I think people are way, way too hard on these games. People claim there's very little to do but they don't really play with all the nuance the levels have to offer. Absolutely amazing series.
Neat to see you watch Bunnyhop, I agreed with what you had to say about the game. A new level in Hitman is leagues more substantial than new additions of most yearly releases. Hell, it's more substantial than a lot of new IPs altogether
I have insisted on playing every level on hard first, with no guide or any idea how to progress, which means no objective assistance. I'm still on Hitman 1 with over 60 hours in the game, but my god does it show off how unbelievably meaty each level is.
What people like that are basically saying is "I played the on-rails story mission and nothing else because the rest of the content wasn't spoonfed to me, this game has nothing to offer." Now if they made the critique that a lot of the items have one of five properties: Blunt, sharp, bullet, poison, or explosive, I'd be inclined to agree. In that sense, there are very few items to experiment with because they all operate exactly the same aside from maybe a contextual interaction in the environment. That's my biggest issue with the games, but it clearly was not enough to stop me from playing for a minute short of 120 hours.
There will probably be a hm3 crack with the legacy DLCs and a save with everything unlocked eventually if there isn't one already, it seems unlikely IOI would drop the always online thing
Apparently, Hitman 3's been cracked since about two months ago. So yeah, you can essentially make your own offline version of these games that "couldn't be offline".
@@DeepSolid43 It is not now and has never been an effective answer against piracy lmao. Always online DRM has almost universally been more of a hassle for the folks who buy a thing than the folks who pirate it, and in most cases just means pirating a game is a better user experience. It's a huge waste of time for everyone involved, not least of which the devs.
@@Caidezes being a cheap fuck and having the option to avoid paying for hours of entertainment is what makes people want to pirate games but yeah i was not informed on this topic and it shows, i thought it was effective but as you guys told me it's not
As someone that grew up in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, I aplaude IOI for capturing the feel of the beaches here and just for featuring our little town in such a big game.
With all 3 games finally out, this really is one of the best games ever. I still play Hitman and Dishonored almost daily, stealth sandboxes with near limitless player options are my jam. Super interested to see IOI's Bond game, though I swear to god if they put their online """features"""" in that game I'm gonna scream
I urge you to check out the original Thief The Dark Project (with TFix Lite), and its sequel Thief The Metal Age (with T2Fix Lite), as well as the original Deus Ex (with the GMDX vRSD mod). fantastically fun stealth and immersive sim gameplay, theyre straight up on my top 5, theyre THAT good. And the best part? theyre on GOG, all three of them, no fuss, no drm
Is there anything that I would be missing out on if I didn't actually play Hitman 1 and 2 and just played 3 with all the levels from the previous games in it?
You should watch Internet Historian's channel. The content is interesting and hilarious. The ads are silly and unpredictable. My current favorite youtube creator. (very different things btw, bunnyhop has his own deal here)
Marketing teams with the skill and lack of pretension to go for nonsense ads on mid-size channels get results. Sure, fewer eyes on the product than if you pay big dollars for some celebrity account, but if you let thm make whatever they want out of it, every one of the audience will be paying attention.
To be honest, I really dig the unabashed love you have for these Hitman games. It's just nice to hear. I also appreciate that that doesn't stop you from mentioning the always online DRM. You hit the nail on the head. It's the anchor around this series neck.
Absolution was pretty good but it was trashed. World of assassination is amazing with its replayability.sosa stealth sniper speedrunning comedy there's just still so much to do, and so many ways to make the game your own. I've completed only 40 percent of the first two games and I see that around 55 percent of players haven't even completed that, which makes me realise that the ones That say that games are small and completed to quickly haven't actually put the hours in. Sometimes I just open Hokkaido Sapienza Paris or Miami and just relax.
47 in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (the original Hitman 2) had already undergone his moral questioning of whether or not what he was doing was right. He lived in a monastery even.
yeah its pretty much established that the nuHitman games are an alternate universe and theyre instead focusing on the simulation aspects of the franchise, so i dont mind the slight retread of its plotpoints
@Snake Sandwich isn´t the current trilogy more like an own universe, like they did with batman and other comic-adaptations? i played the old games, too and my memory might trick me, but i get the feeling it isn´t supposed to be linked to the older games
All hitman game are canon(there might be some retcons) but its sorta like the story serves as a reason to carry the gameplay. Even this new trilogy is in the same universe as Blood money and absolution and so on. During a cutscene in hitman (2016) we see his past Assassinations from the hitman games
I'm pretty stoked to hear your take on this game. Honestly the first time I've ever been happy with an "Episodic" release schedule. Edit: Off to buy a large, jade historical artifact.
