Improving "On top of the World"

[Rimland]

@IlikeHitman

@Kent

Why no chopper kill?

if you’ve placed a bomb on the chopper beforehand you can blow them up before they escape

Did @Rimland bribe you to write this?

(Not saying it is a bad idea though.)

I didn´t, but you know, great minds think alike and all that…

Anyways, great thread as always @Kent . Agree on most of your points. I´m basically gonna reiterate what I mentioned in my mini-rant in the Dubai location discussion back in March (DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Mission #1) - Location Discussion - #307 by Rimland), but to go into more detail:

@Kent

”Bird of Prey” - Believability

In the Mission Story ”Bird of Prey” we are introduced to the character of Zana ”The Vulture” Kazem.

Kazem is one of a handful of disguises in H3 I really wish they had put a little more work into making believable (another one being Pritchard in Chongqing).

The problem here is of course that the first time you see Kazem, he is talking the hostess, Miss To, who you will then meet while disguised as Kazem.

Not only has she just recently seen the real Kazem, there’s not even some kind of flimsy way in which you look similar to him (like with Helmut Kruger).

My suggestion is simply to introduce Kazem in another manner. Instead of Kazem standing by the stairs refusing to be frisked, we only see Miss To. She’s on the phone, talking about waiting for Kazem. Kazem in turn is in the garden looking for something he’s lost. Now, when you arrive and present yourself as Kazem, it doesn’t feel quite as silly.

Yes, absolutely agree on this one. While Hitman has always been very lenient with NPCs inability to distinguish a disguised 47 from the real person they had seen just a minute ago, this one is a little too “in the face” for comfort. Introducing Kazem in a way that doesn´t have him immediately interact with Miss To would have been better, given the obvious differences between him and 47.

And btw, the end of the VR announcement trailer sees Kazem go to the bathroom on the other side of the building (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxVHOf6gv28). AFAIK he never leaves the garden terrace, so maybe there was originally something different about his route?

@Kent

”Bird of Prey” - Flexility

For people who know of my previous Wishlist threads it might not come as a surprise to learn that I wish there was a way for Kazem to head to the meeting with Carl Ingram.

In the above ”improvement” I have already planted a seed for this. Simply find the item Kazem is looking for in the garden and return it to him. He will then head to the meeting.

Here, I think there’s room to open up for a couple of new kills, one poison kill, where Ingram drinks (for instance) coffe durin the meeting, and one push-kill where Ingram stays in the meeting room for a while while guards head outside and watch the entrances. He of course leans against the railing.

Just place a hiding spot in the meeting room and we’re golden.

Indeed, some more flexibility and the option to exploit/manipulate unique NPCs and target routes would be nice, as it is something I feel is missing quite a lot in H3 missions compared to the previous two seasons. Pritchard in Chongqing is another prime example of this, alongside his introduction which you mention in your previous point, and I´m really looking forward to your improvement thread on that mission.

@Kent

”Bird of Prey” - Assassinating Hans Lucht (The Reporter)

While I’m generally against introducing innocent targets, I think Hans Lucht was a missed opportunity. This objective that you get from Carl Ingram should give the player a new (optional) target to assassinate. As it is right now, killing Hans Lucht will void your SA-status, even if done with accidents or lethal poison. I really don’t think it should.

Not something I would consider absolutely essential, but would nevertheless welcome it as an optional side objective. Related note on Emma Carlisle in Dartmoor: while I was - like many - expecting her to pop up as an optional target after the conversation with Alexa, her killing would really have no purpose given the lack of a money reward system in the game, unless Alexa demanded it in order to give you the Edwards file, in which case it would be a neat little twist optional objective. With Lucht, it´s more justifiable since you need to get rid of him (one way or another) to get to Ingram using the Kazem disguise. The fact that he´s an innocent target would at least make it more interesting decision-wise (plus people tend to complain about the side objectives, so a more “fun” one could be a nice change). Not to mention that at this point in the story, 47 et al. have already killed at least one innocent, so…

@Kent

Get to the Chopper!

Right now the parachute kill is kind of odd. The targets rush to the chopper to escape and then the chopper pilot says they’re not prepared for an evacution (maybe because he lost the key? I don’t think it’s clear), so they go for the parachutes instead.

There’s a few ways you could ”fix” this. One way would be to remove the chopper pilot from the level and instead have a mechanic there. In this scenario the chopper wouldn’t be working properly, but you could find a spare part and install it. If you do, either Ingram or Stuyvesant pilots the chopper to safety (in order to avoid the pilot being collateral), but if you’ve placed a bomb on it beforehand you can blow them up before they escape (put a timer on it, like with the parachutes or the seaplane in Sapienza).

In the case that you don’t repair the chopper Ingram and Stuyvesant default to the parachute escape.

