Heck no, I love running in and out of closets and bins. That’s when I really feel like a hitman.
3 Likes
You know, I’m not even gonna make an argument against that, because it was just so damn funny it actually made me laugh. 
1 Like
… and you can apply the same logic to any Freelancer scenario too if you really want to. Well said.
Not ones with conflicting objectives, which don’t let you avoid failing something.
Perfection comes in many forms pt. 2.
7 Likes
Well, that certainly didn’t qualify. A non-target civilian was killed and money deducted. Successful, yes, crafty even. But perfection? Nope.
As you admitted, perfection is subjective. For this showdown I decided what would be perfect is also inadvertently killing Zoe by telling the truth; that I wasn’t there to kill her. For me that irony makes it more perfect than not killing her. Who cares if I had to pay a mere 1k merces for that pleasure - I spent way more on the equipment I brought in.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone actually got the rank ‘Silent Assassin’ at the end of a mission, or is it even possible? The closest I’ve got is ‘ICA Stealth Assassin’.
‘Silent Assassin’ is basically disabled, but there are a few ‘playstyle ratings’ that often strongly correlate with Silent Assassin.
Following is subject to further research:
Traceless ICA Assassin: More strict than SA in some ways, as it seems to limit the number of excess bodies and doesn’t get rewarded if too many bodies are found (even if they are ‘accident’ bodies).
Stealth ICA Assassin: Seems to reward kills and KOs that are never found.
Clean ICA Assassin: Seems to be what most often occurs if bodies are found, but the kills/KOs were ‘clean’ (SA-friendly).
Shadow ICA Assassin: Seems to be given if bodies are found (in main game this often occurs if you get SA but have a body found). However there may be other factors.
Phantom ICA Assassin: Seems to reward forms of getting caught, then removing all traces, e.g. getting recorded then deleting evidence or getting spotted then killing the witness.
Skilful ICA Assassin: Seems more lenient towards getting spotted/recorded but keeping other SA requirements.
Professional ICA Assassin: Seems more lenient towards getting spotted and having bodies found but keeping other SA requirements.
Not enough is known about the exact requirements for these. I believe the game awards points for certain actions in game and detracts points for certain other actions, and which things you have the most points for determines the ultimate rating. And the game tracks a LOT of stuff, so it’s hard to pin down what matters.
Non-target kills tend to be the heaviest disqualifiers from getting any of these ratings.
Personally I think it’s better in theory than the SA system as it’s more dynamic and there are multiple ‘good’ ratings. Can’t know whether it’s better in execution without understanding the system though.
3 Likes
You are confusing playing the game perfectly in accordance to how you envisioned playing it, with actual perfection. Perfection is by definition a lack of flaws. The “subjective” part of perfection that I referred to is only insofar as what the game requires of you during any given mission in order to be considered a flawless run. Your clip clearly showed a deduction set against you for killing a non-target civilian, which also no doubt affected your XP in a way that could have been avoided as well. Hence, your run was not flawless, and therefore does not constitute perfection.
That being said, I get now the context that you meant. You meant perfection insofar as pulling it off how you envisioned, with what you envisioned running counter to the game’s required standard for a perfect run. Hence, the “many forms” comment you made. I can respect that.
No I’m deliberately making a distinction. There is really no such thing as playing Hitman ‘objectively perfectly’, as the whole point of the majority of the series is doing things how you want. Therefore perfection is doing your desired challenge perfectly.
You can do SA in the main game, but then someone could always say it isn’t perfect because you did KOs. You can do SASONKO and then someone can say it isn’t perfect as you didn’t hide the body, or didn’t use FW, or caused too much panic. You can do all those things and someone can say it isn’t perfect because it took too long, or you got wooshed in order to avoid a KO, or used ‘unrealistic’ distractions, or was super boring (a common result of limiting things too much).
Similarly you can’t meet every criteria under the sun in Freelancer. You have to pick and choose. Just like an immersive sim, RPG or, surprise surprise, roguelike where you can’t do every style of play and meet every criteria at once, you have to define your own way to play.
2 Likes
Not true at all. The only tangible requirement for a perfect run in a Hitman game is killing only the target, not getting spotted, not getting killed, and leaving no evidence behind. Now, what those mean might vary from game to game, like leaving your suit behind in Blood Money has a penalty, and somebody seeing a target die from poison has a penalty, but neither is the case in WoA. However, those basic requirements I listed are the same from game to game, with variations only in what form they take.
