Gollum
18-Oct-2002, 05:48
The original Hitman was a bit underrated IMHO, but it did certainly have some big flaws. The graphics and mission design were generally very good, plus it was the first game I can remember playing with full rag-doll physics (e.g. while dragging and hiding corpses they would react very realistically to the environment). The storyline lacked depth, some missions were too large, and the missing savegame feature really made things hard for the player.
Enter Himtan 2.
While Himtan 2 does still lack a deep storyline (at least I didn't descover anything worth mentioning yet) there's enough to keep the game going and make missions seem related to each other. But the addition of savegames and a lot of other tweaks have really made it a great game, and unlike e.g. NOLF 2 all missions have a very high replay value! Sure, if you're impatient and want to gun your way through its gonna be one hell of an easy game to beat (at least on normal difficulty opponents are no real threat), but that's not where the challenge and the fun are and the game doesn't reward playing in this way!
Where the game really shines, is when the players are willing to think of their own way to get the job done, and try to do it as good and clean as possible. Generally, while giving the player a lot of freedom, a mission usually can be roughly divided in 3-4 parts:
Insertion - you arrive on the map, get your essential pickups, maybe a disguise and look for a way to enter the target compound if there is one. Usually you can let your imagination run wild here and there are at least a handfull of possible ways to do this.
Hit(s) - search for your target and find good a way to make the hit. There are usually many different ways to achieve this, from poisoning, planting car bombs, ambush from a dark corner, up close and personal or a bit of sniping, the game doesn't force you to go down one particular route, gotta love that. There are sometimes several targets or other additional goals involved, adding a second or third phase.
Escape - get out of there, without being seen or alerting the guards if possible. This can be tough if the body of your target was discovered and there are sometimes pretty cool ways to go about this (Spoiler: In Mission 1, the Don's brother with the Pony tail has a car key. If you manage to take the key, you can make your getaway in hollywood style with a red sportscar - it might not be the most elegant way for a professional, it certainly is fun to have a choice though!).
All in all stealth is very well done and a major aspect of the game. Violence isn't overdone either, certainly nowhere near SoF level. There are often so many patrols and well placed guards that you have no choice but be stealthy and use clever tactics and tricks to get a job done. There's also no annoying respawning in the game, which gives it a solid and real feel - unlike the constant "where the heck thit than guy sudenly come from, I just cleared out that room" in NOLF2. To make things more challenging there are usually places where a bunch of guards that are resting or having a break, those will empty out on full alarm thus makign things harder.
The game rewards you for being a professional, or rather a silent/master assasin by giving you bonus weapons for accomplishing a mission with these ratings. This can be pretty tough: to achieve a silent assasin rating you are only allowed to fire ONE round during a mission, mustn't raise an alarm or kill more than one enemy (and no innocent) besides the target. The complexity of the missions increases dramatically if you try to achieve these goals and its very rewarding to master a mission like that.
So, to anybody who likes having a choice and do some own thinking on how to go about a mission, I can highly reccomend gicing this game a shot! I have only played it for the past 2 days, but already I find myself going back to earlier missions to try out a new approach (like "hmm, what if I go to that tower over there instead of the sewers?" or "what can I do with this pager and cell phone?") or finally get the mission done on silent assasin rating. Great game! :)
Enter Himtan 2.
While Himtan 2 does still lack a deep storyline (at least I didn't descover anything worth mentioning yet) there's enough to keep the game going and make missions seem related to each other. But the addition of savegames and a lot of other tweaks have really made it a great game, and unlike e.g. NOLF 2 all missions have a very high replay value! Sure, if you're impatient and want to gun your way through its gonna be one hell of an easy game to beat (at least on normal difficulty opponents are no real threat), but that's not where the challenge and the fun are and the game doesn't reward playing in this way!
Where the game really shines, is when the players are willing to think of their own way to get the job done, and try to do it as good and clean as possible. Generally, while giving the player a lot of freedom, a mission usually can be roughly divided in 3-4 parts:
Insertion - you arrive on the map, get your essential pickups, maybe a disguise and look for a way to enter the target compound if there is one. Usually you can let your imagination run wild here and there are at least a handfull of possible ways to do this.
Hit(s) - search for your target and find good a way to make the hit. There are usually many different ways to achieve this, from poisoning, planting car bombs, ambush from a dark corner, up close and personal or a bit of sniping, the game doesn't force you to go down one particular route, gotta love that. There are sometimes several targets or other additional goals involved, adding a second or third phase.
Escape - get out of there, without being seen or alerting the guards if possible. This can be tough if the body of your target was discovered and there are sometimes pretty cool ways to go about this (Spoiler: In Mission 1, the Don's brother with the Pony tail has a car key. If you manage to take the key, you can make your getaway in hollywood style with a red sportscar - it might not be the most elegant way for a professional, it certainly is fun to have a choice though!).
All in all stealth is very well done and a major aspect of the game. Violence isn't overdone either, certainly nowhere near SoF level. There are often so many patrols and well placed guards that you have no choice but be stealthy and use clever tactics and tricks to get a job done. There's also no annoying respawning in the game, which gives it a solid and real feel - unlike the constant "where the heck thit than guy sudenly come from, I just cleared out that room" in NOLF2. To make things more challenging there are usually places where a bunch of guards that are resting or having a break, those will empty out on full alarm thus makign things harder.
The game rewards you for being a professional, or rather a silent/master assasin by giving you bonus weapons for accomplishing a mission with these ratings. This can be pretty tough: to achieve a silent assasin rating you are only allowed to fire ONE round during a mission, mustn't raise an alarm or kill more than one enemy (and no innocent) besides the target. The complexity of the missions increases dramatically if you try to achieve these goals and its very rewarding to master a mission like that.
So, to anybody who likes having a choice and do some own thinking on how to go about a mission, I can highly reccomend gicing this game a shot! I have only played it for the past 2 days, but already I find myself going back to earlier missions to try out a new approach (like "hmm, what if I go to that tower over there instead of the sewers?" or "what can I do with this pager and cell phone?") or finally get the mission done on silent assasin rating. Great game! :)