Sigh, ah yes, the chopper… As @IlikeHitman and @William1066 can attest, this really is my one major irk with this mission. The pilot saying they´re not ready for evacuation is idiotic, and I assume the actual reason are the lost keys. In which case there should be an option to retrieve the keys and give them to the pilot, in which case the targets would evac by helicopter rather than skydiving off the building, thus allowing for blowing it up when airborne, just like Caruso (along with the said timer). This is something that was already a missed opportunity with Knox in Miami, and I was genuinely expecting it here based on this scene in the final trailer:

I´m not sure why the option isn´t present, probably some technical issue, but I would hope that if it´s possible to do with a seaplane in the game, it would be possible with a helicopter as well… My disappointment is even stronger considering that the last and only time we had this sort of kill in the series was back in H2SA… Also, I wouldn´t have a problem with the pilot´s death voiding SA. It would be a necessary trade-off for this particular (awesome) kill, similar to the turret kill in Marrakesh or light rig kill in Paris.

Other than the keys, yes, the mechanic+spare part scenario would also work. Either one or both of the targets could certainly have piloting skills.

@Kent

The Master Suite

The master suite that Carl Ingram is staying in only has one way to access it… this really is a crime.

I’d suggest in the very least a way to get onto the balcony by shimmying on ledges. The easiest way to do this would be to add some shimmying ledges / climbing pipes coming from the area where Ingram will go to golf if stressed out.

If you allow for Zana Kazem to actually meet with Ingram this could culminate in you pulling Ingram off the balcony from a hanging position.

Ah yes, the Zaydan office syndrome… Again, can only agree, and would add that despite the setting, this mission doesn´t really make much use of outdoor area traversal, which is a shame.

@Kent

”How the Mighty Fall” - Lockdown

In the Mission Story ”How the Mighty Fall” you can get both targets to meet and then lock the room down for a safe kill… but it all feels pretty rigid. The lockdown can only be triggered from inside the lockdown room, and only if both targets are alive and in place.

I would open up for triggering the lockdown whenever you desire, but also some mechanism to do it from upstairs. The easiest would be for the lockdown to be triggered by something like the hackable vent locks from Chongqing.

Agreed.

@Kent

Marcus Stuyvesant Disguise

When footage from Dubai was first released, I was one of many who thought it was obvious that there would be a Marcus Stuyvesant disguise. The way he’s dressed just begs for 47 to take on his persona to meet with Carl Ingram. This could be merged with the ”How the Mighty Fall” Mission Story, where Ingram and Stuyvesant meet in the penthouse. I think it would be quite the enjoyable experience to join Ingram in the lockdown room, lock it down, and then reveal yourself as not being Stuyvesant.

Would be nice, especially given the fact that disguising yourself as a target has been pretty much dropped from the series (aside from the few PZ missions). Then again, Ingram is way too familiar with Stuyvesant to not notice, so 47 would basically have to refrain from speaking, plus Ingram would be an enforcer to the disguise and several blending spots (like the Bravuomo ones in Landslide) would be required, so question is how much it would be worth it.

@Kent

The Balcony Bar

The balcony bar is quite a nice looking area that I almost never visit. It has no function except to poison Stuyvesant with his favorite whiskey (and if you make the mistake of using emetic he voms off the balcony in front of everyone).

Beyond this, the balcony bar isn’t even placed in a way where you would want to cut through it to get to other areas particularly often.

My small suggestion here would be to move the room where you can overload the sun-display to this side of the exibit, thus making it more plausible for people to pass through this gorgeous area to perform the epic electrocution kill. This would probably require some reworking of the internal layout of the exibit area, as the sun isn’t really place close enough to the balcony for this to work.

Another possibility could be to relocate Zana Kazem to this area.

You can also kill Stuyvesant froom Ingram´s balcony when he´s down there I think (haven´t really done it). But yes, other than the whiskey kill, it is rather underused. Particularly when considering there are two unique NPCs there (Voltaire and Sato) who basically have no use/role in the mission. Utilizing them somewhat more could´ve maybe helped. In addition, this area (alongside the Black Gold Bar) in particular to me is an example of a lack of civilian blending spots, such as these terrace chairs:

Aside from a few benches and one chair near the private bar to eavesdrop on Cornelia, there are no civilian blending spots like drinks or railings for example. Rather disappointing compared to the pletora of options in Santa Fortuna, Isle of Sgail, and others.

An additional improvement for me would be the ability to access the rooftop, as the pre-release screenshots suggested we would be able to do:

I know there wouldn´t be that much gameplay use to it probably beyond sniping the targets through the glass (which would be cool), but it would be nonetheless awesome to have that area accessible. And it also relates to what I said earlier about the lack of outdoor traversal.

Finally, minor nitpick regarding the absence of some NPCs I was hoping to see here, namely Salman Al-Ghazali and Amos Dexter. Just for lore purposes it would´ve been nice.