Pretty tough race between Sapienza and Hokkaido for me. I went Hokkaido though. I think the opportunities are just so cool in it and the mastery unlocks are fantastic.

You can be a fucking ninja complete with a katana and shruikens! You can use a device to mess with a mans brain chemistry. You can reinact Kill Bill. You can be a baseball player and smash everyones head with a bat. You can convince the surgeon to kill one of your targets for you. 47 can wear a hairpiece. So cool.

I also think almost all of Sapienza is great but the lab actually sucks. It's tedious to get through and I hate that you just have to go through that. Feels limiting and annoying when you play the map.

The virus was much less annoying once I realized you could run to the church and use the scientist's labtop dongle to destroy it. It can definitely still be a pain having to do it, but that trivializes it quite a bit, I think. It goes without saying that the scope of Sapienza is super impressive, but those opportunities on Hokkaido are some of the best, and some of the assassinations can get pretty intricate.

My over all ranking:

Sapienza / Hokkaido / Bangkok / Paris / Colorado / Marrakesh

I voted Sapienza. 2nd and 3rd could be Hokkaido/Paris or Paris/Hokkaido, depending on my mood - both were great.

It gets a little harder to rank the other levels. I think I liked the targets/opportunities in Bangkok, but the hotel was kind of boring. I thought Colorado was pretty cool (maybe a little small?), but with four targets, the opportunities felt like they were spread a little thin. Additionally, having only one exit made multiple attempts feel repetitive. Marrakesh had some fun moments (using a toilet as a weapon, dropping a moose on a guy), but I feel like it should have been more interesting than it was - it's difficult for me to put my finger on what bothered me about it. It just wasn't that....fun.

It's really tough to decide between Sapienza and Hokkaido. Thailand and Paris were cool as well.

I picked Sapienza, but Hokkaido is really goddamn good. Colorado and the film set are pretty cool too.

@johnseminario: Yeah you're right about the dongle but it's still a knock against it and enough to make Hokkaido the superior map for me.

I just killed Soders by just prodding him on the table and saying hello in my 47 suit, and he had a heart attack and died. Hard to beat that.

EDIT: And just went in as a ninja and stayed in that outfit the whole time. Dragged bodies around to open the doors that I needed to. Cut apart the entire facility with a katana and shruikens. Yuki tried to escape in the carnage and I chased her down the ramp, cutting down her men and then shot down the gondola and it crashed. Went back and finished off Soders via electrocution. This map is fantastic.

If I could pick a tie I would. Sapienza has a huge area and a lot of ways to kill the targets, but it felt limited to the mansion. Hokkaido on the other hand was limited in space, but still has multiple ways to kill and makes great use of the space by condoning off areas unless you have the right outfit. Both have great aesthetics and felt like areas you kind of wish you could forget the killing and just relax.

I really love Sapienza just for the potential for future content and I think that's what edges it out instead of Hokkaido. Playing through Hokkaido without any gear or drops the first time was amazing, though. After half a year of the same starting advantage I was shocked and excited for that little change. I only wish they would copy that concept and feeling for future elusive targets.

@artisanbreads: Did you find the secret down in the morgue? Because that's also a super cool thing on that map. And yeah, Hokkaido is probably the map I've put the most time into the shortest amount of time after it released. Also one of the only other maps I've bothered doing the suit only (and ninja) runs.

I was pleasantly surprised to see my two favourite maps, Sapienza and Hokkaido both had the same lead designer (Torbjorn I think) I really hope he designs a lot more in season 2. It's impressive how different the two maps are in scale and general feel but both are packed with fun and interesting stuff not only to do but to just explore as well.

My favs are prob Sapienza & the final level but I'll give a shout-out to Marrakesh (and the night version). I know it isn't as well loved, and at first I didn't love it either...but in trying to get to level 20 I grew to really enjoy the level. Trying to get Sniper Assassin on it was the tipping point; super fun. I would recommend peeps not that into Marrakesh to really spend time with it.

Sapienza, and it's not close. Sapienza is the best Hitman level ever made.

As like most people it's Sapienza and Hokkaido that are the contenders. In the end I voted Sapienza because of the locales diversity providing better potential for replay ability. Both Hokkaido and Sapienza provide the wackiest kills as well as the most experimentation in play, so honestly all I could come up with for one to be better than the other was the scale contributing to variety in Sapienza.

I hope they learn a lot from consumer feedback in the maps for next season, it's very obvious (at least to me) what makes these maps stand out above the rest and what makes the others fall behind. I'm also interested to see if we get 8 maps or something next year because the season will hopefully start earlier than March 2017. Even with the scale of the current maps 6 still just feels just shy of what I want for $60 I think 8 will tick off my arbitrary 'what is worth $60' checkbox.

