that promised content wasn’t delivered.
On the 24th, when this next batch of contracts is released, if they do release a single set that includes Elusive Targets across all 3 games, I promise to own up to my own wrong prediction. But, on the other hand, if the same type of contracts we’ve already seen gets released and instead they release 3 sets of 3, each compartmentalized to their own game, I expect that we’ll get a bunch of “they lied again” posts…
They won’t. There’s already data in the game for nine Arcade contracts that was added in January. Since there is no update between now and then on the roadmap, there’s no way that the data is going to change.
The nine Arcade Contract images were posted in the leak section back in January if you’re curious as to what the combinations are: https://www.hitmanforum.com/t/hitman-3-elusive-target-leaks/10074/263 (they are in random order, but the next Arcade Contracts are images 2, 4 and 5).
Not a popular sentiment but I’m finding the changes have made it more the arcade mode more boring. You can basically ignore the complications now which means I most likely just play them all the same way. I know I could do my own self imposed challenges but the elusives, especially the H1 ones, were never that interesting to begin with.
That was what I thought was great about the original three contracts. It felt like they had used the data from when the ETs were previously live to see what the majority of players did to kill the targets, then grouped them together by those that common complications that would force people to play them differently (ie the “Hide all Bodies” prevented the cheap disco ball kill on The Liability or just pushing The Angel of Death off the roof) and made certain actions have consequences (ie is that disguise the one I want to take and be trapped in for the rest of the mission).
You had to think everything through before you did anything which made for a much more fun and challenging experience, but sadly most people didn’t bother to think beyond the surface of the complications and has resulted in something that was actually unique and interesting being destroyed for the sake of being able to do a handful more things in the barebones ETs from H1/H2.
One thing that is painful obvious after playing through the Arcade is that Hitman 2 & 3 needed more ET’s made for their maps. For something that was originally hailed as “kill a unique target once,” I feel like I’m assassinating the same handful of people over and over.
The changes made ETA a little bit better. But it´s still far from perfect. I don´t want to play the same targets again and again (the complications don´t really matter).
I mean look at it:
The Codices - Jimmy Chen - Vincente Murillo - Miranda Jamison
The Genera - Vincente Murillo - Miranda Jamison - Barbara Keating
What´s next? I guess Miranda Jamison - other Hitman 2 ET - Vincente Murillo
I know there are not many Hitman 2 elusive targets. But this is just stupid.
Please, scrap this idea of “Elusive targets from each game every time”. It´s not neccesary. Just focus on Hitman 1 targets (there are the most fun for me, some of them I´ve never played before).
That’s because removing the escalating complications fucked everything up. Each Arcade Contract would’ve had different complications - so for example there would be things you could do in one Arcade Contract with The Appraiser that you couldn’t in another.
Now that they’re mostly gone (and the remaining ones barely affect anything) we’re just left with a game mode that is going to be filled with duplicates and the game mode is going to run out of combinations way faster than it would’ve originally since I would imagine that new ones that don’t already have their data in the game will likely not recycle targets again because there’s no need to anymore.
More reason I think we’ll see a trilogy Arcade Contract.
Since launch when they released the Hitman 1, 2, 3 contracts, I could tell that it would get old fast for Hitman 2 and 3, since you’d get very similar batches, but in slightly different orders.
At least mixing them all up would add a bit of variety in locations/routing/etc. I know Hitman 1 targets don’t have much to them, so mixing it up with other games’ quality improvements might make them feel less stale.
I don´t know. I don´t want to play Murillo or Jamison again anytime soon. Mixing them with Hitman 1 and 3 ET would not change much for me. It would be the same Murillo and Jamison as before. It would be the same thing over and over again, just in different order.
I think they should release the targets just once and call it a day. We don´t need 50 Arcade Contracts that are basically all the same. They shouldn´t create content just for the sake of it.
All ET Arcade Contracts will feature 3 targets per Arcade Contract.
Probably they wait for the release of the next H1 ETA. This way, we’ll get 15 H1 ET in total (3*5). Then, the three batches can be split in 5 ETA with 3 ET. Would be interesting.
About new ETA system and complications
We will avoid complications that are considered to be creatively restrictive or can result in instant failure, this includes the ‘Hide All Bodies’ complication.
With the new ETA system, The Fixer can be integrated into ETA (without complications like “no-Ko” obviously). A “single KO allowed” means that you must be careful, because you need that KO to recover the diamonds. It’s just to say that The Fixer can now fit with the new ETA system. Other ET like the Warlord would also be more accessible with the new ETA form.
About the small numbers of ET in H2
Indeed, we get only 6 ET in total in Hitman 2. But because of contract, the Undying won’t return, leaving only 5 ET in Hitman 2.
IMO, the reason ETA are kept separated between the different Hitman games is because the players have the choice of having H3 alone, H3+H1, H3+H2, or H1+2+3. This way, the ETA are still completely playable by every players.
A player that possesses only H3 can play at least one ETA per batch.
Another player who bought H3+H1 can play without restriction two ETA per batch.
If ETA with mixed ET are released, it’d “force” the players to buy everything (H1+2+3) if he wants to complete this specific ETA. Not a big deal, but it’s maybe something that IOI have considered.
Other fixes can be:
Release of “Undying” under another form (new name, average NPC replaces Sean Bean…)
Addition of Special Assignment missions in it (EOTS, IOG, AST, ABP). These missions act as ET in a way. TBH, it can be a small fix, but not the panacea.
Release of H2 ETA with a complication that makes you play differently.
Mixing H2 and H3 (5+7 = 12 in total). For H1, we get 25 in total (Gary Busey is unavailable because of contract), enough to create at least 8 different ETA (of three ET).
Apparently, for the final target of the Nebulae (The Chameleon), you don’t need to absolutely kill him through a non-explosion accident. You can kill him with other methods without failing the mission.
i’m seeing it like this now “This batch will also include an Arcade Contract (consisting of Elusive Targets) from each game in the trilogy” it kind of makes sense
. And I’m frequently off.