Sniper assassin maps are usually fun for only about 30 minutes before I go back to playing the regular maps. While there is plenty of room for improvement for the game mode as a whole, I feel like these two simple changes would make the mode a lot more enjoyable without changing too much.
Allow saving in sniper maps like in regular maps
Not being able to save in this mode is really frustrating, especially the fact that a lot of the challenges require you to wait and do nothing for a certain amount of minutes for a specific opportunity to begin in order to complete one specific challenge. If you mess up during that opportunity or miss it, you are forced to restart and wait eight minutes AGAIN for that same opportunity and hope that you do not mess up or miss it again (I’m just using eight minutes as an example number, I’m aware that some challenges require you to wait more or less than eight minutes)! It would be very beneficial if you could save a few seconds before a certain opportunity and just reload that save if you fail or miss that opportunity. This would also be beneficial for experimenting with regular silent assassin runs. Maybe you are able to quickly kill some targets immediately at the start of the mission, but have to wait a little to kill the rest of the targets. (This is how I usually play the mode normally, IDK if others do the same, maybe it’s just me) It would be nice if you could save after you kill those immediate targets so that if you messed up your SA run, you can load back and start AFTER you killed those immediate targets without having to kill those easy targets again. Also, this game mode is not an exception to the bugs and inconsistencies that plague the entire game, so sometimes losing silent assassin isn’t even your fault, so saving would be very helpful.
Accidental Kills should NOT trigger target evacuation
Accidental kills not voiding your silent assassin rating is a core part of HITMAN, so it is so strange how this mode actually punishes you for getting accidental kills. If you kill targets with an accidental kill and the bodies are discovered, the target evacuation will start and you are forced to quickly kill your running targets. The game still rewards you with extra points for the accident kill, but it means nothing if your silent assassin rating is voided. I currently only use accident kills in this mode for two scenarios: killing the last 1-3 remaining targets so that the game immediately ends after the targets are killed and there is no time for anyone to find the body OR if the accident kill involves hiding the body, but usually shooting the target into a container or pile or shockwave ammo off a cliff is easier and more reliable than hoping the explosion throws the body into a hidden area. Hitman maps are all full of accident opportunities and sniper maps are no different. The amount of electrocution and explosion opportunities in the maps are great and would be a lot of fun, IF the found bodies as a result of these accidents did NOT trigger the evacuation. If a regular civilian finds a body in an accidental kill: you either kill that civilian witness before they trigger the evacuation (voiding SA obviously) or do your best to pick off the rest of your targets as they evacuate (basically impossible to do silently). Accident kills in sniper assassin should work like in normal modes: if a body is found due to an accident kill, the main three targets should be escorted to a safe space. After some time has passed, they return to their normal loops and the bodies are bagged and dragged into a pile, just like in regular maps. I should be REWARDED for killing targets with accidents, not punished!
Bonus idea: Let Sniper Maps be playable offline
“What?! You’re telling me sniper assassin isn’t even PLAYABLE offline?!”
Yes, the entire sniper assassin game mode is one of the many things unavailable offline in HITMAN 3, a single player game. It would be nice if this entire game mode was available offline!
Conclusion
I personally feel that these changes are not too drastic, but could really make the entire game mode more enjoyable overall. I understand that IO isn’t too focused on this mode right now, but I feel like some small, simple changes, could make this entire mode better. If the map is not brand new, then I personally can only play sniper assassin for 30 minutes max before going back to regular maps (especially since I already completed every challenge back in H2).
What do you think of my changes? What changes would you personally want in sniper assassin?