I´m still surprised they spent Year 1 doing escalations rather than this…
Ok, big-ass Chongqing rant incoming, so for the sake of those who don´t want to read it or scroll like their life depends on it, I´ll just hide it:
Summary
My beef with Chongqing isn´t so much a matter of hate, but rather failed expectations and disappointment. I love WoA´s city maps, be it Sapienza, Marrakesh, or Mumbai (or even village ones like Santa Fortuna), and I was - like many others here - looking forward to one such map set in a neon-lit East Asian megacity. Bustling streets filled with atmosphere and plenty of indoor areas to explore, only this time set on a rainy night. And then the game released and Chongqing turned out to be not so much of a city map, but rather one massive ICA compound with a Chinese urban facade.
Where Sapienza, Marrakesh, or Mumbai make you feel like you´re really there, this one feels like it wouldn´t be much different if you renamed the location to almost anything else. There´s only a handful of streets and almost no accessible interior areas, and those that are there are essentially all linked to the ICA one way or another (be it the Block, the restaurant, the apartments or the laundromat) and not all that interesting. Even if the mission is set at 3 am, why not at least have a late-nigh-open bar in the neghbourhood with some patrons drinking (that lady that chats up 47, where exactly was she going to go drinking with her friend at that hour?) and playing mahjong in a back room gambling den, with some interesting mission story/opportunity within reach? (I elaborated on this last year in the Chongqing thread with my Heavenly Guard commando idea, but I´m not gonna repeat that here)
And mind you, this isn´t just me rambling about what I would´ve liked to see in the level based on my own personal preferences. Look how it was advertised/described in the locations reveal:
Under the flickering neon lights of busy cafes and amidst a flurry of small shops and food stands crammed into tight streets, Chongqing offers travellers a respite from the demands of everyday life. This megacity is a transportation hub with plenty of secrets off the beaten path.
If there ever was a misleading description, it´s this one. Cafes (bars)? None. Small shops? There´s two of them, the rest are nothing but facade. Food stands? Well, I know it´s 3 am, but still, there are none. And the fact that the place is a transportation hub? That went unutilized as well. There´s a rail station which is - surprise surprise - inaccessible and only serves as an entry/exit point separated from the main gameplay hub by a long-ass expository walkway (granted, the view is gorgeous, but loses it´s appeal once you know it has no other purpose - notice how H3 levels in general love using long-ass expository walkways?). The trains running through the neighbourhood are cool to look at, but have no gameplay utilization whatsoever (now compare that with the train in Mumbai). The same goes for the aerial tramways, but those at least got used in the deluxe escalation (now compare that with the cable car in Hokkaido). The map looks nice but feels shallow.
Now, I understand what they were going for with the empty streets and nighttime setting given the story context of the mission, and ok, it certainly subverted expectations and hits the sort of mood they had in mind, but I´m still unhappy it came at the expense of making the city part of the map interesting in terms of gameplay or mere exploration (the director´s commentary also mentions that the calm, serene vibe of the level was partially meant to contrast the crowded Berlin rave, so that´s one more reason for me to hate Berlin). It feels a bit like Marrakesh with the two targets holed up in fortresses on opposite sides and city streets in between. But where Marrakesh´s city streets were filled with life and interesting areas to explore and use (which were utilized even better in AHBoS), Chongqing has basically nothing. It is in dire need of a bonus mission that would be focused on that city section, and one that would preferably significantly repurpose the Block, as there are (unlike in the case of the other city maps) almost no interiors to work with (that is unless they can add them).
On another note, it´s ridiculous (especially since this is China we´re talking about) that none of the local residents find the overwhelming presence of conspicuously looking (and often visibly armed) foreigners suspicious or concerning, especially with drones buzzing around every night. If there was a fancy residence occupied by some recluse, then they would probably shrugg it off as private security (e.g. like all the Ether guards in Sapienza), but this isn´t the case.
Add to that the fact that the “special” kill opportunities here are as bland as ever (with the exception of Royce´s firing machine perhaps). The passage sniper kill is cool, but nothing special. Hush´s brain control experiment, while interesting, takes ages to go through, is anticlimactic in its execution, and doesn´t even require player input in the “resisting” phase. The antenna sabotage doesn´t lead to anything interesting. And out of the roughly three “unique” kill opportunities for each of the targets, two (passage sniper kill and poisoned rooms) are shared by both (the rooms are different though of course). I wish there was something more interesting in addition. The drones could´ve been utilized more than just as moving security sensors and target practice to lure Royce out of the facility. Hush´s Khandanyang background could´ve been exploited for an interesting side story involving an attempt to kill/kidnap him, or there could´ve been a smuggling angle related to his research.
Now, not to be all negative about the level, I do appreciate its qualities. The atmosphere can be great and visually it´s absolutely one of the most (if not the most) stunning locations in the trilogy. The music is fantastic and the level design and navigation are as great as ever (the rooftop traversal particularly shines in the deluxe escalation). And I might be one of the handful of people who actually prefer to do the core hack with 47, just because the exfiltration/evacuation sequence (and music) is utterly cool and makes the mission a lot more entertaining for me. It´s definitely a good map/level (there are no bad ones in this trilogy), but it´s still my greatest disappointment with H3, one that I have a hard time getting over and one that is only rivaled in my eyes by the absence of a helicopter explosion kill in Dubai (yes, I´m still sour about that!). The ICA facility itself is ok (though the dongle/camera system is clunky and I wish the guard disguise with mask was treated as a separate disguise from the normal one, or that there was an ICA assault team in that sequence), but the street level leaves a lot to be desired. Also, I’m not really a fan of the supposed cyberpunk vibe of the level. Cause I don´t really like cyberpunk…
Well, fuck, this got out of hand. Wasn´t planning on making it this long. Sorry…
In HB? Yeah, good point. For the non-default starting locations it´s something they should consider. Being forced into the boat exit every time feels weird.
Hmm, if all the sniper maps could be modified and converted into full-blown regular maps, that would certainly satisfy quite a few requests around here…
).
). Not to mention getting rid of the 15 min time limits and adjusting target routes accordingly.
. I like the cyberpunk vibe though i’m absolutely not a fan of it either. Chongqing must be seen as an evolution of the chinese missions that run in the Hitman franchise. A daylight mission would be great.
