Square-Enix Has Assembled Three Old Hitman Games Into an HD Collection

@Godlyawesomeguy said:

The fact that the PC versions of the first two games are literally UNPLAYABLE on my system make me not want to support this bullshit.

You need to get yourself a better PC then. It's kind of ridiculous that a computer can't play 10 year-old games.

best idea ever

@phanboyjohn said:

Any word on if this will be released for PC, or for Steam? I know some of the originals are already available on Steam, just curious.

Dude, there's already a Hitman HD collection on PC. It's called Hitman. For PC.

@Laivasse said:

@narujoe93 said:

@Tordah: hitman contracts (if you're, somehow, referring to that as the third game) was nothing but 4 missions of the first game redesigned on a newer/better engine. Also, the first hitman remains, to this day, a pc only game. And it's pretty shitty, so you aren't missing anything. The only games you should be worried about playing is silent assassin, blood money, and absolution

That's totally wrong. Contracts is a full game with 12 missions, with its own story arc based on an interesting little idea. The remade levels don't just consist of an engine update. They are reinterpretations of the originals based on the idea that Agent 47 is dreaming/hallucinating. You should play Contracts since it's apparent that you haven't done so. It's certainly better than Absolution.

Anything is better than Absolution. That game disappointed me so. I guess the era of good games is over.

Any word on if this will be released for PC, or for Steam? I know some of the originals are already available on Steam, just curious.

@I_smell said:

Can't wait for all TVs to be 3D so all the games coming out now can re-release in 5 years with "3D" at the end.

You know it'll happen. Actually I see 3D dying, again.

Oh, the memories.

Can't wait for all TVs to be 3D so all the games coming out now can re-release in 5 years with "3D" at the end.

From my understanding Contracts was a choice made because IOI was runing out of time to deliver the Hitman 3 (later to be known as blood money) they were targeting for.

By the time the Sikh controversy hit, Io was already crunching hard on Hitman 3, the intended conclusion to their trilogy. "We seriously thought that the world would grow tired of Hitman after the third game," says Andersen, and they wanted to go out with an ambitious adventure that topped everything they'd done before.

Eight months in, the Io team realized they didn't have a hope of delivering it on time. They quickly called a crisis meeting with Eidos CEO Mike McGarvey.

Their first decision: Put Hitman 3 on ice. Their second: research told them less than 10% of Hitman 2's audience had played the PC-only Codename 47. "We decided to make Hitman 2.5 with some of the best content from Hitman 1," says Andersen, remastering everything via the Hitman 2 engine. With most of the Io team knee-deep in a separate project titled Mercenaries, a skeleton crew went to work and delivered Hitman: Contracts in just seven-and-a-half months.

Source IGN presents The history of Hitman

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/01/ign-presents-the-history-of-hitman

I'm currently playing through Absolution. I miss Blood Money.

@narujoe93 said:

@Tordah: hitman contracts (if you're, somehow, referring to that as the third game) was nothing but 4 missions of the first game redesigned on a newer/better engine. Also, the first hitman remains, to this day, a pc only game. And it's pretty shitty, so you aren't missing anything. The only games you should be worried about playing is silent assassin, blood money, and absolution

That's totally wrong. Contracts is a full game with 12 missions, with its own story arc based on an interesting little idea. The remade levels don't just consist of an engine update. They are reinterpretations of the originals based on the idea that Agent 47 is dreaming/hallucinating. You should play Contracts since it's apparent that you haven't done so. It's certainly better than Absolution.

@Yummylee said:

Can't wait to play through that Hotel mission in Contracts. Had so much fun replaying that mission over and over.

is that the one with the ghost ?

These incomplete franchise collections bug me to no end. On Steam you can get Hitman 1, 2, 4, but not the third one. And in this collection you get 2, 3, and 4, but then Hitman 1 is missing. Arrgh. So frustrating.

@HansKisaragi said:

Replace the damn song already and include the 4th game.. >_> im not rebuying until they do that. wont even buy the newest hitman.

Dude, they ARE including the 4th game, did you even watch the trailer?

Bought the 'HD' version of this package for PC sometime last year, though still I haven't bothered with the first game. But just Silent Assassin and Blood Money made it worth buying. Contracts was a tad too messy, but even that was a worthwhile experience 'cause of some of the disturbing levels. That Paul Anka song will never leave my head (on my shoulders) ...

Now if they've managed to make zem controls smooth-enough for this and fixed the framefrate (that being bad in some of these HD collections has always been really baffling to me...), this will definetly be worth the purchache in my opinion.

"Square-Enix Has Assembled the First Three Hitman Games Into an HD Collection"

Dear lord...

Alex, you could at least try to put some effort into this. However, if you really want to correct your ignorance then you might want to change the Youtube title too, along with Terraria. Hint - it's NOT being ported by the makers.

The reason im getting this is not the "HD" update at all. It's the nostalgia and the awesome gameplay awaits in 40 levels. Graphics are just bonus.

No amount of HD will make these games look pretty again. Don't get me wrong, I was looking for an excuse to replay the first two after more than 10 years and now I guess this is my chance.

