Hitman 3 - Year 2 Content Looks Sick

[DrBloodmoney]

Best game of last year getting a whole host of new stuff this year!

 

watch Clemens Koch -  the most excited bearded man ever - talk superfuckingfastaboutthenewHitman3content!

 

including:

 

• Elusive Target Arcade: A brand new game mode that takes the Elusive Target concept to the next level, mixes up the formula and introduces new challenges and unlockable rewards.

• Freelancer Mode: Arriving in Spring 2022, Freelancer is a brand new way to play Hitman 3 that introduces roguelike elements, strategic planning and a customizable safehouse.

• New Map, codenamed 'Rocky', confirmed - to be revealed later in Year 2.

Edited January 13, 2022 by DrBloodmoney

[NMErickson]

This sounds absolutely sick. Freelancer mode especially sounds fun. I hope the ET’s count in Arcade. I missed one in year one. Can’t wait to dive in, it drops on my Birthday  no less. Woohoo!

[DrBloodmoney]

3 minutes ago, NMErickson said:

This sounds absolutely sick. Freelancer mode especially sounds fun. I hope the ET’s count in Arcade. I missed one in year one. Can’t wait to dive in, it drops on my Birthday  no less. Woohoo!

 

Yeah, I've missed a fair few this time around - for some reason, they've stopped sending me the emails telling me when they are...  or at least, they miss some out, so looking forward to that!

 

The big one is Freelancer though....

Hitman as a Rogue-like?

 

 

??

[NMErickson]

I didn’t know email notifications were a thing lol. I would always check the IO Interactive news page, view the newest roadmap, and get the dates from there. Sometimes gaming sites would also post it.

 

I find it kinda funny how this free update has a shitload more content than their expensive Seven Deadly Sins DLC. Not complaining though!

[YaManSmevz]

Fuck. I might have to start playing Hitman 3 ahead of schedule...

 

Lousy awesome IOI!!

 

Also the new map tease looks like Santa Fortuna and Sgail had a baby?

[Crispy_Oglop]

I really wanted to get into Hitman 2 and 3 but at first glance the way DLC and content spanning both games is accessed seems really daunting. I really want to start with 2 first which is where I think the problem lies. I think I'll do some more research first.

[Cleggworth]

57 minutes ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

I really wanted to get into Hitman 2 and 3 but at first glance the way DLC and content spanning both games is accessed seems really daunting. I really want to start with 2 first which is where I think the problem lies. I think I'll do some more research first.

 

Also announced was a complete trilogy, so presumably the simplest way to get started would be to just get that. I say simple, they've made a right mess of it up til now so no doubt they'll find a way to make it as complicated as possible 

[sephiroth4424]

I'm confused about the Trilogy. Isn't H3 the trilogy itself? Anyway i hope we get new trophy lists for H1 and H2 on ps5

[OmegaRejectz]

On 2022-01-13 at 5:51 PM, sephiroth4424 said:

I'm confused about the Trilogy. Isn't H3 the trilogy itself? Anyway i hope we get new trophy lists for H1 and H2 on ps5

Hitman 3 is *apart* of the trilogy.

The ‘World of Assassinstion Trilogy’ is Hitman 1 (2016), Hitman 2 (2018) & Hitman 3 (2021).

And Hitman 1 is playable in Hitman 2 and Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 are playable in Hitman 3.

[StraightVege]

Well, I think Elusive Target Arcade ended up being a pretty disappointing mode. It just feels like additional tedious escalation missions, and they don't even unlock the unique suits associated with elusive targets. I honestly don't understand why IO persists in time-gating elusives anyway; has anyone ever enjoyed that?

 

I still have high expectations for the Ambrose Island map, and Freelancer, though. Really hoping the map doesn't have too much in common with high-security, heavy enemy presence locations like Colorado and Santa Fortuna, which I never much cared for.

[Biscoito18]

Yeah, I'm only interested in the new map. I'm done getting my hopes up for this new mode after the ET Arcade fiasco. It seems IO only do escalations now.

[StraightVege]

The Ambrose Island trailer just dropped:

 

 

The Tropical island is a hidden cove, home to a dangerous pirate syndicate operating in the Andaman Sea and is home to many hidden secrets. This fully explorable sandbox location is packed with new targets, gameplay opportunities, challenges, unlockable rewards and is free for all owners of HITMAN 3.

