Hitman Design Analysis
First Notes - 03/20/2018 - Before playing the new Hitman
The Hitman series has been around for nearly two decades and has been developed by three different firms, IO Interactive, Eidos Interactive, and Square Enix. The franchise has enjoyed success, branching into mobile and even licensing two Hollywood film adaptations. Up to this point, I have made an effort to play every title in the Hitman franchise – bringing me a lot of memorable early gaming experiences and some disillusionment when I saw subsequent titles in the franchise might not always hold the same caliber of gameplay as their predecessors. It is important to distinguish why I felt the decline of the franchise in 2012 with Hitman: Absolution.
The beginnings of the franchise with Hitman: Codename 47 and successive releases often presented the player with a simple core loop. Suffice to say, the earlier titles felt more open-ended and allowed the player to flex their on-the-fly decision making skills to complete objectives. One of the early missions in Hitman: Codename 47 Ambush at the Wu Fong Restaurant follows this loop fairly clearly.
Ambush at the Wu Fong Restaurant
> Mission Objectives:
1. Eliminate Blue Lotus Emissary
2. Eliminate All Blue Lotus Triad Members
> Plan Loadout:
1. You MUST have the car bomb
2. Oyabun knife or piano wire
> Explore Area / Discover Options:
1. Blue Lotus Triad Members at start of level
2. Nearby alleys to hide illegal activity
3. Early encounter with limo driver for Blue Lotus Emissary
> Undertake Subterfuge / Kill Enemies:
1. Avoid civilian in alleyway, subdue/kill limo driver
2.Take uniform as disguise
3. Plant bomb on limo
4. Detonate explosive with enemies inside limo
Hitman: Codename 47
> Escape
This formula was used to great success, with additional tweaks throughout the years – Hitman: Blood Money was, as redditor /u/Hunter-Gatherer371 remarked, “…a beautiful, violent sandbox... it was like a murder simulator, you were thrust into a map with a target or targets, and you utilized your wit and environment to get the job done.”
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Absolution however, seemed to throw this formula out the window and opt for something far more linear and less open-ended for the player. The game shifted to a checkpoint system which fragmented gameplay to an irritating extent, each mission feeling like the same rehashed circuitous route from Point A to Point B. The cover system, disguise system, and Suspicion Meter, each had been tweaked in a way that felt it was designed to shift gameplay in a more violent direction.
Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Absolution
Disguises ‘lapsed’ more frequently when enemies of the same type would spot you. The cover system had the player ‘snapping’ to cover locations, much like Gears of War or Splinter Cell, it wasn’t bad per se, the system just moved the gameplay forward more rigidly. The levels, while interesting locations, often felt like the backdrop for body dumps (dumpsters, refrigerators, closets, etc...) littered around the game space - hiding bodies in this way gets a bit repetitive. Deception was more often penalized and frequently pushed the player into gunfights. This may be intentional however, because it feels like this particular stage of the Hitman storyline was meant to be over-the-top – involving the betrayal and subsequent “death” of Agent 47's colleague Diana. Despite any narrative leanings, the drastic change in the gameplay felt jarring.
The developers removed the ability for the player to choose their loadout, which seemed like an odd choice, but again reinforces this idea that the designers had an idea of how THEY wanted players to play their game. With what I believe to be an opposing design choice, the score system does act as a disincentive towards aggressive playstyles. The score system gives points for actions such as killing discretely, hiding bodies and performing headshots and deducts points for infractions such as being spotted and killing non-targets. I would argue however, the score system is a loose hold on player conduct - the points are inconsequential and don't really net the player much tangible in-game benefit, and are more geared towards bragging rights and leaderboard seekers.
Hitman: Absolution
Taking the time to look back at why I liked the previous Hitman titles and where I felt the franchise went astray, I hope helps me to keep my analysis tight as I take a dive into the newest title in the franchise, HITMAN. I don’t know why I stayed away from this one for so long – it had received stellar reviews and was lauded for its innovative reuse of levels for multiple gameplay experiences. A good analysis can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ_DX7AuG1c on a great episode of What’s in a Level?
More to come!