I’d like to see a new single target mission in some of the maps that didn’t get the chance to shine, like the last Hitman 2 maps (story order wise, like Ambrose Island or Haven Island) or the H3 maps like Mendoza (I know it has ETs but I’d like a map variaton) or Carpathian Mountains.
Make the Fixer in elusive target arcade.
It’s not restricted because of contractual details like the Wildcard, nor is it in a situation like the Disruptor.
The elusive target has never been reactivated since Hitman 3, and I currently will never have a chance to take it on.
Also, since we have Marv and Harry in Paris Holiday Hoarders. How about a Kevin McCallister in Whittleton Creek? It’d be funny if he set up like traps all over the map (electrocution, cameras, accident kills) targeting NPCs, but also a potential death for Agent 47. (And it could be a winter map)
I can’t find the post, but there is information that indicates that the Fixer may be part of Year 5. If so, I imagine that they may release an Arcade contract on him as well.
Like when they forced the camera view for Conor Mc r, maybe they’ll force the players to read the briefing before taking on The Fixer.
Or just… you know, fix him.
The Fixer isn’t broken. Maybe players should read the info on the target. You don’t even have to be a person who cares about Hitman’s story; it’s a practice of someone being hired to kill another person to get as much info as you can get on the target, especially when the client is giving you that info directly, and that carries over into video game logic as well. Plus, if I recall, Diana even states what you should do. There’s really no excuse for anyone to be messing up and killing the target or KOing the courier before the switch occurs; it’s just a case of not paying attention. And that includes me, because the one time in H2 when the Fixer ran, I did exactly that, despite knowing better.
It is absolutely a flawed mission. The briefing video just mentions that “You will need to track the courier or the target” to retrieve the diamonds. The way it works in-game where you need to wait to do it goes against every single other mission with an item to collect. The Broker, The Warlord, The The Chameleon, The Bookkeeper, The Entertainer, The Appraiser, The Collector, Blair Reddington, on all of them you can either take out the target or collect their item at any time and in any order you want.
Other missions with special conditions that can lead to a mission fail always note it in the briefing video itself, such as the non-explosion accident on The Chameleon and not hurting the wrong twin in The Twin. This one makes no mention of it in the video.
Now to be fair on the target’s description the last sentence says “Make sure to discover the location of the diamonds before moving on to the target”. But this is for one thing vague and not specific about needing to observe the meeting between them, and for another thing on literally every single other target in the whole trilogy this space is for flavor text, and it’s unfair to expect players to check what they assume is just optional text to learn a key point about the mission.
That just means inadequate information was given; that doesn’t make the mission itself flawed. Fortunately, IOI has rewritten the info on targets before (The Fugitive, the Washington Twins), and so it shouldn’t be difficult for them to add in more info to the mission objectives to give players better context. Or, you know, just put it in Arcade where, even when someone does screw that up, the worst penalty is waiting until the next day.
I generally agree with your reasoning. But I feel it would be prudent of us all to remember that we don’t represent a majority of the player base who have loads of patience, mechanical knowledge and general prowess. Therefore, to make this much more friendly for the new players who will be playing this mission for the first time in Y5, I think IOI could make it a bit more friendly for those newer players.
My suggestion would be a setup where the courier has to pick up the bag of diamonds using the coin pick up mechanic somewhere on the map. Then, we players have the choice of being able to pick up the diamonds at a static location (once we found out that location from Diana’s intel, eavesdropping a conversation etc) for a limited time until the courier finds the item and collects it. This change would also involve removing the mandatory objectives of collecting the diamonds, and simply changing it to an optional one like the Painting in H3 ET The Collector.
Perhaps as a failsafe for those players who would not be able to track the Courier easily, maybe there could also be a laptop on the map with a dongle access that would activate a tracker in the diamonds bag that would highlight it in blue, pinpointing it for the player (if they managed to locate this dongle).
I could certainly understand that all of this sounds too hand-holding like for an Elusive Target mission and would require a rework of the mission as well. But those are my suggestions. I was fortunately to be one of the lucky ones who managed to complete this ET with SA during its reactivation era back in 2017, but I certainly sympathise with fellow players who failed due to the stricter fail conditions. What do we all think?
Unstructured musing:
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I think I already posted about Year 5 having the franchise 25th anniversary and that it will be a honest part of it.
Inside the WoA, but also outside of it. -
In general I think it will do a bit more for the core playerbase. In addition to trying to attract new players. The effort toward feedback started in August will happen this year I think. It’s the kind that required a bit more production, planning, and allocation. This sort of things just takes time to actualize.
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I also think that the 10th year anniversary of the World of Assassination in March 2026 is already accounted for, and will be worked on this year.
Maybe as a grand finale, maybe as just an event, maybe as a tentative-yet-open-to-more-finale.
Year 5 might be the “butter the landing” year. -
Monetization will still be a priority. So I expect a few packs. 20-25 euros worth in total. One per roadmap as in Y4, maybe.
