I finished the game.
What a journey it was.
In prelude:
I would appreciate a fix for the “Hitman preset” getting into conflict not just with charge and grab, but with all the “use QLens and target for your allies” set pieces (Greenway support fire and Wrecky)
During them it glitches the HUD and soft-lock with the preset, in addition to messing with the melee system.
First, a tip for everyone: you can free aim shoot the dart phone to lure someone at the aimed spot.
The Hitman Coin reborn.
The campaign was great.
The story was good, though maybe not as committed to its themes as I wished.
It’s by the numbers, but it earns it. The reluctant mentor does as a reluctant mentor does, the mysterious woman does as one does… It still hits them right, and it feels appropriate to Bond in his origin.
The cast and quality of the cinematics are more than welcomed, and I look forward to seeing them again.
The non-chase driving sequences were a personal favourite. An underrated part of the game being semi-linear is that it allows for large, detailed panorama. And they are glorious here.
The set-pieces were wonderful.
Very Bond. Which is an obvious plus.
The choice to make so playable the time in Universal Export, the Q Lab, the support staff was inspired.
It rises the game.
So does the attention to detail, with the number of one-time assets, sometimes easily missed, but when seen…
The idea behind the escalation of force/roe ladder feels right, and well implemented.
I am not judge for the melee and firefight gameplay, I don’t have the know-how to fully appreciate it in a critical manner, even if it’s a positive critic.
It’s engaging.
The systems ask the player to pay attention to the environment, and once they gain the initiative it flows. But they need to first gain the initiative.
I would appreciate to see a separate difficulty setting for the infiltration/resource cost difficulty and the combat difficulty.
I went full stealth when possible on my first play, pacifist challenges always.
It was rewarding.
I was pleasantly surprised by being allowed to stealth some sequences, like the W&A final room.
I even went and completed the collectibles. (The checkpoint system could use some work though.)
And then went out and did all the campaign story challenges, I completed the earliest chapters as I played them, so it was not so much.
It was neat.
Here are the collectibles in the TacSim, and the Agent outfit unlocked for the completionist 19/19 challenge.
(I would like to thank my job who sent me in travel for two months this spring, making me work for half a dozen public holidays. Got the week off.)
I am impressed by the improved Glacier Engine.
It’s beautiful to see. Literally on the visuals.
But also for the work done by IOI.
The motion capture, the actors expressions, it’s an admirable jump.
I especially like the clothes, as in the material. The textures, the flow, the physics.
And with them linked to the outfits made by the art team, it’s superb. Always love some paisley.
My compliments to them all.
Optimization is good, I’m on Series S, and I was a bit anxious before the release.
Everything went so smooth that I did not remembered I had it as an open question, forgotten in the movement of the game.
Did you know? MI6 uses Glacier 2 System.
This is HMF, so an obligation.
This is not Hitman.
And it’s better for it.
A while ago I posted about a how Bond game will have sequences that demand a certain kind of curated design, like enemy spawn positions and spawn timing, the player path, that a WoA-like design would be detrimental to.
The game shows how much it can bring when it commits to its own designs.
The WoA formula already gave its all, with not much less novel to add through it.
The game is about what you are doing in the next minute, for an objective in the next ten.
Projecting further as a player is not the play, and so the design is in accord.
Besides, Bond does not plan further than that.
It flows.
It creates great moments, good respites, amusing one-offs, and climatic set-pieces.
All presented in good pacing. Overall, some of it could be improved.
Though I would have liked to see more of the natural social readability of the environment from Hitman.
As an example, the Pearl Resort is gorgeous, and with excellent beats in the story, but as a social place you are tasked to navigate it is clashing with the intent.
Which leaves me with the TacSim.
The end game.
The game mode that needs to stand by itself in an ouroborous of incentives, play to unlock, unlock to play.
The escalations were fun.
Really short, bite-sized, one note, by design.
Did all their challenges, except the Runner in Gauntlet.
Because the melee is broken by input conflicts with the Hitman Preset.
Escalations are also not what I would expect to replay much.
Live and Let Fall
The longer gameplay is with the Operations.
I had my eyes on them since the launch.
Even more when I saw the achievement linked to them titled “What If?”
Operations carried my expectations for the future replayability of the title.
Where I expected depth and width of gameplay.
But imagine my dismay when I launched an operation and saw this inside the TacSim hub:
Operations are Hitman 3 escalations all having “Restricted Loadout + No Disguise Change” all over again.
TacSim Operations are only restrictive, and heavily so.
They are not for the player to play around in. They are narrow.
They are good for what they are.
But they are the moment the game told be no repeatedly.
The game ends with no way to play, toy, with.
Escalations are bite-sized fun to play once or twice, but not much depth.
Operation have depth, but no width, and harsh punishment if you try to find some.
Checkpoint replay is limited, no outfit, (badly) preset gadgets, some are badly placed, no launch from the end-game tacsim hub, no tacsim gadget unlock, no leaderboard, no curated start and finish, needing to exit to main menu reselect chapter select and overwrite saves to loop replay…
Nonetheless I will look forward the future of Bond under IOI.
Future content on this title for now, every few months or so.
Future games later.
I don’t expect that First Light to join Hitman WoA and Stardew Valley as a permanent install on my systems.
But it will join my list of 5-to-15-hours-long games to reinstall and replay from time to times during the miscellaneous year.