I still think they should have stuck with the pure episodic release schedule. I paid the same price for all three games, but I got more out of Hitman 2016 because the episodic release schedule encouraged me to dive deep into the game mechanics. I would not have enjoyed the second and third games as much if I hadn't spent dozens of hours mastering the levels of the first game, and I only did that because of the episodic release schedule.
I knew this is what you were working on, George. For the record: This trilogy is a masterpiece and truly a game of the generation. This is a trilogy that prioritizes gameplay, and yet delivers against a spy-thriller backdrop that is thoroughly intriguing the entire way. Outstanding level design to provide thousands of hours of replay value. Michael Vogt and the writing team make every line of dialogue count. Every character, every asset, they all matter. They are interrelated and the cohesion is established flawlessly. Niels...your music hit it out of the park. Stealth game developers take note. This is how you execute the assassination simulator.
I'm still waiting for it on Steam. Just another 9 months... I was skeptical, but the Hitman games are my absolute favorites. I've played through all the stages so many times to try to do things differently, absolutely love it.
Just a few more hours for you then. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am. I play on stadia, still haven't gotten through the third game since I only started playing one and two after the third game came out. I hope there will be a way to do VR with my quest 2 (via PC OFC) without having to buy the game again.
I completely love this trilogy. I've been playing since the first one in 2016 and it has been an amazingly good time with this series. Some of the best gameplay I've ever had. I very much look forward to future Hitman projects.
One thing I caught a few times - you probably mean "climactic" when you said "climatic". Reminds me a line from the TV show Joan of Arcadia: "Anti climactic. Anti-climatic means you're against the weather."
Your Hitman 2 video a while back convinced me to buy hitman 3 a week after release and bought 1+2 within a few weeks of that. I've poured almost 300 hours across the trilogy since then and it's been an absolute blast.
First off, awesome thumbnail. Second, as a speedrunner of Hitman I kind of forgot that the story even existed. Third, I now intend to replay it from start to finish without being a perfectionist. Awesome video mate
@@breadordecide These games become literally impossible to play once the central servers go down. A few games a month have been getting irrecoverably lost for the last 5 years. It is a fairly important thing to consider.
I love the stealth genre and it saddens me greatly knowing that its nearly dead. I'm so damn happy the Hitman games are still going strong with doing the genre proper justice and not just becoming another action game with half-baked stealth elements. Thank god for IO Interactive.
The "problem" with Master difficulty for me is that it makes exploration and knowing the level inside-out far less rewarding because it removes a lot of resources from levels (like key cards, free disguises, poisons, etc.) and adds guards in inconvenient places which simply makes things more tedious instead of more challenging imo. And not being able to get disguises by killing people in a bloody adds to that too. This also kind of feels antithetical to the whole "mission mastery" theme, at least when you come from the professional difficulty, because quite a bit of your knowledge of a level will become useless.
As someone who was actually following the story through all three games I love that everyone else going through the trilogy again is finally able to spot the small details I’ve noticed going through all of the levels and cutscenes like how in the cutscene for the very first level in the trilogy they mention iago giving classified flight plans to the Delgado drug cartel who proceeded to shoot down the president’s plane and later down the line in one of the levels in hitman 2 where you have to take down the same previously mentioned drug cartel you can actually find the wreckage of that very plane.
Considering IOI is self-published now, and Hitman has basically been their only child for the last decade... With all the love they've shown the franchise over the years, and especially the new trilogy-- When they get to the point of having to shut down the servers, I highly suspect they will release an update to make it compatible for offline only.