I'll echo everyone's sentiments and say Sapienza is my favorite, with Hokkaido as a close second. It's interesting that they are so diametrically opposed in terms of scope and design. But they both have such great aesthetics and opportunities for fun assassination mayhem.

My second-tier levels would be Paris, Bangkok, and Colorado. Marrakesh is my least favorite map; it's cool seeing all the people all over the place in the bazaars and stuff, but it makes everything seem so claustrophobic. The amount of areas where you can actual get down to some sneaky assassin stuff just feels so limited (the school, embassy, and a couple spots here and there throughout the market, but that's about it), for such a big map. Colorado also feels very oppressive with all the different military factions, but it is much more compact, and all the different types of outfits makes it easy to stay undercover. It also has cool opportunities, sniping spots, and weird stuff like the scarecrow outfit and the mannequin arm you are supposed to beat a bunch of people with, apropos of nothing.

I like them all in their own way, but I think Sapienza will be a level people are talking about 10 years from now when they reference this game. The sheer scale of it and the possibilities are incredible. After a bunch of playthroughs I was still finding new areas.

Voted Sapienza, it's really good.

The worst mission if of course Colorado, everything I hate about a Hitman level.

I'm sticking with my Paris vote but I think Paris has gotten the most proper use. Sapienza seems like the better long map - I just really dislike the lab section of Sapienza but I could see it being put to a different/better use. I think I've been over the the ruined fort maybe ONCE in the whole game, only because I wanted to check it out - not used at all!

I do not own this game but have watched a fair amount (all GB, some LP and some streams, also played all other main Hitman games out there) Sapienza looks like the clear winner here. It's beautiful, alive, rather big and open in all directions, somewhat varied and gives the player freedom to do cool stuff and try different tactics. Easy to relate to, would totally go there on a vacation.

Colorado seems like the weakest map, with Marrakesh as a close follower. Hard to relate to, less varied, armed guards everywhere (Colorado), looks dry and dull (Marrakesh).

I will probably get this and try them out now that the Season 1 is out though.

@rocketblast0063 said:

Your observations are pretty much on point with my opinions based on 30+ hours of gameplay. I hated Colorado immediately, mostly because of how it isn't set in a typical environment filled with civilians but instead packed with guards who are more annoyingly aware of your actions. Combine that with the lack of opportunities (I believe three of the four targets only have one each, which is nuts) and I didn't spend much time on that level. Marrakesh is a nice level visually but everything feels too spread out, with the targets on opposite sides of the (rather large) map, and uninteresting.

My vote went to Sapienza. While Hokkaido is a bit tighter and has some fun/silly stuff, the sheer scope of Sapienza has always impressed me. You could argue that there's a lot of unused space there, but I felt the developers did a good job using Elusive Targets and the bonus mission to make full use of the level's impressive variety of locations. More than any other level, it feels like a very real place, which I loved.

I haven't played Colorado or Hokkaido yet, but I would say Sapienza is my favorite so far, Paris is an awesome map too and I don't think Marrakesh is as bad as people seem to think it is, after finishing all the assassination challenges on that map there's some depth I feel people didn't play long enough to see.

I am only up to bangkok so far when I voted to be fair.

I think some of the less popular maps have some underrated qualities to them. I DEF prefer the maps without the "crowds" though. Worst offender of this is Marrakesh. I think however Marrakesh is underrated. I think the opportunities at first glance feel a bit underwhelming as well, but there is some crazy cool stuff you can do there, and those are things that are not on the primary opportunities listed.

Easy example is : There is an shockingly easy way to kill the general that you may never see unless you heard about it online, or if you pay close attention to the dialog in the general's base [which gave me the hint for it]. There is this random alley with some food cooking in it. Poison this seemingly random food. It is food meant to be served to the general. Then down another alley go and turn on this radio. It wakes up the sleeping chef/waiter [I forget which] and after about 5 minutes he has the food delivered to the general. You do the whole thing without going near the school. It feels cool as heck to not even have to go near the place to kill him.

I think that is at first glance the weakest part of sapienza, the extra objective. You take care of your targets in some fun way then have to go kill the virus which isn't as exciting after the first couple times. However, I realized quite early there is a super easy way to just do it real quick no hassle, just shoot the rock above it [you have to get at a very certain angle to see it] and it kills it. Easy, just run down there real quick, super easy to get to a place to shoot it, then go shoot it, and you are right by an exit. Don't even have to get close to the virus.

