Hitman III

[Matrelith]

23 minutes ago, smokeless6 said:

I got the Deluxe upgrade as well, but didn't care, as I thought it was all cosmetic and fanstuff. What do you actually get with that Deluxe upgrade?

 

 

As far as I can tell it adds escalations with which you can unlock unique content - i.e. the escalation in Dubai unlocks the Demon suit along with a golden briefcase and a golden uzi. It also gives you an unique starting position on each level which gives you developer's commentary, and a digital artwork book + soundtrack.

 

23 minutes ago, smokeless6 said:

Oh, is that right? I have yet to work that one out. Gotta try it! Can you give the basic setup on how it is set in motion?

 

It takes place in the server basement below Williams' villa and involves an electrocution kill. I won't spoil anything more. I believe there's an NPC there which gives you a hint on what to do to lure the targets to the basement. 

Edited February 1 by Matrelith

[smokeless6]

Thanks mate, spot on. Here's what we get

 

HITMAN 3's first content update is here! We're adding new and free content to the game every week in Feburary for all HITMAN 3 players - plus owners of the Deluxe Edition will get access to two new Deluxe Escalations that will unlock unique suits and items.

Look out for Featured Contracts coming from MinnMax and KindaFunny, new Escalations that will challenge your approach and an Elusive Target contract in Sapienza that includes two targets!

As well as all of this new content, we're planning a patch in a few weeks that will bring fixes and tweaks to the game. We'll give you a full rundown of what's included and what's changing closer to that time. That patch will also make sure you're prepared you for what's still to come... The Initiation Protocol has started.

 

The Deluxe Edition includes exciting new content via the Deluxe Pack

• Deluxe Escalation Contracts
• Deluxe Suits and Items
• Digital Soundtrack
• Digital “World of HITMAN” Book
• Director Commentary (Mission Introduction)

Which is essentially what you said. I've dabbled with a few escalations, finishing one to the end. I feel sort of required to do these with map mastery harder to achieve in Hitman 3. They're hit or miss, gotta sift through them to find the ones you like. No save points, and many restrictions. Some players will take on anything, but I'm not really in to the ones that have requirements like hit five targets with a fish. And then, even if the opening level mission is good, you don't know what parameters will be on the second level. Is there a better way to approach escalations and find the ones I am after?

 

I'll have to check out the ones labeled as Deluxe Escalations. So much content in this game.A player who likes all of the modes has endless stuff to play.

Edited February 1 by smokeless6

[smokeless6]

I had a bash around Haven Island Matrelith, but that triple kill opportunity eludes me. Don't clue me in, I'll leave it out there as the carrot on the stick.

 

Achievement hunting is going great haha. I've gotten 20+ over the past couple of days. Some are quite simple, some are quite difficult, but I like this because it gives me goals and targets to hit. It also directs me to different paths, attempting eliminations that I not only wouldn't have done otherwise, probably, but wouldn't have even thought of. The Keep Your Eyes Peeled achievement in Dubai is a perfect example.

I completed the H3 epilogue (Carpathian Mountains) and my reaction is, what the hell is this sh!t? Did IOI fire the entire dev team with one level to go and replace them with ex-Call of Duty people? I just cannot wrap my head around the decisions that were behind this, to make the final level in the trilogy unlike anything that came before it, a level that feels nothing like Hitman to me. You're on a train, at the back of course. And the target is at the front. You must make your way forward through many cars, filled with guards, while you alternate between moving through the cars, on top of the cars, and hanging off the sides.

Silent assassin? Yeah good luck with that. I'm sure it can be done, but what a chore. Halfway through I finally just said screw it and starting lobbing grenades and killing everyone. I killed more non-target NPCs in this one level than I have in the entire trilogy to date I would say. Tedious, linear, and disappointing. It's impossible for me to fathom why this was chosen as the finale to an otherwise stellar series.