Rewgarding the "always play on master" - I have a great tip for everyone looking for true, master difficulty level Hitman experience - switch off your entire HUD or parts of it. Since the 2016th release I have exclusively played without instinct, minimap, opportunities, weapon and tool HUD and some other tiny things. Game allows you to greatly influence what parts of HUD you see and I recommend disabling some of it so that you feel more immersed - it works miracles. From my experience, playing without HUD and instinct is infinitely more difficult than blank master difficulty - and once you're used to such gameplay, you see no difference between pro and master difficulty - except for single save file, which is basically never that important. Except for Colorado mission. Fuck Colorado.
the fact that the always online is talked about in the same breath as the greatness of the game is so unfortunate. its such a little change that disproportionately fucks up the entire thing. one of the most baffling things in this world, right along the likes of consciousness or problems of infinite regress. truly baffling.
Probably started out as a blooper but then morphed into a callback moment. It most likely did actually start out as a blooper but then turned into a callback moment.
Thank you for the review George. As someone who hasn't ever really gelled with these new titles, you've renewed my interest, and because of this review and your recommendation I do eventually want to check the mega-trilogy out...when it's not tied to the online requirement. To the rest of the comment section, stay safe and be nice! (edit - you have every reason to be proud of the sponsor segment)
I just wanted to thank you for this video. I initially wasn't a fan of the first entry in the trilogy and gave up after Paris because I didn't understand how the game truly worked. Your video made me give the game another try, and after disabling all story hints and just relying on intel, it finally clicked. I have now accrued over 200 hours in all three games combined and consider it one of the best stealth series in existence and my absolute favorite trilogy in video games. All thanks to this video. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The escalations are some of my favorite parts of the games because it shows you how the multiple mechanics can be combined to achieve your goals and sometimes make me laugh by the absurdity. Great trilogy and worth the price for the deluxe editions.
I have waited so long to hear this from SBH. Season 2 was the best overall, Season 1 had the absolute best levels but also some the worst levels, and season 3 was probably the least effective but still good. But as a whole super game this is one of the greatest games of all time
I laughed so hard at *"Disclaimer: These historical facts are about as historically inaccurate as what the History Channel allows to broadcast"* in the sponsorship at the end, I catch a close family member watching Ancient Aliens on that shit all the time, it's ridiculous what passes for a show on that channel if I'm meant to take it seriously.
I finally got the third game on the ps5 along with the other two games through a sale, and playing through all of them is so much fun. This game really takes me back to when I was a kid playing Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory on my xbox, sneaking around and doing levels over and over again until I learn the craziest ways to beat the levels. Man can you all imagine if hitman had a spies vs mercs style multiplayer in this game? A team of four hitman with limited gear vs a team or five: 4 bodyguards armed to the teeth vs a vip target who has to reach a destination before they get whacked by the agents.
I got my PlayStation Wrapped yesterday and Hitman III stood as my number one game of 2021 and was the game of that year. I played the whole trilogy as a mega-game and it was just an amazing experience. Few games are as mechanically rewarding like this trilogy is. Whenever I hear people saying “but they’re so short, there’s only like 5 levels per game!” my answer is that they’re looking at it from the wrong direction, because it’s all about replaying, experimenting and discovering levels in a new way. It’s honestly more of a puzzle game than a stealth game.
I wouldn’t call Master difficulty a hardcore mode, it’s pretty much just normal/Professional difficulty but there are a few more cameras and guards, you barely even notice, the only reason not to play on Master is that it gives no bonus reward for doing so, also you won’t have to pick a difficulty level and roll with it, it lets you choose for each individual level every single playthrough of it. I hope you’ll have fun playing this.
Your description of this Trilogy reminds me of the newer James Bond movies. Quantum Of Solace, in particular. If you don't watch _Casino Royale_ ,Like *right* before _Quantum of Solance_ ,the latter movie makes absolutely no sense. But if you watch it consecutively, Quatum is a actually a pretty darn good movie.
To my knowledge, the first two games were never properly cracked. Don't know about this one, but I wouldn't count on it. Some implementations of always-online DRM really are nearly invincible.
Hitman trilogy is easily my game(s) of the generation. I haven’t revisited a game from this decade as many times as hitman. Playing it on master last year was absolutely frustrating because I realized I had deprived myself of such an incredible experience for so long
I would love to play the new Hitman games, I have been waiting for them to not have everything tied to being online for a single player game and I would be happy to buy each of them at full price. But I refuse to play a single player game that is dependent on the servers working and staying up and my data cap being eaten into to play what should be an offline experience.
