E3 2018: Hitsmas Comes Early with Hitman 2

RIP Episodic Hitman.

Fascinating direction.

A race track level is such a good idea. I'm very excited to play this.

Looks good, but GOTY contender? :)

It's strange to see most people excited about it not being episodic. It worked so well in the last Hitman game. Oh well, hopefully the game lives up to it's predecessor

@galmteam: I agree. I REALLY liked the episodic release for the last game. It helped maintain focus on a single location and really drill down into what made he systems tick.

Check Steam forums if you wanna see a really, really, REALLY sour reaction to the episodic release method of the previous game.

(really)

Is that some Sean Bean talking?

I need it :)

Instantly wishlisted, the Gold and Silver options for this is really off-putting, but I'm still excited.

Has it been confirmed that this new one isn't episodic?

Playing through the pre-order bonus stuff, I got perhaps the best line for GB: 47, you need to stop Lang.

There better be an option to take the place of another driver

I am a bit disappointed with this, even as someone who is still very happy with this game being similar in form to many Hitman games before, which I loved. There will still only be 6 levels so I think they will be very detailed. That's less than the old games so ultimately I think they are still doing things pretty similarly to last time, which I'm happy with.

Anyways, the episodic release ended up being a cool way to come back to the game over time. Maybe this game will end up having DLC in a similar way and that amount of live content. They did specifically say there will be free live content. But I think if we are expecting Giant Bomb content for this game again throughout the year how last time went maybe we will be let down.

@stephen_von_cloud: Thanks for that. I preferred the episodic release, as the full games can be a bit intimidating. Hopefully whatever additional content (Elusive Targets and the like) will be rolled out one level at a time; give those of us who take Hitman pretty slowly to still enjoy the the time sensitive stuff.

@stordoff: What is preorder bonus? sniper assassin?

This is something that plays in hitman one?

There is a sniper there that does not sleep.

The Silver and Gold editions are a little troubling. I am curious what the two expansions will contain exactly, and when they'll be released.

That absolutely sounds like Sean Bean's voice as the narrator.

Yo!

Can't tell if this is going to be as open as the last one. The trailer seems more like a movie than a game.

doubt it's enough time to fix the game engine's jank.

I really liked that it was episodic, but I guess that's a silly thing to complain. Let's just hope its good.

My exact response when I saw the stuff on the F1 track! I'm hoping they can get Drew or Danny for some Alt+ F1 hits!

I was going to get it anyway Sean Bean, chill out.

The previous game had plenty of unlocks and challenges that kept me going back to levels I'd already completed time and again. I think if they keep that in place I'll be replaying it a lot even without episodes.

Its funny that before the game came out hitman was hated for trying something different in a episodic thing...no matter how much they told the public and critics its fine trust us this makes you focus on each level more...its built around this etc. The game comes out and everyone has to eat crow. Now they have to back that off and release it all at once to cater to what the numbers say (people didnt buy it so it must be becasue we tried something new.). I bet this will be rushed through and forgotten with a shrug come GOTY for many websites since they play it like a review game and not have that reason to go back each month. I also predict God of War particularly from the luke warm feeling on the team, will get a shrug for being over hyped and too long to get to the good stuff when the good stuff (not my opinion just the internet) isnt that GOOD. Well thems the breaks. glad the team is excited for e3.

@dryker: Its website indicates that it'll be sandbox style, and since it's a proper sequel I think it'll be pretty similar structurally to the last game.

Given that it's only been two years since HITMAN, and they've faced significant restructuring and also released additional content to HITMAN in that time, I'm guessing they've focused all their effort on making new content, rather than making drastic changes to the UI or engine.

Very pleased with these news. Episodic format did work as a good excuse to come back to the game again and again, but I also re-played the older Hitman games a ton and can see myself doing it again with this one. Plus they could still add elusive targets this time around too.

I’m also stoked that this happens in November. Hopefully GB tackles it during their Extra Life stream.

@seraphim84: I was wondering the same thing.

I agree with you, but I feel like there's also an argument to be made that an episodic release has an added benefit of giving the devs a (brief) window to gauge feedback to the previous level and adjust the next one accordingly. That kind of falls apart when you look at how most* of the later levels in the first** game are much weaker than Paris and Sapienza, though.

*But turn things around with Hokkaido, that level rules

**By "first" game I mean Hitman (2016)

I think the people who liked the Episodic release are in the minority (I for one, really liked the Episodic release, as I explored each location in detail, and it kept me playing Hitman far longer than I probably would have otherwise).

Business wise I think going to a full release makes sense based on the general reaction to the episodic nature of the last game.

I mean, if you look at the first trailer for the last game, you could say the same thing. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Part of the advantage of the episodic release was that it gave the devs more time, which just playing it slowly doesn't do. They iterated on the core game, and made meaningful changes, and were building the later content on a stronger base (of course if they nail it first time that isn't necessary, but Hitman came in hot and the game benefited from it - I'd also say some of the changes you can't really make until you see how it is working for players).

I look forward to buying and then never finishing this one as well.

Aw Hell YEAH

I get not wanting an episodic game. For a lot of people (myself included) that got me to never buy the game until it was complete..at which point the buzz for it the 'play along with and interact with a community' aspect of the game had long since passed me by. Where I was fumbling to learn how to play, everyone else had expect-control and understanding of the games systems and full memorization of its locations. Getting a game that I am not encouraged to wait until completion before buying is a boon for someone like me.

But..the episodic nature of the game was perfectly designed for an on-going video series here on GB. No way we would have got nearly the depth of content for the first game we did if it had all come out at once. The fact that each new bit of content released was its own note-worthy thing saw to that.

I am sure if Hitman 2 is good they will still do things to keep people engaged, the weekly contracts or etc, and we might well get a west-coast feature based around that. If good, Hitman 2 will provide hours and hours of entertainment. Still, it won't be the same.

All I ask is for a weekly series on GB for awhile. Hell, the two coasts can trade it off every week, or if they bring back the elusive contracts maybe do the cross-coastal videos. I absolutely loved the Hitman content on this site! It sold me on a franchise I never gave a second thought to,

this trailer doesnt have as much STYYYYYYYYLE as that first trailer for the last one

am

sad

As long as they keep some of the live event stuff, like the Elusive Targets, I'm okay with them going back to a single-release format. It's a shame because they really made the episodic format work in their favour - but I know it put quite a few people off, so I understand their rationale for returning to a more traditional model.

The episodic structure of the previous game is one of the primary reasons I didn't play it. It certainly didn't get this much praise for it when it was actually releasing. I don't see what it added to the experience, but it took quite a bit from it. Playing games piecemeal is simply not how I play games. It's definitely not how I play Hitman games. I also don't understand how anyone can justify the temporary missions that are no longer playable either. I guess it gave players a sense of "pride and accomplishment" when the stars (and servers) aligned to allow them hunt down Gary Busey.

That's my guess.

Mmmm this year huh

*Sean Bean in a murder simulator joke*

This sounds like the makings of a video games wiki database nightmare. Looks awesome though.

Has a hitman game ever let you down? I think we are fairly safe.

GOTY 2018 has arrived.

Everyone should be really happy its not episodic, it nearly killed the franchise and sunk IO. The vast majority of people played the first couple episodes then walked away, and not counting the folks put off by the structure or not willing to try the game mid season. Being episodic has far more negatives.