The issue was that he’d said it had already been done. But it hasn’t, not into the official game.
2 Likes
God no, please don’t bring them back officially. Or if you do, bring back like one or two for each 2016 location. Some of them are just terrible. IOI made too many of them (there are 19 in Paris alone).
And 5 level escalations are the worst because they get really drawn out near the final levels (hence why they’ve only ever made 3 level escalations since). There’s a reason there are only 3 arcade contracts that have 5 levels.
Also, if anyone is wondering, the files for all the legacy escalations are still in the game.
7 Likes
As a big (and probably only) fan of escalations I would love to see these come back.
Maybe revamp them. For example IOI could reduce the level count to just 3. 5 is way too much and it just bloated them. Or they could cut some of the targets out that didn’t add anything.
It’s sad to see the bonus mission exclusive ones missing as they rocked. This, along with an updated contracts mode and a Time Of Day and Variation toggle, is my top inclusions before IOI are done with the trilogy.
9 Likes
I think for many of them it would be very easy to combine them into 3 levels by just having some levels get 2 new objectives instead of one. Picking one at random I chose The Sigma Illusion: Level 1 - Eliminate Chef Marcello Ray with melee, Level 2 - Add in the laptop and No Pacifications, Level 3 - Add in Body Remover and Enhanced Enforcers. Boom.
To add of course I’m once again asking for the other legacy challenges which were cut to also be re-added to the game. I’ll advocate this till my dying breath (or Hitman 3’s). And in the case of challenges or escalations that were bad, I would rather they reworked them into something better instead of keeping then fully cut.
And hey, bringing back the legacy content which is still missing would be better than running the same exact ETs over and over and over and over and over and over again. Is anyone really excited to play The Procurers in a few weeks?
7 Likes
Personally, I consider it to have been done in the “official game”. I am using a personal computer version of Hitman (I’m not going to keep typing World of Assassination over and over so when I say “Hitman”, I mean the latest released version of Hitman 3). I also have the Peacock server available. When I play Hitman, there are no mods installed into my copy of the game. I am playing the exact same client that anyone else using a stock installation of Hitman is using. The sole difference is that I am connecting to a different server than the one that IOI uses.
I still consider what I am playing to be the “official game”, even if I am connecting to a different server. The official game that I start and play handles those escalations without any issue whatsoever and I can play them to whatever degree I choose. In the same way that someone can connect to an “official” Warcraft server or some local area network server, and still be playing Warcraft, I am still playing Hitman using the officially released client without any modifications done to it.
I know that doesn’t qualify for your definition of the “official game” but I have not modded my copy of the game, it handles those escalations without any issue at all, and IOI officially released the game that I am playing. In my opinion, both Kevin and you are both correct from your own points of view. If you want to disagree with that, feel free.
3 Likes
I’d love to have all of them back in the game*. Same with the old challenge packs. Those who think they’re terrible can just ignore them, just like everyone else usually chooses not to play the game modes or contracts they don’t enjoy.
*without using mods or unofficial servers, because apparently that’s necessary to emphasise
4 Likes
I disagree and agree, i think @anthonyfuller suggested the best compromise: bring them back as mods, but add official mod support
you have to keep in mind Hitman 3/WoA was made with completionists in mind, and i think the removal of challenges and escalations was a clever way to keep completionism from being too tedious for newcomers
A mod that restores all the cut content would be great, because with mod support we could also add our own custom challenges and custom suits so IO doesnt have to break its rules carefully set up for casuals and first timers while pleasing the hardcore
1 Like
Actually, I don’t disagree with that take, oddly enough.
1 Like
That…just harms the quality of the games’ side content. Terrible challenges (and there are plenty of those that got cut) are not a good idea to bring back just for the sakes of adding them. I wouldn’t be against them being reworked ala the idea for bring back old escalations (as those can at least be de-bloated), but I don’t see how you can rework launching Sister Yulduz into a canopy and make that not frustrating. No, some stuff should just be left in the past.
Not everything from WoA’s past was good or has stood the test of time, and the challenges and escalations, and the sheer amount of them with wildly different tones of quality is a good example of this. Only the strongest of the content should survive.
In what parallel universe is this the case? Because in this one here, there are constant reruns of ETs that completionists complain about, and Twitch drops that are basically one chance only.
I think a game that’s still being supported should cater to those who want to keep playing it, not to those who want to stop playing and would prefer if nothing new was added to preserve their 100% completion status.
I don’t think they’re terrible. I didn’t say “these challenges and escalations are terrible, but people who don’t want to play them can ignore them”. I said those who think they’re terrible can do that. Those of us who liked them can play them. Just like featured contracts for example, where most of them are really not to my taste, so I don’t play them. I don’t insist that they should be stopped or removed, though.
I thought we’ve established that not every aspect of the game is for everyone, and that that’s okay.
Maybe this discussion deserves its own thread though, I don’t know. It feels like it’s something that’s been discussed ad nauseam, but on the other hand, there’s not much new to talk about… 
2 Likes
the reruns are so you can get all the rewards and the twitch drops literally just got rerun
1 Like
For the record, I don’t agree with @Grim47 either when it comes to the game being made with completionists in mind. That is a ludicrous notion. It has objectives and challenges, sure, but I don’t think that inherently makes it geared toward completionists, that’s just a side-effect more than anything. Those people obviously exist, but I’m not sure if the game even incentivises that mindset.
and Twitch drops that are basically one chance only.
Considering the language CombatGlue used on this very thread when responding to our communication woes, the twitch item drops will very likely just be perpetually re-ran every patch now – in fact we got exactly that this patch, so that isn’t true. I don’t think IO are gonna make those unavailable forever either, and it’d be stupid if they did that.
I thought we’ve established that not every aspect of the game is for everyone, and that that’s okay.
And I still agree with that, but that doesn’t mean I’ll turn a blind eye to bringing back old stuff that is known to be actively frustrating to players. I’d rather IO modify them to be better, which they have the capability of doing. I’ve also said in the past that ignoring problems does not solve them, which I also firmly believe in. Improve, Innovate and Excite – it’s better for everyone.
What I more meant to say above is that not all the challenges were terrible, just that there are some really bad ones among the bunch that got many of them removed, some more justifiably than others. The point I was getting at is that bringing back badly made challenges also brings back the frustrations players had in the past with them. Saying “just ignore it” just ignores that fact some of them aren’t good, and older players can testify as such.
2 Likes
And with every single rerun there are completionists complaining about them, because they come with a new ingame challenge (not with a new reward).
Yes, the Twitch drops literally just got a rerun, but they are still time-limited content.
And then there’s the legacy rewards like the briefcase, the black winter suit and the three performance coins of which everyone could only unlock one, and that can’t be unlocked anymore.
Oh sure, some of them were not what I enjoyed. But some challenges and escalations that many people are very vocal about hating were ones that I actually liked. The one in Sapienza with the proxy mines for example, or the one in Marrakesh with the tripwire.
There are also some that are probably not possible any more due to changed physics, like the coin flipping one in Bangkok. Or maybe that one would be easier now with the changed coin physics, I don’t even know. (I preferred the Hitman 2016 coin physics though. True delight!)
2 Likes
That captured my smile perfectly. A memory I will cherish forever.
2 Likes