Replayed several levels. Did all missions stories in Dartmoor for Full House. Easy. Once you know how to reliably reach the safe and what the code is, this level is simple. The story missions are good, especially the murder mystery, but after that it falls a little flat for me. Maxed mastery will be a bit of a slog on this map I think.

Spent a lot of time in Sapienza. This is easily one of the best maps in the trilogy, and as I said in the ranking post the virus objective drags it down from potentially top spot for me. But I had forgotten it could be taken care of with a Silverballer and a stalagtite. Or is that stalagmite? Stalag-tite, right? T for top. Anyway, that's pretty easy to do and streamlines the whole thing. But still, I'd like this level more without it. I did a smooth professional SA run (solar system accident/silverballer headshot), and then a very messy Sniper Assassin run that went all to hell and I failed to get it because of non-target deaths and found bodies. Note to self. Don't use the Ruins stash unless you start there.

That messy run did have one of my newest favorite kills, the Eye for an Eye challenge. When this sort of thing emerges from the sandbox, completely unexpectedly, it reinforces what a great game this is. I won't spoil it for others, but I hope anyone attempting a sniper run clues in on the possibility.

And finally I gave one of the bonus missions a go, called The Icon. It's an alternate mission set in Sapienza, and I worked out a way to ghost it in 6 minutes, nabbing the Perfectionist achievement along the way. It was a lot of fun working out this plan, fail, fail and fail some more until each step falls in to place. Stayjng out of vision cones is especially challenging here and it requires perfect timing. Thankfully you can save in this one.

I was looking to mix things up so had a look through my inventory options to work with some new weapons. Somehow the Sieker emetic dart pistol had flown under my radar. Not sure when or how I unlocked it (Haven Island mastery?) but this tool is a game changer. One of the biggest challenges in the game is dealing with stationary NPCs that you need removed. Like a dude hanging out at the bar so he notices when you attempt to poison a whiskey or wine glass. He doesn't move, and is always looking in the wrong direction. This dart gun though makes the target sick so off he goes to vomit, removing him from the scene.

Normally you can't just choke out a roadblock like this, you have the body to deal with and you can't do that in a crowded bar. Until now a lethal poison vial was my most common stash item. But now I'm stashing the Sieker more. A great solution to some of the game's toughest spots. I bet it's great in Contacts too, where the target has no loop so you can get him moving and out of view.
 

[smokeless6]

I think I see now where the triple kill on Haven Island would occur, but need to decipher how to get all three targets there at the same time. The challenges sort of point toward how to do this as a rough sketch, clues, so I just need to work out the fine points.

 

I'm struggling to work out a drowning here. I shot the chick in the leg when she was in the pool, so she would fall down and drown, eliminating her, but no drowning. I choked her out in the massage room and dumped her over the rail in to the sea, but still no drowning. I think the Sieker is needed to get one of the targets in a bathroom. That's all that's left for the versatile assassin points. There's a hot tub tangent, but that's accident kill I think. I'll keep experimenting.

 

 

 

[RARusk]

Drowning kills are also accident kills. You can get both Hold My Hair and Someone Could Hurt Themselves at the same time. Also, you can get both the Canary in a Server Farm and Don't Eat the Buffet Challenges at the same time since you're using lethal poison on all the Targets. In addition, you may want to bring a Sedative Vial with you. When you figure things out then use the Vial to knock everybody out instead of just using lethal poison. There is another Challenge related to killing people with the Speakers in the Server Room. Use their Guards for this then use the lethal poison to kill your Targets afterwards. Apparently IOI is re-running Elusive Targets again for those who just got their copies on Steam. They just started with The Heartbreaker but are adding a #2 after it (The Heartbreaker #2). Still need to do the Elusive Target Arcade for a guide update.

[Matrelith]

I finished the Berlin mission for the first time today. What an incredibly cool level. Really gave off Hitman Contracts vibe of a dark, gloomy place teeming with atmosphere. The twist of not having mission stories and having to discover yourself who the targets were was really cool.

