I think the Keypad scrambler you unlock in Hokkaido and Chongquing is a cool item, but ever since Hitman 1 when I unlocked it I’ve always thought “This item is only useful on Hokkaido, but since I unlocked it I’m sure they’ll make another level that uses keycards on it a lot”.
So I go through the entirety of Hitman 2, and there’s barely a keycard reader in sight.
I start playing Hitman 3 and I get to Congquing and I see that I unlock a keycard scrambler at level 2, so I figure “Oh nice, a high tech level. This will surely be a place where I need to bring my keycard scrambler” and so I do. Lo and behold when I play the level, the only actual Keycard reader I see is for a laundromat door that can also be lockpicked which made me regret I didn’t just bring the universally more useful Lockpick tool, and the entire rest of the level can only be opened with the camera and DONGels found on the map.
Why did you even create this unlockable item if you had no intention of making it a useful item anywhere but Hokkaido?
Oh and while we’re on the topic. Is there any difference between the Electronic Keycard Hacker and the Disposable Scrambler?
They look identical, their descriptions both say they are used to bypass electronic locks though the Keycard one only mentions Keycards. I also have NEVER had a use for either of these items outside of Hokkaido.
Well at least that’s one less thing to worry about.
Still, I really think the disposeable scrambler is a very underutilized item in Hitman and it outright annoys me when I come across electronic locks that it for some reason does not work on. I absolutely see no reason why the disposable scrambler should not work on the new electronic locks with a passcode on them. You can never find a disposable scrambler on the level so you always have to sacrifice something else to bring it with you, I really think this item should work more often than it does to make that sacrifice worth it.
it has some use outside hokkaido… it can be used in mendoza, dubai, sapienza, Bangkok, Miami, Santa fortuna, Marrakesh, sgail, New York, haven, Berlin… admittedly, an smg or crowbar can be used many times in lieu of the scrambler, but it has its uses when those items won’t work or are contraindicated by the kill conditions…and it’s better to have 3 different skins than none at all…
I just don’t think it’s useful enough to warrant a slot most of the time. Almost every level that features the Keycard reader has an easy alternative route, or the scrambler is made useless since it’s an illegal action. Now the lockpick is an illegal action too, but locked doors are EVERYWHERE in almost every single level in the game. When I start a new map I almost always make my first blind run with the lockpick since more often than not I will need it somewhere.
And the lockpick is unlimited!
How is it that something like the Keycard scrambler that only occasionally allows you an easier bypass to a locked door is limited to only 3 uses, but the lockpick that can be used for an entire level is unlimited. Now I am absolutely not saying the Lockpick needs a nerf or needs limited uses, I think the lockpick is an excellent item and I love the fact that since it’s not an item I can find on a level it’s something I have to consider if it’s worth sacrificing something else I want to bring. However, that’s the feeling I want to have with the Keypad hacker/disposable scrambler.
I think the Keycard Hacker/Scrambler should have unlimited uses on a level, just like the Lockpick. You had to sacrifice another item to bring the Scrambler along, the Scrambler should give you its slots worth. At the very least make the item work for all level 1 clearance of a level, and maybe differentiate the Keycard Hacke and the Scrambler as one is infinite for all low level keycard readers and the other one has 3 uses but can hack high security doors and password doors.
Secondly, I think there should be more levels like Hokkaido where most doors are locked with keycards. Chonquing would have been an excellent level for this as a high tech high security environment, instead of all doors being locked behind the camera (which IMO slows down the gameplay of the level a great deal to have to manually hack all doors).
Because it´s a single-use item that you have three pieces of. Not one item that is used three times.
If it had unlimited uses, then there would be almost no incentive to try and get the actual in-level keycard instead. It all depends on what strategy you plan to use for a mission.
Still, I agree that Chonqing could´ve utilized keycard readers a bit.
I mean the incentive would be to have a way to open the door that isn’t an illegal action. Just how the Lockpick can open almost every door in the game but you still have incentive to find the keys because using keys does not count as a criminal action to witnesses.
I just don’t see why the Keycard hacker needs to be limited when the Lockpick isn’t.
Make the Keycard hacker take more time than Keycards so you have a bigger chance of being spotted committing a crime if you need it to have a balancing downside, imo that would make more sense for a hacking item than it being limited use.
Right now I really think the Keycard hacker/scrambler is way too situational to ever be worth bringing into the level over other items, except in Hokkaido.
I am not asking for it to not be situational. It would still be a situational item, just like the lockpick is a situational item. You would still have no use for the Keypad Hacker if the level had no keypads, just as you would have no use for the lockpick if the levels have no locks.
Right now the Keypad Hacker is significantly more situational than the Lockpick, and there is no reason it needs to be this bad compared to the Lockpick that is useful on the vast majority of levels. It should be worth bringing with you, because right now it is almost NEVER worth it.
That is a bad design for the item, and that’s why it should be changed.