 

 

Appears to have elements of locations like Santa Fortuna and Haven Island, neither of which I'm terribly fond of, but we'll see. Full credit to IO for making this free, though; really expected it to be paid DLC! I'm looking forward to finally figuring out the Master SASO on this map.

[hbg]

If it gets new trophies, I'll probably hop back in for a bit. In the beginning I was a bit sceptical about the sandbox trilogy, but the games were really fun and kept getting better.

[ryuzakix5]

In the last decade, This Hitman trilogy was one of the few games I enjoyed playing even after getting all of its trophies for the sake of 100% completion. Both on PS and on xbox with GamePass. This game is absolutely stunning. I would play it on Switch too if it had achievements.

Edited July 17, 2022 by ryuzakix5

[Gueeds]

Disappointing this hasn't received any additional trophies with any of the new content yet. Though the new level would for sure have them

[StraightVege]

On 7/7/2022 at 9:37 PM, StraightVege said:

I'm looking forward to finally figuring out the Master SASO on this map.

 

Speaking of that, I whipped this method up in a jiffy, after discovering the nearest propane tank location:

 

 

Smoking really does kill! This must be among the easiest missions in the series, but it's quite fun nonetheless. Densely packed with cool stuff to do, and they tried some new things, like the slapping mini-game. I think it bodes well for IO's future level design in 007 and beyond. They're really honing their craft. Shame about the lack of new trophies, though.

 

If you're wondering how I was able to run past the guards near the end, it's a simple AI exploit. Just shoot one non-lethally from afar/out of sight, and they'll become single-minded in investigating where the shot originated from, temporarily blinding them to everything else. It's hilariously dumb.

[StraightVege]

https://www.ioi.dk/hitman-3-road-to-freelancer

 

Two major DLCs in succession for free—good stuff, IOI!

[materialghost47]

14 minutes ago, StraightVege said:

Two major DLCs in succession for free—good stuff, IOI!

I was fully expecting and willing to spend some money on both, so this has been a welcome surprise! Sounds like the game sold really well. It's so great to see the studio and franchise finally getting the commercial success they deserve!

[StraightVege]

New gameplay and information today!

 

 

https://www.ioi.dk/hitman-3-road-to-freelancer-2/ - Some lucky Steam players will receive invites to participate in the Closed Technical Test on November 3rd.

 

I expect this will keep me busy for a little while—Hitman with roguelike elements sounds perfect. 100 mastery levels! ?

[StraightVege]

So, I finally got around to trying Freelancer the other night...

 

 

The default difficulty was easier than I'd heard, honestly. Obtain a sweet silenced pistol by taking out an assassin in the very first Syndicate Showdown, then keep purchasing the cheapest items from suppliers until a silenced sniper rifle shows up (I was fortunate enough to find a Sieger 300 Viper halfway through). Everything's downhill from there, since you can simply headshot all targets from concealed positions. Obviously, run away before guards arrive to investigate the source. I ignored most optional objectives, unless they were really convenient/safe to complete.

 

Only the Showdowns can be tricky, but there are a number of good strategies for those as well. First, if you make sure to choose a H1 or H2 map for the Showdown, then a distinct musical cue will play whenever you're in proximity to the real target, allowing you to identify them easily without even examining their traits. You could also pick a very open map, such as Mendoza, and just snipe them all until you kill the right person—the money penalty is inconsequential. Finally, if there happens to be an objective such as "poison target," then pop your likely suspect with the Sieker 1 dart gun, and if the objective completes, you know for sure that it's the correct mark.

 

Another thing: just as with elusive targets, you can dashboard if something goes horribly wrong to get another attempt. I would imagine hardcore poses a far greater challenge, however, considering that prestige objectives must be completed, and all territories are alerted. Sounds like a real pain.

 

Guess I'm finally done with Hitman for a while. It's a good mode (certainly more interesting than Contracts), but between the crashes/lengthy load times on PS4, and my general burn out with this series, I think I'll let 47 rest in his magnificent safehouse until I maybe get around to playing the PS5 version someday.