Now, imposing further restrictions based on whether you change outfits, knock someone out, run, drop weapons, etc. may vary from player to player, but if the game isn’t requiring it, you’ve still achieved a perfect run at its most basic, absolute level in accordance with the game’s requirements.
Yes you can, most of the time, with careful planning and choosing your missions in a wise order. It’s only that occasional generation of conflicting objectives in a non-showdown single-target mission that becomes an issue. And because every other aspect of every game’s existence allows a player to be able to play a mission without failing anything if they do it right (first game exempt), then these rare scenarios are actually against the spirit of the rest of the franchise, and are unfair for those who choose to actually follow what the game requires for a perfect run, because it removes that as an option entirely.
Yet the majority of Hitman games were fine with you killing non targets. See previous example of Redemption at Gontranno, or even all the earlier H2:SA missions which allow 2 non target enemy kills so long as you don’t do certain other things. Blood Money allows killing as many non targets as you want so long as they are accidents, or even getting spotted trespassing so long as you don’t ruin a disguise. Absolution also allows killing non targets so long as you hide the body.
And this is purely specific to the rating system being SA also. There is nothing that explicitly states that SA equals perfection.
The games have never required SA either. It gives you ratings as a way to judge for yourself. H2:SA gave a bar for stealth and another bar for violence. Trying to max either is a valid approach to playing, depending on what you want to go for in that particular run.
Then why are you even complaining so much? I almost feel like you’d be more at peace if you could never achieve this idea of ‘perfection’. If that’s the way you enjoy playing it, go for it. But sometimes you’re going to have to compromise your own ideals because while the game gives you a way to measure that style of play, it won’t enforce or expect it every time.
If you get two kill objectives (bear in mind they are literally called ‘optional’ objectives) with one target, to me that’s great as it means I get to choose which one to do, rather than being forced to do a specific one. Just like you aren’t expected to kill a target just one way in the main game, I don’t think you should be in Freelancer either.
As I’ve pointed out, your statements seem heavily based on a WoA lens. The games prior to 2016 are in disagreement. I don’t object to any of your opinions but statements like these go against the facts of the series.
Almost nothing you said was correct, but most especially these two statements, except in very specific and rare contexts that don’t apply. I suggest you revisit the previous games and try gunning down a couple random NPCs and see how the game penalizes you for it.
1 Like
I have been playing those games very recently, as I literally told you not long ago lol. I play H2:SA in particular constantly, and literally linked you to a calculator that shows the rating system tables. How you could say I’m wrong in the face of such backed up facts is baffling.
Obviously if you just gun down a couple of random NPCs the game will punish you for it. But we’re talking about non target kills only. NOT specifically using a gun to shoot NPCs in plain sight. I suggest you try killing one non target silently with a FW in H2:SA while getting no other rating numbers and see how the game still considers that SA (worth noting killing/harming civilians is rated more harshly to killing/harming guards - but both can be acceptable in different circumstances). Or just refer to aforementioned rating system calculator. This work has already been done by multiple more knowledgeable people.
Considering how stubbornly wrong you are about these things, I’m sure your reasoning for the other ways I was incorrect is just as sound.
You know what, forget it. This is exactly the kind of thing that’s gonna have Norseman put me in a suspended period.
Agree to disagree and leave it at that.
1 Like
Codename 47 allows non target kills with only a monetary penalty, which is probably the closest to how NTKs are treated in Freelancer. You get punished always, but you just offset that against what you earn and judge for yourself.
Hitman Contracts has almost the same rating system as H2SA, so add that.
Then Blood Money allows literally unlimited non target kills so long as they are accidents.
Then Absolution allows at least one (I know the least about this game, but I do know for sure that one is allowed) non target kill so long as the body is hidden.
Literally the only Hitman games that have a consistently solid rule against NTKs are the WoA ones, and there are still sort of some exceptions to it, such as Patient Zero making non-targets into targets if they get infected or the instances where indirect kills (suicide, proxy kills) aren’t penalised as NTKs somewhat arbitrarily.
And yeah, I will always agree to disagree, because this is all opinionated. That was my entire point… your definition of perfection is just your opinion and you can’t say anything is objectively the case. And your opinion is as valid as anyone else’s.
1 Like
Merces = currency introduced in Hitman Freelancer. Used for purchasing weapons and tools. Earned by completing missions and objectives.
Mercer = town in Wisconsin known for fishing, particularly Musky, Bass, and Walleye. Widely known as the “Gateway to the North Woods”.
5 Likes
I wonder if there are people in Mercer playing Freelancer.
Mercers earning Merces 
Also: currency != currently 
3 Likes
Sometimes that dice is loaded.
2 Likes