Okay, first impressions:
Holy shit, this is astounding work, guys. Be proud of what you made here today.
This is perhaps my favourite of the CelebrET’s. The Splitter was too linear in story and the kill methods are very derivative of past mission assassination mathods, The Undying was too tutorialised, and The Drop feels quite limiting due to the space and lack of verticality in his routine. And there were no other CelebrET’s. Nope, none at all. Pretty much all those complaints don’t apply here. There are multiple ways to get an invite for the poker game, the integration of the James Bond lore and Hitman lore is done very respectfully. This being a stealth sequel to my least favourite (but one of my personal favourite hammy characters in WOA) Elusive Target mission; The Revolutionary’s Vincente Murillo, just makes this so much better. I always loved Vincente as a character, and I’m glad he’s being fleshed out more and given a bit more of a serious edge this time around.
Agent smith is…Competent?! Yeah, for the first time ever, Smith is not naked! Or doing something wrong! Yay! I also love his bowtie, I wanna put that on the Mendoza suit later.
The poker game is also very well implemented, and I enjoy the interactions between 47, the players, the dealer and Le Chiffre. It makes for a wonderful set-piece!
My only real complaint is that the voice acting overall is a bit…odd. A lot of the line readings, including Jane’s, sound a bit…fast? Mads’ voice acting in particular. Not all the voice lines, but the lines tend to not have emphasis in places I’d expect, and conversations sound like they’re on fast-forward.
I know we’re trying to appease TikTok and its users, but please trust your players to follow a conversation!
I quite enjoyed the re-use of the poison 47 mechanic from Patient Zero, and when I play ETA later, I’ll deliberately lose to see the extra scene. This is how you build upon reused mechanics, IOI. I will say, I’m not a fan of the blurring effect; it’s a bit too strong for my liking (Not against it existing, but maybe tone it down just a smidge; 47 is poisoned, not drunk!).
Overall, I enjoyed this Elusive Target A LOT. This is the first ET in a long time that makes me feel like so much potential can be explored in a level on future repeated runs, and once the month is over, expect £4 to come your way IOI (well, £2.60-something – Thanks Epic Rewards/ Wallet funds!).
I also like the Freelancer cosmetics too, makes the gym look like a very sophisticated and suave gambling den. Very Casino Royale.
This is an S-tier mission, very comfortably so. Play this mission if you haven’t, it’s a testament to IOI’s creativity and proof that the designers can still make good mission content without relying on so much of what’s come before.
brb, omw to kill Le Chiffre again…
I knew straight away when playing the mission that Le Chiffre could be killed in that room. It may be even possible to kill him with the rope (Fibre Wire) as he enters the room, but the gap between him & the personal body guard would have to be greater as he is so close from what I seen so far!
