Disclaimer: I don’t think such significant changes will be applied to an already released game anyways, so these are mostly just my theoretical thoughts about how the game could be even more amazing than it is. Now they probably can be considered in future games at best.
Previous titles were much more balanced in that matter. For example, in 2:SA, Contracts and Blood Money your anesthetics were limited, so you either wisely choose people you’re pacifying, rely on disguises and safe routes to get your well-deserved Silent Assassin reward, or at cost of your rating kill whoever stands on your way - it’s fast, unlimited and can be done even from a distance. In Absolution putting people to sleep is no more tied to consumables, yet still takes much more effort than killing due to long and very noisy non-lethal choking, so lethal force was relevant for those who didn’t bother.
In WoA chokes became very quick and practically silent, while blunt object hits and throws are even quicker and don’t effectively differ from lethal knife hits and throws. In H2016 there were at least no sedative/emetic guns and bombs, yet in H2 and H3 they have added even that. In other words, killing became pointless, since non-lethal neutralization options are just as easy. It reduced the challenge and devaluated Silent Assassin rating in my opinion, which is no more a mark of a clean run, but rather a routine of destroying recordings. You can literally lure KO the entire map one by one, pile up the bodies and still keep SA.
It’s not only stupid from the gameplay perspective but also realism-wise. Making people not dead and not injured, but exactly forever unconscious just by choking them a bit or hitting them with a wrench is really unconvincing. Spin throwing wrenches is a different story, however - it’s straight-up garbage and I hate that mechanics. Even though throwing knives is unreliable in real life, it will do for 47 - a generically enhanced professional, but homing soda cans and briefcases look ridiculous.
So how could it be done better?
Blunt weapon throw KOs must be cut completely, choking and melee hits should remain, but a victim will wake up in several minutes (e.g. 5min) and alert guards. Accident KOs work the same, except victims don’t negate SA by waking up. Their bodies are draggable, but can’t be hidden in chests and their clothes can’t be taken, unless you kill them or inject with a sedative syringe, making them asleep permanently.
The main tool for permanent incapacitation of NPCs is now a sedative syringe. The poison injecting mechanics have to be improved to be more consistent - wider angle, possible on stairs and towards unconscious NPCs, bound to a button other than punching to avoid unwanted hand-to-hand. Bodies found of poisoned/sedated people don’t negate SA unless they were dragged, naked, or melee KOed before injection - then you better hide them in a chest or closet.
In a loadout, syringes don’t occupy the regular item slots anymore but have 2 additional ones specifically for them. Per mission you can take two syringes of any of the three types of poison, identical or different. This doesn’t apply to consumable poison vials tho - they work like before. In other words, you can get rid of 2 unwanted non-targets consistently, or 3-4 if you found a good use for a consumable sedative, or 0-1 if you are going to take lethal/emetic syringes.
So what’s the point of these changes?
-
I’d like to make the game a bit more challenging by limiting KOs and closer to previous titles. Encourage people to play it more like a social stealth game, rather than a generic one about sneaking, hiding and knocking out; think ahead and be more creative with different ways to get rid of unwanted witnesses; look for spare disguises when possible.
-
Turn Silent Assassin rating into something more valuable than just a set of rules you follow every run, and on the other hand, let you care less about collateral damage in more casual plays. If you are just ticking off challenges and don’t want to be limited with only 2 pacifications, instead of boring choking and meleeing you can have fun pushing people over ledges, creating accident explosions, strangling with a fiber wire, shooting, etc. Why not if you don’t go for SA anyways? The major problem - there is no effective middleground in the game between Silent Assassin and “Screw it, I just need it done” - as soon as you killed at least one non-target, there is no motivation to stay undetected or erase recordings. It’s actually not that hard to solve by adding more different rewarding ratings, but that’s another topic, worthy of a separate post.
-
Not a main goal but rather a side effect - balancing out some of the items. For example, a sedative vial would be now actually useful at times, while lethal and emetic syringes - still strong, but not without trade-offs anymore, since you have to pick them at cost of sedatives.
What for items such as dart guns and gas bombs?
As for gas bombs - idk, but I have an idea for dart guns. Darts should occupy slots for syringes in a loadout and might be injected manually or shot through a dart gun. A dart may contain any type of poison (even the lethal one), but if it was shot from a distance, it remains in the target’s body until you get close and remove it (an action just as quick as a neck snap). If a poisoned dead or unconscious body is found with a dart sticking out - it negates SA, otherwise doesn’t. Emetic darts are not spotted in a body as long as the victim is conscious.
What do you think? Let me know.