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by StraightVege

[steel6burgh]

Wow ioi has been a class act with this hitman series!!! Can't wait until 007. I'm going to have to find time to download hitman 3 and try all the new content.  Probably the best thing to come to playstation 4 and 5 is this entire 3 part series.  In the hitman 1 days they surely didn't get the recognition for it they deserved.  Glad to see people are finally giving them the credit they deserve for coming across with such a great trilogy 

[DrBloodmoney]

2 hours ago, StraightVege said:

So, I finally got around to trying Freelancer the other night...

 

The default difficulty was easier than I'd heard, honestly. Obtain a sweet silenced pistol by taking out an assassin in the very first Syndicate Showdown, then keep purchasing the cheapest items from suppliers until a silenced sniper rifle shows up (I was fortunate enough to find a Sieger 300 Viper halfway through). Everything's downhill from there, since you can simply headshot all targets from concealed positions. Obviously, run away before guards arrive to investigate the source. I ignored most optional objectives, unless they were really convenient/safe to complete.

 

Only the Showdowns can be tricky, but there are a number of good strategies for those as well. First, if you make sure to choose a H1 or H2 map for the Showdown, then a distinct musical cue will play whenever you're in proximity to the real target, allowing you to identify them easily without even examining their traits. You could also pick a very open map, such as Mendoza, and just snipe them all until you kill the right person—the money penalty is inconsequential. Finally, if there happens to be an objective such as "poison target," then pop your likely suspect with the Sieker 1 dart gun, and if the objective completes, you know for sure that it's the correct mark.

 

Another thing: just as with elusive targets, you can dashboard if something goes horribly wrong to get another attempt. I would imagine hardcore poses a far greater challenge, however, considering that prestige objectives must be completed, and all territories are alerted. Sounds like a real pain.

 

Guess I'm finally done with Hitman for a while. It's a good mode (certainly more interesting than Contracts), but between the crashes/lengthy load times on PS4, and my general burn out with this series, I think I'll let 47 rest in his magnificent safehouse until I maybe get around to playing the PS5 version someday.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm around level 67 now, have fully stocked all weapons, and can offer a few bits of advice for the mode (some of which is just good tips generally):

 

 

• Do the objectives!
• I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!
• You don't need anything but MONEY.... so do all objectives. You are no longer an ICA assassin - you don't need to be as clean as they wanted you to be. It might feel like you are moving up the ranks quickly early on - but the pace of progress plummets around level 60 - you need way more XP for each level after that.

 

• There is no "Silent Assassin" rating in Freelancer. If someone sees you, pop them in the head, and move on - it's cleaner than causing havoc. You don't want to go LOUD.... but you don't need to be perfect.

 

• Killing a random person doesn't punish you much financially - but killing the wrong target in a Showdown does. When you have 9 targets, you can potentially lose 8000 mercers by killing them indiscriminately. Be smart.

 

• Remember that there isn't "quiet" and "loud" weapons - it's a sliding scale. Each action has a "noise radius" - even choking out a person. Using the Kalmer or a sedative syringe, for example, is quiet enough to do right next to another person without them noticing. Choking isn't.

 

• In the early game, always take the Bank (New York) when it's available.  Not only is it a fairly easy map anyways, but you can rob the vault very quickly to get an easy 10,000 - 20,000 mercs, you can get a bunch of rare weapons from the safe-deposit boxes, and you can get the best outfits very, very easily. If you start in the basement, you can just knock out one of the two high-security guys in the car park, and if you start upstairs, you can take out the regular security guy in the bathroom (needs to be silent weapon - you'll get heard if you just choke him out) then go down to the IT room, and turn off the vault lock, and they come wandering in)

 

• Taking a large weapon can be useful, even if you don't need it - because it gives you a briefcase, which is a great all-purpose silent pacifier weapon, noise-maker, and guard-distractor. Guards treat the case like a weapon. They will leave their post to go store it somewhere - If the guards take it away, you can still go get it back from the weapon locker.

 

• Assassins and Lookouts are "plain clothes"... but they have the thicker white outline in Hitman vision - like guards. If someone has that outline, and isn't in a guard outfit, they ARE an assassin or a lookout.

