A small detail I like is the weird way the menu music cuts out when you start loading a level. It’s hard to describe the effect, like it blurs together & suddenly vanishes.
4 Likes
In the Sapienza lab there used to be a guard that patrolled around the airplane. I haven’t seen him on any of my recent playthroughs.
Also, I like how the mission name and location are now clearly mentioned at the start of a mission. Maybe I’m only just now noticing things that were already there before, but it feels new to me.
1 Like
I think you see over the course of the series the effect of going from under Square’s umbrella to fully independent. Where 2016 had six huge maps, now we have 5 of a more middling size. That said, they’ve done a really good job of making these maps as intricate and interesting as some of the largest spaces in the series, and the three games have seen a pretty steady increase in the quality and creativity of mission design, in terms of how targets can be moved around the map, and mission stories completed or utilized in multiple ways.
1 Like
I finally realised what is going on with the planning menus.
Alright so in Hitman 3 not only does it save your last used loadout but it defaults to the second starting location when you unlock it, to skip the cinematic stuff. That’s fine but that basically means if you play in Mendoza or Chongqing using the default start you have to talk to Diana again and are forced to do the data thing. Whereas they could just skip those for every starting location. That also means Berlin defaults to a non-suit starting location which is annoying because I always switch to radio tower.
IO, please just let us save loadout AND starting location with a click of a button. Maybe even smuggled item too. It worked a lot better in Hitman 2 IMO. Other than that, I’m actually really enjoying Berlin, it’s a true sandbox. Haven’t gotten dug into the others but Dubai’s grown on me. I even kinda like Romania as an action set piece but then again I like the new ratings feature letting me do shit like that.
12 Likes
I am amused at the Hitman 3 reviewer who complain that the artificial intelligence of the NPCs in Hitman 3 are stupid and that IOI has not improved the AI from Hitman 1 and Hitman 2.
… the dumbness of the NPCs is an essential feature of Hitman. NPCs are designed to have predictable behavior in response to player action and are meant to be easily manipulated.
Another common complaint is that the gunplay is ineffective, janky and awkward. Hitman is designed so that you can’t easily shoot yourself out of trouble.
You can do the bigMooney thing and obliterate all NPCs, leaving mounds of dead bodies everywhere on the map, but the gunplay is meant to be awkward to nudge players to use the more effective, stealthy approach in Hitman.
There was a time when IOI patched in a more “tanky” 47 in Hitman2016. TANK47 was just a bullet sponge. I think ICA electrocution phone, and TANK47 were introduced because IOI wanted to make Hitman a bit more easy for new players.
But both of these were nerfed, as well as fire extinguisher-breaching charge kills and wall banging kills because they were considered to break the game.
Shoulder swap is possible while aiming your weapon.
3 Likes
Yep, but it was possible pretty much anytime except hiding in crates in H2016 and H2.
4 Likes
I wouldn’t even call it dumb given that well Stealth AI is probably some of the hardest to get right. There needs to be certain awareness level mixed with not to engage the moment something looks off. IO has done near perfectly in that way, (Though I do think guard AI could be better for firefights).
Combat is also more service level then full featured and for what implemented it works and fills it purpose. I always felt with Absolution the focus on gunplay more hurt it overall in wanting to be a stealth game.
Unfortunately a lot of casual players ended up swapping camera to left shoulder without noticing it … which means it’s harder for us to frame important NPCs, routes, items, landmarks etc. when we design the level layouts. I’m not 100% sure, but think that is why it was changed to only work in combat.
18 Likes
Interesting insight, I’ve always thought that the view over the left shoulder feels somehow off 
3 Likes
Wait, locking the over shoulder camera was an intentional choice? 
Gotta say I don’t love that, feels really unnatural when playing. Why not just make it being locked optional, but have it locked by default? (so casual players get everything framed like IO wants but people how like shoulder switching can)
Quick poll 
I prefer…
- having the camera locked to one side
- being able to switch sides
0 voters
6 Likes
i prefer having the camera on the right side anyways and tbh i already got used to it
But options are always good to have
3 Likes
I’m glad that you mentioned the rating system, because I forgot about it when making my post. It is one of my favourite features to be added in the game. You are also absolutely right about the default loadout thing.
Yeah, I can see why certain locations or areas should be framed in such a way that it draws the eye to certain things, but… the camera shoulder-swap didn’t seem like it moved your line of sight that far off from the center of the screen, so I don’t see why players accidentally swapping shoulders would cause too big of a framing issue.
As it is now though, it’s not ideal to be stuck in one field of view, since any right-hand turns in a corridor are going to require you to take cover on a wall like a crazy person if you want to see around it for any enforcers ahead.
Heck, if we’re talking about framing, let’s say you have to follow an NPC and they go on the left side of a staircase. (Ingram’s assistant in Dubai does this.) If you want to walk alongside them and have them in view, it’s not possible since you can’t swap the view to the left.
edit: Huh. You can’t swap shoulders when trying to throw something (like a coin around a corner), so at the very least that should be patched back in!
3 Likes
i think the best solution would be for the shoulder swap be locked by default, but let us unlock it in the settings 
11 Likes
OMG please I was thinking of making a thread for this. I prefer having a “default” saved loadout (coin and lockpick for every level) then tailoring it for whatever challenge or ET mission I’m going on.
4 Likes
47 is the world’s ultimate assassin and is remarkable at everything possible except for looking to the left.
2 Likes
yeah, imagine chongquing on mumbai’s scale.
1 Like
There seems to be an echo in here 
3 Likes
Man, I appreciate your feedback, but switching the shoulder camera is not only important when you are crouched and aiming around a corner. It was used a lot in speedruns and contracts, it gives a lot more freedom of movement.
Please please revert this change. Do you think if that casual crowd switches the cam without even noticing a difference, they will notice if targets are properly framed in the middle of the screen?
The switch of camera also currently resets as soon as you stop aiming
7 Likes