I know in the WOA trilogy it’s obviously the same continuous story spread across three games, however, when each game initially launched we only had 6 missions for each disc.
Just wondering what people’s preference is? do people prefer this format or do you wish to see IOI take Hitman back to the original format of having 12 or so missions contained on one starting disc like Hitman: Contracts and Blood Money?
Personally now we’ve seen the WOA trilogy conclude, I’m hoping in the next game (whenever 47 returns), we go back to having around 12 levels at launch like I’ve mentioned above. There’s endless theories and possibilities we could talk about, but on a personal level this is something I’m hoping for
I would like to have more than 6 missions; but only if they will be as big and detailed as the majority of WoA locations.
I don’t want to see 36 missions in the shape of Hawkes Bay, or more undesired Carpathians’ shape
Totally agree with you on that one. I’m sure with the capability of the Playstaion 5 and Xbox Series X, IOI would be able to deliver that. I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t expect to see 47 show up any time before 2024 so I guess we can hope for it
I like this format, but I don’t think it’s gone very smoothly for IO. They got handed a bunch of decisions that they had to carry forward over five years and a changing situation (like the online infrastructure) and a dev team that changed quite a bit over time. Whatever they do next, I think the studio leadership will learn from their WOA experience and try to create something with a bit more flexibility in its structure.
The industry is in a much different place than the era of Blood Money… Along with 3-5 normal levels, I think we could see something like an ultra-Paris combined with Berlin, a mega-level that has multiple targets to eliminate at 47’s discretion, and which could change seasonally a la Animal Crossing to include new targets. Like Elusive Targets but without the heavy cutscene/redesigning the level entirely costs. And more focus on user content like Contracts - that kind of thing really helps extend the lifetime of a game.
I would much rather have a smaller number of big, detailed maps than a larger number of smaller, less detailed maps. This trilogy has an amazing amount of detail and interlocking pieces in every map that I wouldn’t want to sacrifice for the sake of “more” maps.
I think of it this way. I’d much rather have 5 or 6 Whittleton Creek or Mumbai maps than 10 to 12 Hawkes Bay or Carpathian Mountains maps.
I prefer a full game at launch with something around 20 missions (small and big). I liked what they did with the bank and haven though. Two episodic missions after release.
Just use Codename 47s Approach: 12 Levels some are one and done, some are “built up” to a powerful Target, like the HK Levels before the Lee Hong Assassination.
Just have a good mix of smaller and bigger ones and dont have a terrible shit Story like WoA
I love Absolution, but I hope they avoid its mission structure like the plague. Semi-separate missions that were following on from each other. Are they checkpoints or are they separate? No one knows
Think I’d prefer what Ochoa suggests. The C47 ones feel connected but distinct
If they focus on Bond for a while and come back to Hitman with a fresh idea, which is what they claim will happen, then I think an all new story without the trappings of any older games would be ideal. Not an official “reboot” or anything, but a reset that doesn’t rely on any past ties. Diana started a new ICA and 47 is back to his normal job and a new complication arises, etc. etc.
The WoA story is obviously built around the populist movements going on in the West lately, and who knows what will be happening when they go back to it.
What I hope for is a Hitman game that’s a standalone game, like C47 and SA. With it’s own contained that isn’t stretching through out multiple games.
When it comes to the amount of missions I prefer something a long the lines of past games, this would likely come at the cost of map size. Something I personally wouldn’t mind, there are plenty of strong levels that was smaller from past titles as well as H2’s Whittleton Creek. It all comes down to the execution and style of the next entry in the series. Having a few levels that are extremely large, would be preferable, however smaller levels also has it charms.
Hopefully this title is far into the future and IO have the time to rethink their approach.
Don’t care that much about story tbh. Something like Contracts or lowkey BM is fine. The story is more speculative and doesn’t take the foreground. H1 - H3 got more story driven the further it went. One of the most enjoyable moments was when Paris - Bangkok felt like standalone missions.
So for a Hitman story after the WOA trilogy, I would like more standalone missions with a vivid storyline in the background. A few build up missions here and there like C47 did is fine, but only if the story about this chapter doesn’t go any further. The problem with Hitman is that there are two scenarios to go with which have both been done.
47 and Diana are manipulated into doing X for X.
Something/someone close to 47 and his past are used against him.
And besides, I’m a simple man. I’m already satisfied when I see 47 doing stuff in cutscenes.
For me there is no story needed, just doing hits and learning the stories within the missions are great and after this trilogy i can’t really think where they could go story wise
I like how the levels in WOA are constructed but I’d love to trade these giant levels for a few smaller, more focused ones. It’s cool to say “look at how they included this whole town area as well” but the novelty is lost after a while and it just slows things down (in my opinion).
I’d love a story that is more in the background. I personally feel like Blood Money has the best story in the series (if we ignore 47 as a character in it). I am happy for 47 to have some connections to people but a Blood Money type story where you don’t even realise what’s going on until later is nice, with smaller self contained stories like the stuff with killing the bride’s family and then you read about her in a newspaper in Las Vegas. People only talk about the newspapers in the game because “wow it’s cool it says what I did” but that also loses its novelty really quickly. The newspapers are great to me because it contains a lot of small bits of lore and foreshadowing. I’d love a new version of those just for that stuff alone.
I do like how the first few games built things up like having multiple Hong Kong missions to end up actually getting to your target. I’d like to see something like that return but I don’t like the map re-use as much, sorry St Petersburg.
I feel like IOI are stuck between a few rocks and hard places here since 47 isn’t getting any younger. I can see a reboot happening but it’d be awkward having Hitman (reboot) just after HITMAN (not reboot). Maybe give us old 47 but also I would be happy for a game set in the down time between Blood Money and Absolution, or between Absolution and HITMAN. There’s a whole lot of time untapped there.
Also for the most important part of the story have 47’s suit jacket open or closed depending on the story. So much important world building for how 47 perceives the world. We have him wearing a closed suit to show how he thinks the opera is a place for the elite, the clean and well presented, but he loses this look when he attends a wedding in a place he considers beneath him. These really show 47’s classism and flawed perception of the world. A subtle look into a deeply flawed protagonist who is built up to be perfect in every way. Such brave story telling. Or actually it was just a cool gimmick and I don’t think it meant much beyond casual vs formal
My personal theory is - the jacket is closed on the levels where you spend most of the time inside, and opened if there is more of the outside - to show off the floating tie physics when running around. Seems to fit most of the missions.
I totally agree with this. Go to the past games for example and look at Contracts. A game that had 12 missions and that was a good example of a Hitman game with a balance of large and smaller maps. The Bjarkhov Bomb is a good example of a large map and Asylum Aftermath is a much smaller map. Both still decent missions but it shows that large and small maps are a good mix for Hitman games.
I do get what people are saying though, the WOA trilogy has some unbelievably detailed levels and I wouldn’t want that to change as we look into the future of Hitman.
I don’t think any of us know where the story will go from here, the theories could be endless
We might get a game in the future where it’s very similar to Contracts? less focus on the story and more focused on just the hits? Just an idea to throw in there.
So totally agree. As much as I like having one big, complex, and detailed map for each self-contained, isolated mission… I also miss the approach of a mission, carrying over 2-3 smaller scale maps, taking place in the same country/town, all building up to one big final map where we need to take out the main target. Not only it allows for the devs to re-use assets across multiple levels, but it also gives the player a sense of taking out a target that is legitimately dangerous and powerful, and accomplishing an unsurmountable task.
Fans of the Hitman franchise are aware that Agent 47 is a cloned assassin who kills high-profile targets for cash, but some may not be familiar with exactly why he was created or where he comes from.
