Since it’s all in 47’s head, I think this is what he wishes the most.
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To be fair… even New York makes you run from one end of the map to the other to get from objective to objective, and then double back on yourself to exit 
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No, not really. But hey, people can prefer what they want. Also wdym return, headturning is still in the current game.
Yet with impeccable level design and great npc placements/routes/triggers. Hence all the high quality contracts that have been made in Paris
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The TMWOAIII games ruined the classics. The choice between ultra slow mandatory sneaking or guards opening fire on you after 2 seconds is unbearable after being able to casually run by guards and targets in TMWOAIII.
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Hitman 1, 2 and 3 might have the best gameplay and graphics, but those games have also changed the Hitman series from being an unique “urban legend hitman” to a more generic “Hitman Bond” game.
A lot of things contributes to this. The music, missions, briefings, atmosphere etc.
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WoA trilogy is by no means generic, nostalgia can’t blind you from all the cliches, clunkiness and mistakes the first games had. They’re no perfect and WoA trilogy is not perfect.
For me, it’s true that WoA trilogy basically improved in every way possible the first games. I love the story and ambience of the first games, but it’s something i prefer to enjoy from far away, not playing, because playing them is really stressful.
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almost every hitman game has a different atmosphere. that’s what helps keep the series fresh.
i’d say c47 and h2:sa are quite comic booky, the latter more than the former; though at this point the series was still finding its voice.
contracts - my personal favourite - has a dense supernatural/noir-like flavour. hong kong even has slight cyberpunk vibes with its splashes of neon.
blood money has an almost lynchian vibe, where the surface rarely matches what is going on beneath it. its overwrought and seemingly simplistic colour palette is a perfect match for 47’s first proper foray into the usa and the series beginning to lean into the darkly satirical (it doesn’t get nearly enough credit for this).
absolution is a grindhouse/sub-tarantino take on the series. overall, i found it a bit teenage for my tastes, but it looked amazing.
woa is that of the modern spy/conspiracy thrillers, though it retains blood money’s ‘scratch beneath the surface’ style of story telling, taking it to the next level. given the current situation, geo-politically, this is very much on-the-nose in terms of zeitgeist.
i hope this jumping into different styles continues with future hitman games.
also, i think it’s hard to argue ‘bond hitman’ is “generic”; there are no other examples of it anywhere in gaming (unless i’m mistaken, in which case, point me at them because i want to play them! 
).
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It’s an unpopular opinion afterall 
What I mean by my critique is that I think Hitman has taken a direction where the story and atmosphere is less unique – and somehow this has always lead me to compare these games to James Bond (ironically IO was later then to develop a Bond game).
I love Hitman in all shapes and forms and yes each game (Hitman 1, 2 and 3 being “one”) is unique in it’s own way.
But my favorite was the darker and more brutal atmosphere from Hitman: Contracts. In my vision Agent 47 should be a; myth, urban legend, a lurker in the shadows and the atmosphere surrounding the targets should be a lot darker leaning towards the “horror”-ish (think Meat Kings Party combined with the atmosphere from Jesper Kyd).
Hitman: Contracts created the perfect Hitman feel and atmosphere for me. I’m well aware that nostalgia is one hell of a drug and the older games are of course also full of bad design cliches, clunkiness and less developed gameplay.
But in terms of atmosphere (level design, soundtrack etc.) I think the new games lack the uniqueness and I personally preferred the atmosphere of the older games.
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All this very true, It is indeed greatly designed level and perfect example of what IO is able to do in these aspects. However besides all that I still think it’s an overrated level, it doesn’t speak to me. I simply find the level uninteresting.
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That’s fair, you most likely value other aspects in maps than me
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I do, I always valued city levels like Ambush at the Wang Fou Restaurant/The Seafood Massacre, Temple City Ambush, Murder of the Crows, Sapienza, Marrakech and Mumbai. I will probably also love Chongqing.
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Cool. Me on the other hand don’t care that much about the settings and/or atmosphere, as long as the level design, npc routes etc are top notch. Cool setting is just an extra bonus, but not a must
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Fake, i got a corsair headset
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Mumbai > Sapienza
And since I wouldn’t have enough Characters otherwise, I break it down a bit more.
Sapienza Landslide > Mumbai
Mumbai > Sapienza
Sapienza > Mumbai Day
Mumbai Day > Sapienza Icon
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is there a nighttime Mumbai? 
A House Built On Sand?
its Marrakesh? not Mumbai… thats what confused me
Mumbai Day is the Special Assignment as the skybox of regular Mumbai seems to be morning or evening. Like WoT is daytime Sapi compared to Landslide.
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oh okay, thanks. haven’t played the SAs in a long time…