Finally had time to play. Great escalation.
The whole level is used, it’s challenging if you want to, simple/smooth if not, in other term : complex, the good kind. It presents good variations and a bit a depth (the pretenders each having an item). The atmosphere works, especially in the centerpiece of the escalation. I have a liking for level with a hub like part to it, somewhere you need to come back to regularly to progress. And as I wished last time : the escalation is much more open ended.
It like the possible loop of finding a clue, identifying a pretender, taking them out for their item and repeat till only the admirer remains. It would have been fun to scatter/hide a bunch of poison vials in the level and letting us take the pretenders this way. After all they all drink and it would have been thematically good with the lust sin. Also some of the pretenders are just not fun to isolate, especially during an already long escalation.
I wish we could have used disguises, I see why, but a suit only challenge could have been added to let us have fun with the escalation while retaining the possibility of difficulty. Not using the social stealth aspect of the game for the lust escalation just seems a bit of a missed opportunity to me. But it’s true we would have lost part of the tension (and in all fairness Berlin is the best level in term of design to play suit only, so many pathways).
As for the unlocks : best suit so far, the serpent bite by not being micro is a bit useless. The serpent tongue is interesting and I can see some use in challenge run, the panic state given to the target afterwards make it a bit random. But I understand why (this is not the moment to develop a new kind of effect, just to apply it to unused circonstance, here the stun effect to a dart gun, it’s just the way the engine works and it works extremely well as evidenced by the whole game)
As some have said, I also thought there was a surprise in the end of it, maybe an easter egg asking for a specific trigger (all pretenders killed, all safes looted…). Still haven’t found anything.
I know I just wrote a lot of criticism, but as I know IOI is looking at the forums, if they read this : love the work, the escalation is complex and a lot is implemented in it. Small scale randomisation works well for hitman. Kudos to everyone.
To conclude : the whole escalation really gives me a “metal gear solid bonus virtual mission” vibe. I like it. Of all the escalations released it’s the one I could see myself replay later.