It is fair.
CelebrETs, perhaps. Mulligan of the Disruptor (and twitch drops reruns in parallel).
Wouldn’t be surprised to see legacy ET packs. I don’t think we will have pure cosmetic packs, unless they are in parallel to new major gameplay patches. -
I think we will have at least one big surprise in Year 5. As in something that would create a new sub-menu. Wherever it is.
Bonus mission, bonus campaign, new freelancer campaign, freelancer gameplay addition, new mode, official roulette. permanent ETs… this kind of things. I doubt something truly new, but I can see some new mix of the tracks.
I believe Year 5 will have a mix of some of the devs currently finishing the PSVR2 being freed back to the main game live team, and some of the other IOI studios called in. Barcelona comes to mind, because of the test stream.
Guesses:
- monthly new items, original items. I have good hope.
- original Elusive Target track (I think CombatGlue topic was for Year 5 from the start)
- featured contracts, maybe a few curated by the devs for the anniversary, or for newly allocated staff
- seasonal safehouse cosmetic at their respective time (easter, halloween)
- 25th Anniversary Event, if not a full roadmap
- recasted Disruptor mulligan, twitch drops rerun at the same time
- dlc packs
- at least one big surprise
- streams
Wishlist:
- a way to replay the the main story targets in freelancer, under its systems, payouts, and rules
- my usual list (silenced ICA19 ClassicStriker, unsuspicious RFID, large radius briefcase EMP)
- the Solstice Suit, with a providence pin
Well done, IOI. I can’t buy any future dlc’s because I’m russian… Well done. Year 5 began just awful.
Have you tried using VPNs?
Of course I do. Russian Internet doesn’t work as intended without it.
Have you missed any Elusive Targets because of this?
No, but I’ll certainly miss some content in future. I can’t buy any of the future DLC packs, like people who can’t buy Disruptor Pack because they missed the opportunity to buy it in time.
If this decision (to stop selling their games in Russia) was made last year, I would have missed the Disruptor pack like the others.
I take it IO can tell when someone from Russia is operating a VPN from outside the country?
I think we discuss very different things without any connections.
It is about time for an announcement about the 5th year.
This is just a speculation of HITMANWoA in its 5th year, or at least a request.
I am a HITMAN user who plays mainly with PS5.
I would be happy if any of these could be realized.
Even if this is an update as paid DLC, I don’t care.
・Open all contents when offline.
・Re-implementation of challenges removed from HITMAN1 and HITMAN2.
・A randomizer function for assassination methods and outfits for campaign and side missions.
・Randomizer function for stage placement items.
・Cross-platform support for contract mode. (Interactive play on different models)
・A search function by creator’s name and creation date in Contract Mode.
・Addition of a contract mode with freelancer specifications. (Item collect to safe house, item bring in at cost formula)
・Update of contract mode (Addition of optional elements used in escalation, ability to specify stunned targets, ability to specify all weapon names for firearms, etc.).
・New escalation. (Bonus missions, Patient Zero, New York, Haven Island, Ambrose Island, etc.)
・Re-implementation of escalations removed from HITMAN 1.
・Complete constancy of elusive targets. (including fixers, wildcards, and disruptors)
・Add new elusive targets. (Especially Mumbai, New York, Haven Island, Ambrose Island, etc., where there are currently no elusive targets).
・Add side mission stages to Freelancer. (Bonus missions, Patient Zero, special missions, garden shows, etc.)
・Switching of the main menu BGM.(Theme BGM for HITMAN1 and HITMAN2)
While I totally agree with most of your points, I disagree with the second one. Some challenges from H6 and H2 (especially some H6 challenges and escalations) are removed for a reason. I understand that adding them back makes the game more complete, but most of them are roughly designed and are irrelevant with core gameplay. IOI took them out of H3 for a better gaming experience for everyone.
Most of the challenges aren’t roughly designed. You can count on your fingers the explicitly “bad” challenges: Tuppence a Wish, Slam Dunk, The Hero of Santa Fortuna, Ectoplasmic, King of the Castle, plus the three that they removed during Hitman 2’s lifespan already (All the King’s Men, Making Waves, No Budget for a Railing). And beneficial reworks to make them better is superior than just straight up cutting them, and the majority of cut challenges were perfectly fine and dare I say fun to do.
With the 2016 Escalations, again there are only a handful of the 38 cut that most people consider straight up bad, the most common ones I’ve seen people say are The Mallory Misfortune and The Lupei Sensitivity, but there might be a couple others people don’t care for either based on personal preference. The biggest flaw with these escalations is the 5 level structure, but most of them could be really easily compressed into 3 levels.
Hit me right in the childhood with this one; the music transitions are fantastic, makes me wish those old tracks were a mod.
Too bad the Bangkok hotel doesn’t have a sauna - could have had a beautiful tribute to Traditions of the Trade.