 

I ended up killing 9 of the 11 targets. Spoilers below

Spoiler

- First kill was agent Price, who you encounter right at the start. Felt more like a tutorial, so he doesn't really count. 

- Second kill was agent Swan. I noticed he was smoking right next to a gas canister, and I incidentally already found a wrench earlier. Loosened the valve and went on with the mission. Got a pop-up that he blew himself up a short while later. As a bonus he landed in the water, so I got the challenge unlocked that tasks you with hiding a body in the canal.

- Third kill was at the weed farm. Agent Rhodes was patrolling near an exposed socket close to a water hose. Easy electroction kill

- Fourth kill was agent Termaine, the sniper. Noticed he was sipping on coffee in between his patrols. I was hoping for a drowning kill, but he threw up over a ledge... so I pushed him over said ledge

- Final five kills were when you disguise yourself as the club owner. Felt really cool to have a massive shootout in the office, with the shotgun under the desk. It obviously botched my Silent Assassin rating, ended up with two out of five stars.

 

 

I'm really looking forward to replaying this level. I feel like there are so many small things that I missed.

 

Some screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This level and the Chongqing level are going to look amazing once DLSS + raytracing arrives.

Edited February 5 by Matrelith

[smokeless6]

Yeah, Berlin's a great level. Innovative. That's interesting that you killed so many of the targets.

 

Spoiler

They all evacuated for me after the fifth one. Nicely done to go the club owner route. I didn't even see that one. I pretty much played it by casing the entire club, identifying six targets, then started with the sniper, and tried to use what one target dropped to kill the next one, domino style. I didn't even realize there were more targets outside the club until reading about it afterwards.

 

10 hours ago, RARusk said:

Drowning kills are also accident kills. You can get both Hold My Hair and Someone Could Hurt Themselves at the same time.

 

I got an accident kill somewhere along the line, though not sure which. Probably the jacuzzi kill, or maybe the barbell. Just need a drowning for versatile assassin.

 

Last night I concentrated on Sapienza in Hitman 2. I'm playing 2 alongside 3 to fill in achievements that I never got. Did a suit-only sniper assassin from the ruins, having finally unlocked it as a starting location. 11 minutes in and out. Completed Landslide, having done the Icon a few days ago for Perfectionist. Did a random contract too and hit Sapienza mastery 20.

 

I also started the Patient Zero mission chain and completed the first one in Bangkok. So much content in this trilogy. Players that take to the side content, other than the campaign missions, have endless stuff to play.

Edited February 5 by smokeless6

[Misumi]

Yeehaw. when is this dlc coming out

 

[smokeless6]

Quote

Yeehaw. when is this dlc coming out

 

 

After Freelancer I hope.

[RARusk]

Killing them in the jacuzzi is a drowning kill and you should've acquired Hold My Hair for it. Don't know why it wouldn't have popped for you. I recommend using a Gas Briefcase against one of them, preferably Vetrova. If you don't know what that is you take a Briefcase with you along with the Emetic Gas Device. Place the Device in the Briefcase so you can get the Detonator. Take the Briefcase with you, go up to someone, and use the Detonator to create the gas cloud and make them sick. Much safer than using a Syringe or the Sieker. And it only affects the target - not you. Takes "silent but deadly" to a new level. If you don't already have the Device then you should acquire it as quickly as possible along with the Micro Taser.

[smokeless6]

I have that new micro taser. Great for electrocution accidents isn't it?

 

Well, I do not have the drowning kill in Haven Island, but I did the jacuzzi kill, I have the challenge done for that one. It's probably because of the carry over from Hitman 2 to 3? No worries, I'll get it eventually.

 

That's a good idea for Gas Briefcase. I'll need to give that one a go, but even if the Sieker is harder to use, due to detection possibility while it's out, it does have two shots, so I think I'd stick with that mostly. It's a weapon that flew under my radar until I saw it and said what's this then? Now it's my main stash item, it's a ruleset bender and gets you through some of the tightest spots, breaks routines, and gets rooted targets moving (or removes unwanted observers).