 

• Bananas are OP. dropping one in front of an assassin is not considered "suspicious behaviour"... but they will drop their silenced weapon, which you can pick up and pocket before anyone notices. Same for the mercs on couriers. No need to kill them.

 

• Get the Kalmer and the Sieker Collectors versions, AND the non-rare ones. That way, you can have 8 non-lethal darts with you.

 

• For showdowns, the target has 2 tells AND ONLY TWO TELLS. If someone does ANY tell that isn't on the list.... it isn't them.

 

• In aShowdown, knock out (or banana) any suspect that you can get to without alerting people. They not be the right one, but they might have the right phone, and then you can find a quiet bathroom or secluded spot to call the real one to a "meeting"

 

• BUY EVERYTHING. Money is only good for buying stuff, and the more useless things you already own, the more of the good stuff will be for sale. If you have fully filled out your arsenal, then even if you lose your best weapon, it is guaranteed to be for sale in the next mission.
• The only thing to watch, is don't buy multiple "large" weapons, if you aren't in a costume that allows you to carry one out in the open. Agent 47 is good - but he only has 2 hands, and can only carry one briefcase at a time!
• Also, remember to take the stuff you buy back with you! No point buying a sweet silenced sniper rifle, then forgetting to take the case with you when you leave!

 

• Agent 47's house slowly fills with useful stuff as you level up. The outside has emetic mushrooms. Those can be turned into lethal poison vials using his shed... which can them be turned into lethal syringes in his hospital room.
• His garage has a wrench... and eventually has the stuff and the kit to make explosives.
• His shed has a grape-knife in the side of it.
• His office has a letter opener.
• The Kitchen has a Banana - the most useful item in the game!
• His medical room has a stethoscope (firewire).  
• NONE OF THOSE ITEMS ARE LOST IF YOU FAIL A MISSION.

 

• You can get an early silenced pistol from assassins - or by digging up one in the wine tunnels beneath the Isle of Sgail, or a silenced SMG from the sleeping guard in the security room in Dubai. You can get an early Tanto from multiple places in Hokkaido... and the Epic and Rare stabby-weapons from the Bank Vault. You can get poisons from the basement of the serial-killer muffin lady in Whittleton Creek. These are all useful for completing the bonus objectives.

 

• Safes can be blown open with explosives. That might seem loud, but remember the "2-door-rule" for explosions and unsilenced weapons. If there are 2 closed doors between you, and anyone else, then no one will hear anything!

 

• If someone seems impossible to kill quietly, look for fire-alarms to clear rooms... or look UP. That is a big one - Is that a chandelier above them....?

 

• "collateral kill" objectives don't require simultaneous kills - just ALMOST simultaneous ones. A collateral gun kill doesn't need an unsilenced Striker with bullet penetration - just two quick, silenced headshots within a 1 second window will do - and not mess up your sneaky rhythm.

 

• Objectives about "calling meetings" in Showdowns are finicky. You can't just call that meeting anywhere - it needs to be somewhere close to where the meeting would have taken place without your intervention. Also, they don't work, if the target is already dead. The meeting will still happen - but the objective won't complete. (not sure if this is intentional or not - but it is the case in my experience.)

 

• Pointing a gun at someone then quickly ducking round a corner when their alert meter is above half-way will NOT alert other people.... but they will follow to see what that was....

 

• Figure out the best outfit FOR YOUR OBJECTIVES. The Sheik can go pretty much anywhere in Paris... that might seem cool... but an elite guard can go almost anywhere, and no one cares if they have a dart-gun out, or a shotgun showing. It's tough to - for example - use a quick-shot silenced pistol shot to take out a camera or shoot down a chandelier as the Sheik, but easy with an elite guard. 

 

• Pick your mastery objectives based on the LOCATION. Hide-and-seek is great in hotels and indoor areas - terrible in places like Cambodia and Sapienza. Conversely, silent assassin ones are much easier in open areas, and terrible in enclosed, high-security forts like Paris or New York.
• Never take Suit-only in places where you aren't allowed in a lot of spots undisguised (Dartmoor / Cambodia / Colorado etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by DrBloodmoney

[StraightVege]

 @DrBloodmoney Quite comprehensive! Much of your advice should be particularly useful for newer players, and a few points even apply to the campaign mode. Suppose I'd only disagree that money is important enough to take significant risks for in most cases. Of course, when it's piss easy optional tasks such as poison guard/poison target, use only 1 disguise, avoid combat/damage, kill only targets, etc., then they're absolutely worth doing—you'll definitely want enough money saved up to buy important items like a sniper, after all! Like you, I'd also recommend traveling to Hokkaido early on, to obtain a Tanto blade from Yuki Yamazaki's room; it's a nice melee weapon, requiring only two gear slots.