The castle area actually has some really good stuff, and it is how you get into the secret lab through the cave entrance. You should check it out a bit more.

At the end of the day I don't like the maps with "crowds" in the same way as the other maps. Maybe this has to do with I eventually like on a map to see if I can clear out every single npc in the entire map without getting seen [or quickly getting rid of anyone who sees me]. Normally I try and do it all non lethally but it rarely works out that way haha. This often ends in a disaster shootout, but there is something kinda cool about that challenge to me... I have also always hated games with "respawning enemies" which I know that the crowd tech isn't the same thing.... but kinda close enough for me. Paris has limited enough crowds where I don't mind it too much. Pretty much just in two rooms and that is all. I get why it is probably a tech reason [since the crowds are very obviouslly mechanically different than the regular npcs (you will see... or at least they once did they perhaps changed it that "crowd npcs" don't even show up as dots on the minimap)] but I think I would be more open to the crowds if they just WERE regular npcs and a lot of them all over. That is probably a technical limitation though.

I am excited what they plan for season 2, after seeing what worked and didn't work in season 1 and being able to start fresh.... they really should be able to do some cool stuff.

If its best map, then Sapienza. If its best mission, Hokkaido.

I'm surprised I don't see any love for Colorado. Its probably my second favorite behind Sapienza. There is a lot of freedom in the map and its easy to get outfits you need to get to where you want to go. I think having four targets makes the level more interesting and I also like that you can walk around visibly armed with almost every outfit. Its probably because Colorado encourages the way I like to play ( I like shooting people ) that its my second favorite.

This is a lifesaver tip my man. Much thanks for that.

Well that kind of explains it in your post. Most people don't enjoy shooting through Hitman all that much.

1. Sapienza - This was everything I want out of a Hitman level. It's vast, varied, open, has many dumb/great kill opportunities, etc. On top of that, it's picturesque and has some Dark Souls-esque interconnectivity. It's just a really, really well-designed map.

2. Hokkaido - This was a really strong way to close the season. It's a smaller map, but it's really well-done, and it features a lot of fun easter eggs and unlocks. It's also gorgeous, and it reminded me of some great old missions in Silent Assassin. Having to acquire weapons in-map is neat and different.

3. Colorado - This was very Absolution, but surprisingly enjoyable. I like challenging maps where you're almost constantly having to avoid suspicion, and this was that. As much as I love the "hide in plain sight" stuff, having to do some more traditional stealth was fun for me.

4. Paris - The palace made for a great opener to the game and has served as a quality backdrop to most of the elusive targets. It's worn a bit on me over time, but I still had a ton of fun and put many hours on this map. Vampire Magician lives on.

5. Thailand - It's a decent map with some fun opportunities, but ultimately the design felt a little too much like Paris. It's a pretty map, but I wish they'd done more with the area outside the hotel. It just got a little same-y and stale by being mostly indoors.

6. Marrakesh - Easily the worst map. It's too crowded for you to really have much fun in it, and the embassy and school were kind of a chore to get in/out of. Also, it's too spread out. There's some depth to it, but it's still a slog overall.

FWIW, the only maps I haven't gotten to level 20 on yet are Colorado and Hokkaido, and I'm close on both. They really nailed it on most of these overall, and I appreciate that they tried to do some different things with each map. I enjoyed each of them, and even Marrakesh isn't what I'd call "bad", it's just not outstanding the way Sapienza and Hokkaido are.

@artisanbreads: I suppose. I like to shoot the targets in the head, then if someone sees me do it, they must die too....then gtfo as fast as possible

I'm not saying it's invalid. I can enjoy any approach with this game I'm just saying that's not what most people come for.

For me that map really sucks because there are a lot of elements tied to items in the environment, like keycards, that aren't really clear where they would be. That's just not really fun. If you look at Hokkaido, having access tied to outfits is just SO much better and works with what Hitman does. Or, in other Hitman levels, they do stuff like at least telegraph that stuff more. Like for example, in this game you check your utility areas to find a crowbar. In other Hitman levels in the past, you find tranquilizers at the vet in the neighborhood in A New Life, that just makes sense and is telegraphed more. The map really is just a chore to explore and not even so rewarding when you do explore it. I also think it has Absolution bad levels of suspicious NPCs placed around certain areas that, instead of making you think on your feet or be careful in your moves, just again make things a chore to go around them.

I think it's easily the worst map in the game. At least parts of Marrakesh are good. The embassy is a good area.