 

I played the Patient Zero mission The Author a couple days ago and the Sieker made what could have been a tough hit, taking out Craig Black in the cemetery, simple.

[Matrelith]

Replayed Berlin again and did the escalation where you're wearing a straight jacket. I feel like I'm pretty familiar with the level now. I learned that when you use a different starting location from the standard one, all your targets will already be marked. Made it a bit easier to see who I missed the first time around. Ended up with a drowning kill, accident kill outside the club, double accident kill inside the club (no spoilers, but let's just say the beat dropped) and shooting the sniper with his own rifle. The last one unlocks a new sniper rifle for you to use. 

 

Also two fun easter eggs I came across:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

That's one way of exiting a mission

 

 

Started playing Chongqing this evening - holy crap this might be the most beautiful map they've created yet. The neon lights in the rain create a stunning look. Also 47 in the rain looks amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smokeless6]

Great shots, and it's a beautiful level for sure. I put Chongqing 11th in my level rankings, middle of the pack for me in gameplay terms, but yeah it looks great.

 

I guess I've only run Berlin once, because I didn't realize the targets would all be revealed for a second run. Is that what you're saying? Can this level be completed from the tower, or are not enough targets in LOS from there?

[Matrelith]

Basically if you use any other starting point than the gas station, all targets will be revealed and marked on your (mini) map. Agent Price, the one who serves as a tutorial for the mission setup, won't spawn, so you lose an easy 1 out of 5 kill. The gas station starting point also only has one exit. The other starting points also give you different exit points (the delivery guy's scooter for example).

 

A few targets can be sniped from the tower. I believe there's an ingame challenge to kill three agents that way. 

[smokeless6]

Thanks, I'll give Berlin another go. Seems a difficult map to get sniper assassin if you can't get enough from the tower. I'll need to work that out.

 

Over the past few days I've been jumping around, sniper assassinations, contracts, escalations and campaign missions. Maxed out mastery on a couple maps.  Playing both H2 and H3, hopping back and forth for the achievements. Got about 70 over the past couple of weeks between both games. There's so much content in this trilogy that I need some sort of direction, so I'm choosing what to play based on which achievements I've yet to get.

 

Does Freelancer have a release date? Looking forward to giving that a go.

[Matrelith]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished up Chongqing for now. The level felt a bit daunting at first with two targets being holed up in their own fortresses. First time around I

Spoiler

overloaded Hush's brain as the test subject and fiddled with Royce's machine to fire people so that one of the employees would overload the core as Royce's walked around it.

 

 

The mission story with the drones on my second run made it a cakewalk though, easy suit only+silent assassin+sniper assassin that way. Now on to Mendoza! 

[Matrelith]

I finished a single run of Mendoza, and was really curious to see how the game would end, so I ended up going straight for the final level. I already sort of knew what to expect, but I honestly quite liked it. It felt more puzzle-y and a bit Absolution-y, but the fact that you're allowed to kill everyone without it impacting your score was a nice twist. I ended up going SASO on my first run. The majority of the obstacles can be skipped by

 

Spoiler

going around the train carts, over the rooftops and climbing through windows. Be sure to pick up a few fusion cells to blind the guards at the later stages. When you reach the office clerks, just knock 'em all out.

 

I ended up mindwiping Edwards, felt like a proper punishment. Will re-do this level for the challenges, it was a neat experiment and brought a fulfilling end to the trilogy's story.

 

A few more pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matrelith]

It's been a minute since someone posted in this thread. The big graphical update dropped today, Hitman 3 now supports raytracing and DLSS.

 

The requirements for ray tracing are surprisingly heavy. DigitalFoundry talked about it around the 28 minute mark:

 

 

 

A few pics with the settings enabled:

 

 

 

 

 

I've been getting around 50 - 60 fps with everything enabled. With reflections off it runs way, way smoother. 