This HD collection is useless to me if it doesn't include Codename 47. Square Enix and IO should release an enhanced version of the original game with better controls and graphics and include in this compilation as well. That would make the HD Collection worth getting.

The fact that the PC versions of the first two games are literally UNPLAYABLE on my system make me not want to support this bullshit.

@FZackM said:

This doesn't look improved at all, I'm confused.

In fact I just played through Blood Money on PC and it looked better than what they showed there.

Is this "HD for consoles" thing? Meaning 720p at most. Ehhh, pass.

I've been replaying Hitman 2 and Contracts recently (plus I've played the shit out of Blood Money), and I can say with confidence that this footage looks like it was taken directly from those 'non-HD' versions. Honestly, I think the people that made Hitman 2 and Contracts no longer work at IO and the current staff hates the games that came before Blood Money. Anyways, to anyone wondering whether or not the older games have aged well, they definitely have. P.S. Hitman 2 still has the best OST in the series IMO:

I just want them to put out 3 on Steam.

I'm gonna buy the shit out of this, after the bad taste absolution left.

This doesn't look improved at all, I'm confused.

In fact I just played through Blood Money on PC and it looked better than what they showed there.

Is this "HD for consoles" thing? Meaning 720p at most. Ehhh, pass.

Most of Alex's video descriptions are the fucking worst attempts at humor ever. But that was actually funny.

Damn! Blood Money looks so much better in my memory! That was an excellent game. It's a shame Absolution is hampered by so many small and easily fixed problems, or just a lack of options in some cases.

YES! AWESOME!

Lol at them almost exclusively showing only Blood Money missions. The others not HD enough?

Tasty !

Why does the trailer show so much of Blood Money, especially the ending twist?

@graf1k: I have the Sly Cooper and Jax and Daxter games, and they do look a lot better.

Looks titties.

Yo people we got this sweet exclusive preorder bonus for you. Totally exclusive! That is until we put it all in the next game.

I'm not actually complaining but I do find it funny.

Good trailer - very 90s. Surprised to see some actual effort put into the boxart and bonus shit, too. Very nice!

I will end up getting it eventually. Even tho I have all the games on PC, I've separated my gaming from it and use it for work only. Plus it won't hurt my trophy count and at $30 it won't hurt my wallet when I hit the dog days of nothing else to play.

@Microshock: yea nothing bad about that. i wont be picking this up though, still havent tried out the new hitman yet....

Yeah, the old games don't look much/any better than they used to, but do they really in any of these "HD" collections of previous gen games? I'm really asking because I haven't played any of them. Did the Sly Cooper, Jak & Daxter, DMC, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell, MGS, Silent Hill, Z.O.E. or ICO/SotC collections look markedly better? All of them claim to be "HD" or "remastered for HD" as well.

Why no Hitman 1?

@warxsnake said:

THAT is a soundtrack; sucks your new game doesnt have Jesper Kyd. Big mistake.

I don't know about mistake, he was probably busy composing for Borderlands 2 and Darksiders II ... throwing yet another game into the mix may have been a bit much for one guy. That's probably the same reason (at least partially) why he didn't compose Assassin's Creed III after scoring all previous games. I bet IO would've loved to have Kyd come back since they basically broke into the industry together.

@014 said:

It doesn't look improved. I finished off Blood Money a few months ago. Turn on 16x anisotropic filtering and morphological AA, and it looks the same as this trailer. Maybe it actually looks better when you play, but this trailer did not.

Well, all they're selling is an HD version for consoles. In that scenario, they are improved since the old games weren't in HD (aside from the 360 port of Blood Money). Their "for the first time in one HD package" line is a bit silly though since they've been selling all FOUR (!) games in one package (Hitman Ultimate Contracts) on PC for many many years.

@m16mojo2: I don't know why you'd expect them to use much video from the older games, they look awful compared to Blood Money. You shouldn't treat it as them trying to imply the old games are terrible, they're just using the content that looks best in video

THAT is a soundtrack; sucks your new game doesnt have Jesper Kyd. Big mistake. 

@Yummylee: That's one of my favorite hitman levels of all time. It's actually a remake of the same level in Hitman 1, but it's great in both.

Also if you even have a 3~ year old mid range PC you can run all these games fine and get them for cheaper from Steam. It seems like they didn't do any graphical improvements other than bump up the resolution.

@abara said:

I just cannot for the life of me, look at the Hitman dude and not see Tim Olyphant in a bald wig

"Shut up, eat your sandwich."

I just bought this "Collection" for $6 on Steam.

@Microshock said:

@DeathbyYeti said:

"HD collections" are kind of awful and as someone who loves Hitman I dont care at all for this

What's awful about them? Multiple old games in one place, with improved frame rates/textures.

Improved is a stretch, in this case it looks like they put high gloss paint over the old textures.

This could have been interesting for me if they had actually put some work into making the older games look more like Blood Money. At least, improving the textures and characters models.

Hopefully this does well enough to remind IOI how to effectively use the IP. Absolution was a disaster

I just cannot for the life of me, look at the Hitman dude and not see Tim Olyphant in a bald wig

Can't wait to play through that Hotel mission in Contracts. Had so much fun replaying that mission over and over.