You're not wrong, but the drum solo was one of my favorite dumb challenges to do in the whole game, and the coconuts were also pretty great. It got bonus points in my book for those.

Hokkaido. I love the look of the level and a lot of the opportunities.

Having recently gotten Colorado and Hokkaido, as I hadn't had them till recently... I think Colorado gets a bad rap. I think it is actually one of the more interesting environments to work in, and it isn't that different mechanically like some people seem to indicate [no civilians.... but it is all the same thing, get a disguise, then you can go into new areas, ect]. Really fun ways to to do things in that level. It is so open with so many things to do in it, but open in an interesting way to me. I think there are a few things that it does have a problem with, or increase the perception of a problem with it.

1. A big cool thing is that there are four targets in it, and pretty neat ones too. The downside is... that means you have the opportunities spread between the targets more, meaning for some of them there are only a few or even one opportunity around them. However, as I said in an earlier post [I think I did?] about marrakesh, there are in these levels actually quite a few cool scripted kills that are not listed as opportunities. The challenge list for colorado shows this off better than the opportunity list. Lots of cool ways to take guys out. If you are a new hitman player, seriously don't limit yourself to the opportunity list, there are often MANY more cool scripted ways to deal with that [of course also then any non scripted ways, but I am saying they def scripted far more than the opportunities list]. Some ways are things you do with the opportunity, that then lead to even further non-listed opportunities that you wouldn't expect most likely [Such as rose with the slurry pit, which I came upon by total accident].

2. Honestly, this is the one where it feels like it should allow you to dress up as two of the main targets after you kill them, if you do it secretly. Between the 3d printer face of sean rose, and the guy with the mask, the only problem 47 would have to do that would be needing a wig.... but that would be easy to contrive. Problem is, that probably takes a lot of resources, as to make that worth it you need to then have cool interactions AS those guys with other people which prob takes a lot more voice work and just general development work. Understandable it isn't there, but kinda feels like it is "supposed to be".

3. This has a similar problem as Sapienza, but it goes too far with it. Sapienza has the extra objective with the virus, which after a few times doesn't become much more interesting to take out. Colorado has this in a much worse way. After you get all 4 guys, you have to then get to the tornado shelter which as far as I can involve one of only two ways [please tell me if I missed something], and none of them are that super simple like sapienza shooting the rock up above. For most of the kills one of the ways is completely unreasonable as well [using his body]. The other way you just have to kinda sneak up there in an awkward way and print the thing. Finally, they then make you go down there, click all three of the prompts inside it, and then exit in only one way every time. There are challenges for other exit places, but you can only get the tornado shelter exit in the main mission. I would much rather have liked if they after doing the mission the first time just let you exit the mission after the four kills any way you want..... Like I don't need the tornado shelter story every time, and they as far as I can tell didn't even give enough interesting ways to get into the thing, or a simple way that isn't a touch tedious.

Overall though, I really like the map a lot! Just there are some odd parts about it.

1. Hokkaido - I have completed every single challenge on this map. That kinda speaks for itself. The design is near perfect and the Easter eggs are all great.

2. Paris - You never forget your first. It's a great introduction-- basically the template from which all levels should start. Nice variety too.

3. Sapienza - The virus objective (and the lab area in general) gives this a huge bump down. It's also a bit too large for my liking, Otherwise, it's fantastically designed.

4. Bangkok - Poor man's Paris. One of the targets is lame, the other is great. Every hot and cool on this one.

5. Colorado - Even though it's pretty big, I don't mind the size so much since there's not much verticality. I appreciate that sniping all four targets is actually very viable. The dinosaur Easter egg is the best of the season, but the exit procedure drops it.

Marrakesh - Way too big. It also feels as if the game funnels you into specific path when sneaking into the targets' stomping grounds. Still fun, but no bueno compared to the rest.

My top three are Paris, Sapienza, and Hokkaido.

I have only gone through each level once, but I really dug the look and feel of Hokkaido when I was playing it, so let's go with that. I liked all of the stages though, and the top three I listed are pretty close.

@wemibelle said:

Thats how I felt about Marrakesh at first but once I realised most opportunities involved getting both targets in the same place together the level got better for me, which is great because I really don't like one half of that level.

Yeah I'm just echoing everyone else here by saying top 3 are Hokkaido/Paris/Sapienza. I went with Hokkaido because I appreciated the neat little touches in that map a lot more than the others. Also the one Hokkaido escalation that's in the game is the best escalation I've played in the game so far. As far as least favourite goes? Bangkok is the most frustrating to navigate map, even if all of the opportunities for taking out the musician are great.