[smokeless6]

Yeah I saw a 1.7 gig patch dropped. Is that all it is? I have a 1660Ti which is Turing architecture but no ray tracing cores so this stuff doesn't apply to me. Was there any new content added?

Edited May 25 by smokeless6

[Spider-Vice]

Hitman 3 with RT looks absolutely incredible, especially the reflections and lighting, but it's probably also one of the heaviest implementations out there and another great counter-argument for those who want hyper-resolution all-things ray traced in open world games.  

[DEADWOODZ]

Been playing at 2.25x DL scaling (5160x2160) with quality DLSS enabled no RT. Getting around 55-60fps.

 

At my native res with RT refelections only and balanced DLSS it's well down into the 30's.

[LittleBlueTroll]

I enjoy Hitman, but I am the very worst Hitman play... ever (potentially) 

 

How good are you guys at working out assassination methods and multiple different ways of killing? I either end up in a shoot out or I have to watch a step by step YouTube video. 

I have never, ever successfully worked out a niche assassination on my own. I don't know how people play without a guide.

 

Also, it's not like I just need more playtime, I played Blood Money, Absolution (twice) and Hitman from 2016, and I used a tonne of guides on that to replay various levels. 

[DEADWOODZ]

I'm pretty shyte now, to be honest. I think spent the most hours playing II, Contracts & Blood Money back on the PS2.

 

Even though Hitman has great re-play value, I just find i can't be arsed nowadays.

Edited May 25 by DEADWOODZ

[smokeless6]

I have completed all the missions, many multiple times over, probably half of them ghosted. It's just a matter of knowing the game rules and mechanics.

 

I rarely consult guides, but have done on occasion. Like killing the dad and daughter at the same time in Miami. I read about that one. Never would have worked it out on my own.

 

The beauty of games like this for me is working it out myself. I wouldn't enjoy it so much if I were simply following directions from a guide.

Edited May 25 by smokeless6

[DODI3OG]

2 hours ago, LittleBlueTroll said:

I enjoy Hitman, but I am the very worst Hitman play... ever (potentially) 

 

How good are you guys at working out assassination methods and multiple different ways of killing? I either end up in a shoot out or I have to watch a step by step YouTube video. 

I have never, ever successfully worked out a niche assassination on my own. I don't know how people play without a guide.

 

Also, it's not like I just need more playtime, I played Blood Money, Absolution (twice) and Hitman from 2016, and I used a tonne of guides on that to replay various levels. 

Patience is key. Not that I ever killed someone IRL.

 

Thing is you can always restart in the game. Use that to your advantage. Do a save before doing something critical like attempting to poison a target or setting some kind of lure.

 

Take it sloooooooow if it was your first time doing the mission. Listen for cues. After quite a while, they will probably reset their pattern. Some targets do not leave a particular area and have a circuit of routines. Some targets leave their "HQ" ang go somewhere else, but there's always an accident waiting to unfold. I'm a prankster at heart and I'd always see something as a potential accident and use the game's UI to see if it was interactive or not. As much as possible, ditch all your weapons. To be honest, you don't even need them most of the time, except for when you're really itching to shoot someone at least 50ft away and know you can get away with doing it.

 

Always watch the radar for enforcers, although I turn it off and look at the icons above people's heads instead for cues. If you've been playing long enough, sometimes even audio cues will do. But, as a general rule, get rid of your weapons unless you need to do a challenge or you just wanna pop somebody's brains off for a quicker getaway.

 

  

2 hours ago, DEADWOODZ said:

I'm pretty shyte now, to be honest. I think spent the most hours playing II, Contracts & Blood Money back on the PS2.

 

Even though Hitman has great re-play value, I just find i can't be arsed nowadays.

 

I've played a looot of Contracts back in the day. I swear it was creepy as hell the way old-gen video games felt. The maps were sparsely populated and in-between the crowds are apparent crime scenes like the bathtub in that hotel in Romania, those suicidal clones in the beginning, and a few more I can't accurately recall.

