the floor in the lobby had its reflection-type changed from planar to screenspace, which is just an inferior reflection simulation 
it’s ok though, i’ll get used to it
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That sad realisation when you finally get to play Hitman 2 levels in Hitman 3 but they just look worse 
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Now this might explain how they’ve managed to reduce the game size by half.
A letdown since it’s supposed to be the final (and best) entry in the trilogy 
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They look worse? I couldn’t see any difference, except for NPC hair popping in late, which is probably cuz my computer sucks ass
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Technically the floor of the bank was impressive but I can understand why they changed their method at this place, because it was a bit optimistic to put a planar on such a large surface without any performance issues. I also wonder if the crashes for some computers did not occur at launch because of this. On Steam forums, there was always someone who had an issue about the bank, it’s really a problem that came back regularly.
I think it’s fair to improve the overall stability. Hopefully the Ray Tracing patch will improves light, shadows, reflections and more.
A letdown since it’s supposed to be the final (and best) entry in the trilogy
It’s not the final version, a well done Ray Tracing can changes everything 
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By final version i meant that HITMAN 3 is the latest game of the trilogy and since everybody will play on this one, if they screw up something it will be doomed for the years to come.
Ray Tracing might improve things a bit but it’s obvious that they lowered down some stuff to reduce the size of the game, but was it really worth it in the end?
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I agree.
Hmmmm yes. ~200GB → 60GB.
They used a mix of several techniques, but it’s true that their new decompression technique uses more of CPU now on low-end hardware. But aside from the LOD (they have to fix it), the reduction is minor unless you have real examples of a major downgrade except particle effects, bugs and obvious performances changes like the bank floor.
With Hitman 1 and 2, IO didn’t apply compression as broadly “to avoid performance issues on low-spec hardware.” The game only has so much CPU power to work with, so decompressing data has to be weighed against everything else it’s doing, like running the AI and processing your inputs. The trade-off, then, is to skip compressing some files, resulting in a larger install but better performing game. By Hitman 3, engine improvements have lightened the load in other areas, freeing up more processing cycles to spend on compression.
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As mentioned earlier, the levels are much darker. At least I can see it on my monitor
Some levels are too dark. (Paris, Hawke’s Bay, Sgail, Bank)
Some levels actually look like they’ve lost their saturation. (AHBOS, Marrakesh, Landslide, The Icon, The Source, The Author, Hotel lobby in Bangkok, Whittleton Creek, Haven Island)
Compare Haven Island in both games. In Hitman 3, this level looks lifeless from the start.
Well I haven’t been back to Marrakesh since I’ve been playing H3.
Hopefully IOI might fix this in a future update perhaps?
I’ve uninstalled H2, but seeing the comparison videos on youtube, and going on Haven on H3, I can’t really see a big difference.
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This is the thing. It is so hard to see stuff in screenshots compared to real life so sometimes people just have to take a look for themselves to see it properly.
For example when playing Hitman 1 within Hitman 3, 47 uses an incorrect model i.e. he should use the new Hitman 3 model but he uses some weird model that makes him look uglier. It’s hard to see this in screenshots though and is much more apparent when 47 is in motion.
What I would say though is I’ve recently installed Hitman 2016 again and that area in Marrakesh is one where the frame rate takes a sudden hit big time so they likely optimised it in the later games which caused the visual changes you are seeing. I’ve been testing it a bit and in 2016 there are general areas where my fps is like 120+ and then I walk to a certain spot and it drops down to 80fps 
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Im not sure there if its really “Superior”. Both have their goods and bads. Overall, planar reflects things outside the camera more as its not affected by it, while ssr refelects a way higher detail and accuracy.
Raytracing will fix this and combine both into one good one, removing their negatives.
Hitman 2:
Hitman 3:
Woah this game really is damn dark.
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IO: This is what you guys wanted right? A dark game? Here you go!
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I understand fps, or more precisely 60+ fps, is what makes or breaks game ratings for reviews and YouTubers since it was branded the new hot thing some years ago. But did you really notice a difference in gameplay or visual quality between your 120 fps and your 80 fps? Or was the only difference the small number indicating it displayed on screen?
My point to this is that yes, the game might have been optimised towards stable 60 fps, but the result is a visually less appealing, less atmospheric game that plays just as smooth as before. Maybe this was not the kind of optimisation a single player sandbox puzzle needed.
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Maybe for him its a difference of 120 and 80 fps. But for someone else its a difference of 60 and 30 fps. Just because someone has it good doesn’t mean everyone does.
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This can be easily solved in a way that everyone (except IO, seemingly) can agree on:
Add additional settings to the menu.
Do you want a prettier experience? Choose higher settings.
Do you want smoother/improved performance? Choose lower settings.
Unfortunately this is very difficult to achieve because there aren’t many settings to choose from at all, and the settings that exist aren’t really scaled well.
Like it makes no sense that there are more texture filtering options than LOD options.
One possible solution is to add “intermediate” and “maximum” settings.
Like having settings scale like:
Minimum → Low → Medium Low → Medium → Medium High → High → Ultra (or Maximum)
Or even having a numerical scale for things like vignetting, particle/smoke and lighting effects:
“Minimum strength” 0.0 (or 0.1) → “Maximum strength” 1.0
That way older and low end systems aren’t “punished” with graphical upgrades, but those with better (and future) systems aren’t stuck with simply unacceptable visuals for 2021.
It surprises me how a game that offers such next-generation gameplay and technology is most limited by one of the most trivial aspects, adding settings in the menu.
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As someone with a 144hz g-sync monitor I can tell you that while minor framerate drops are no longer noticeable, like say 60 to 55, you will absolutely notice drops from 120 to 60-80. That’s why I lock Hitman to 60fps and enjoy some super-sampling. It’s not worth the uneven experience to have that high framerate indoors, and it’s not worth running on super low settings so that Colorado runs at 120fps (if that’s even possible).
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Updated photos 2022:
Just felt like revisiting this because I was curious if it was ever fixed. Unfortunately the background in Bangkok is still like this in H3. It’s either a decreased LOD or assets were removed. I’m guessing this is for optimization reasons, but for PC it definitely seems like a downgrade that doesn’t need to be there.
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Hitman 3 NPC draw distance is pretty bad here. Here’s hoping it’s fixed in a patch. I included both Hitman 2016 and Hitman 3 examples for reference, both on the highest setting for simulation quality. Sorry for the poor video quality (exporting issues)
I can understand optimization reasons on consoles but this on PC is unacceptable. At least give us the option to expand draw distance.
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