 

Yeah, The Bank is a great map in general, which I chose for my final Showdown. Robbing the vault is simple enough, whether you spawn above or below. As you described, it's easy to grab a guard's disguise in the lobby bathroom, run down to where the IT guys are playing video games, then use the control panel in their closet to lure a vault guard. Once you have his disguise and key card, just head to the locker holding the chloroform bottle and use it on the nearby ventilation system to knock out the entire security room. If you're lucky enough to start in the lower garage, then you can go directly to the chloroform, provided you're carrying a lockpick or crowbar (and you probably should be!). While you're at it, don't forget to snatch the truck key on the sleeping guard's chair down there for a convenient escape option, too.

[DrBloodmoney]

2 minutes ago, StraightVege said:

 @DrBloodmoney Quite comprehensive! Much of your advice should be particularly useful for newer players, and a few points even apply to the campaign mode. Suppose I'd only disagree that money is important enough to take significant risks for in most cases. Of course, when it's piss easy optional tasks such as poison guard/poison target, use only 1 disguise, avoid combat/damage, kill only targets, etc., then they're absolutely worth doing—you'll definitely want enough money saved up to buy important items like a sniper, after all! Like you, I'd also recommend traveling to Hokkaido early on, to obtain a Tanto blade from Yuki Yamazaki's room; it's a nice melee weapon, requiring only two gear slots.

 

Oh, for sure you should avoid doing an objective if it is going to be too risky - but the trick early on is managing the objectives so you get lots of ones you can do  - I think a lot of folks tend to pick the campaigns based on locations they like, but really, it's much more important to play to the objective type, rather than the location. The easy early ones are the Assassin ones or the Collateral ones - then once you have some poisons, taking Pharmas is always good for some good money!

 

 

You can actually get an even easier Tanto in that map without having to get into Yuki's room - by heading up the hill to the sniper spot / mountain exit. There's one just sticking in the snow up there - it's actually a rare starting location - and having a tanto is great for some easy Mastery Objectives, since it's the only katana that is concealable, I think?

 

2 minutes ago, StraightVege said:

Yeah, The Bank is a great map in general, which I chose for my final Showdown. Robbing the vault is simple enough, whether you spawn above or below. As you described, it's easy to grab a guard's disguise in the lobby bathroom, run down to where the IT guys are playing video games, then use the control panel in their closet to lure a vault guard. Once you have his disguise and key card, just head to the locker holding the chloroform bottle and use it on the nearby ventilation system to knock out the entire security room. If you're lucky enough to start in the lower garage, then you can go directly to the chloroform, provided you're carrying a lockpick or crowbar (and you probably should be!). While you're at it, don't forget to snatch the truck key on the sleeping guard's chair down there for a convenient escape option, too.

 

Exactly - heck, even the top floor of the bank is pretty easy to get into unseen - and the only real pinch point - the stockmarket floor - is pretty simple... since most of the targets are always going into the bathrooms to snort cocaine ?

 

[StraightVege]

10 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

You can actually get an even easier Tanto in that map without having to get into Yuki's room - by heading up the hill to the sniper spot / mountain exit. There's one just sticking in the snow up there - it's actually a rare starting location

 

Ah, for some reason I thought you had to actually spawn on the mountain path in order for that Tanto to appear, but I could be mistaken.

 

10 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Exactly - heck, even the top floor of the bank is pretty easy to get into unseen - and the only real pinch point - the stockmarket floor - is pretty simple... since most of the targets are always going into the bathrooms to snort cocaine 

 

I believe if you get the applicant's disguise and pass the job interview, then you can basically move around with impunity. Been quite a while since I used that outfit, though, so I might be wrong.

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by StraightVege