 

My favorite missions were the Hotel and Beldingford Manor. I tried poisioning, bombing, and smothering that old dude and the social system was too clunky I got caught a lot of times behind my disguise just breathing air.

Edited May 25 by DODI3OG

[DEADWOODZ]

14 hours ago, DODI3OG said:

I've played a looot of Contracts back in the day. I swear it was creepy as hell the way old-gen video games felt. The maps were sparsely populated and in-between the crowds are apparent crime scenes like the bathtub in that hotel in Romania, those suicidal clones in the beginning, and a few more I can't accurately recall.

 

My favorite missions were the Hotel and Beldingford Manor. I tried poisioning, bombing, and smothering that old dude and the social system was too clunky I got caught a lot of times behind my disguise just breathing air.

Aye, the Asylum aftermath was pretty creepy, the thing that always f*cked with me was the mission "The Meat Kings Party". The clients daughter hung up in that storage room and "Put your head on my shoulder - Paul Anka" playing along through the cutscene. I swear, Contracts was overall one of my favourites in the Hitman series!

Edited May 26 by DEADWOODZ

[DODI3OG]

8 minutes ago, DEADWOODZ said:

Aye, the Asylum aftermath was pretty creepy, the thing that always f*cked with me was the mission "The Meat Kings Party". The clients daughter hung up in that storage room and "Put your head on my shoulder - Paul Anka" playing along through the cutscene. I swear, Contracts was overall one of my favourite Hitman game!

Cheers! I just hope they remade those missions from Contracts. There were a few missions reimagined like the Lee Hong Escalations. But remaking The Meat Kings Party would be really sweet.

 

That level f*cked me up. I couldn't even sleep the night I played it. I was at least 10yo and I was thinking what kind of a psycho would chop someone's head off and attach it to a pig carcass.

 

BTW, does Hitman 3 on the PS5 have Ray Tracing already? There was an update last night, but I wasn't able to play the game to check it out. I looked it up on google and they said there was RT and DLSS for PC only.

[smokeless6]

1 hour ago, DODI3OG said:

Patience is key.

 

Exactly. The first time you gothrough a level your options are at their most scarce. As your mastery increases more options open up, in terms of kit, but also starting locations, disguises and stash locations. No game I've played is more geared for replayability than these last three Hitman titles. It's designed around the concept.

 

The ICA training is actually really good. Quick, fairly easy and with multiple options and paths. And if you complete it you get your first lockpick

 

My advice for newcomers would be to follow the mission stories at first. Listen to the conversations around you and opt-in when a mission story pops up. This will lead you through your first eliminations and open your eyes to possibilities that you may not have thought of.

 

For me distractions are key as well. My most-used loadout is a Silverballer, lockpick and coins. But coins are pretty easy to find in most levels, like in Dubai they're right on the bar, so I've been swapping those for something else once I've been through a level and know where to find some. Often, what I carry is determined by which challenge I'm going for, so fiber-wire, lethal poison and so on as the plan calls for.

 

I really like the Sieker emetic dart gun, but that takes good mastery in Maldives to obtain. This weapon is great to get a target out of his routine, and in to a private space. It's also great to strip away bodyguards or to remove unwanted observers from the scene.

 

 

[DODI3OG]

Have you guys heard of that funny conversation between Nolan Cassidy and the fumigating company? Nolan called and told them to get their equipment off his property or they're gonna end up naked on the street not knowing what the hell happened.

[RARusk]

There's also a new map coming out in July. It supposedly takes place between the events of H2 and H3. It looks like a cross between the Colorado map and the Haven Island map. And apparently they are going to make Master difficulty harder for the H3 maps in that they are going to add additional cameras and Enforcers just like they did for both the H1 and H2 maps. Not happy with that because now I have to go through all of the Disguises on those maps again and add the new info to my guide.

Edited May 26 by RARusk