If you're holding off on buying the games on principle, then keep on doing that. But if you're actually concerned that the online requirement will harm your game experience or eat into your data cap, then you can happily buy the game. I own all three games on ps4, and I haven't had any major issues with the online component since 2016, when I couldn't connect to the servers for about a day.
Honestly the Adam & Eve sponsorship makes me feel legitimately happy, like, this, this is the space I choose to be in and support. And that was even before I saw your sponsorship reel at the end. Also, f---- yeah hitman.
Fantastic love letter. I completely agree with everything here, most especially the set up for 007. Best game franchise ever as far as I'm concerned. Since Silent Assassin these games are the bar of which I've rated all other games. 20 yrs of brilliance from IO. Damned if I'm not gonna go play Hitman immediately after this sentence.
This is a grand video and a message about how online-only games do nothing but interfere with games in general being on life-support right out of the gates, but also that's probably the first time I haven't skipped over a sponsor bit now THAT's how you get my attention.
I have actually bought the game a few days ago. Immediatly started on master mode. This made the game much more intense in a way, when you make a mistake, you roll with it. When shooting started well that would depend on you if you want to reload. Beside that, listening to the NPC's what kind of clues they have to say. Like the mission in Colorado, this one was an intense one. Very hard but very exciting. Going around the whole compound just to find out someone worked for the interpole and that they are going to test that person. Figuring out that there is a person walking around with a tag to show. It was awesome! It took quite a bit of time to pull it off but it was worth it. This is Hitman, replaying the mission is part of the game. Coming from Blood Money to this is just awesome. It took me back when I was younger playing that game. The same excitement and thrill that I got. Let's see what they will come up with next.
15:08 if anyone complains about the music they haven’t played New York. I swear the music of that level goes so hard and it perfectly suits the level. It is my favorite level by far for its music and also for the level itself
the thing about the Master difficulty changes like "their hearing has been buffed only a teeny teeny bit" is that it prevents certain perfect timed maneuvers from being possible. when your going for that perfect speed run and you've memorized a particular "I slipped past that guard by the skin of my teeth" routine on Normal difficulty, it sometimes wont be possible on Master difficulty. The Devs put a ton of work into the way every single npc moves and behaves so that the entire map feels like a collection of small puzzles if played going for silent assassin rating
At this point the need to be always online is the biggest obstacle to me every buying these games. Seriously just remove the requirement and I'll get all 3, no discount needed.
Fortunately there are offline mods for Hitman 3 that allow for scoring, bonus missions, all illusive contracts and such available. But what I don't like about them is most are basically offline unlockers that make all items and suits etc available when offline. It's nice that the options is there but a big part of the games satisfaction is unlocking cool items through mastery and finding creative ways to use them in every map. So many things and routes to be discovered in hitman. In my opinion when updates and support dry up for it, they'll make the base progression offline and any dlc still purchasable. 😊
I have the exact same feelings about the story. I remember in the first two games actively ignoring it if not laughing at it (specially at Santa Fortuna's "super cocaine") but then I'm playing all the levels in order and it's like: look! The Constant! The old lady from the manor! Olivia! Diana! It actually makes sense! Really looking forward to the James Bond game
I used to love Bunnyhop videos but dear God ; - First he played entirety of MGSV with full HUD on without once noticing how many little animations and sound cues are there in the game for amazing immersive gameplay that makes already kickass game 10x times better. - Then the exact same thing with Death Stranding. - Same for Mankind Divided. - Now he spends minutes explaining why its revolutionary good idea to not have step by step instructions on screen in Hitman 3.
This trilogy is the best gaming experience I've had my entire life. Truly a masterpiece with so many different moving parts it could give one a headache. Shame it's so under the radar. Hell, after the episodic fiasco and Square Enix dumping IOI it's a miracle these guys could even finish the damn thing. I'm so happy that it happened.
Oh my God that ad at the end was hilarious. I just beat Hitman 3, God it's addictive! I will take your advice replaying 1+2 to play on hard with mission stories off for the first runthrough.
The one thing I feel is missing is the unlock system from Blood Money where you actually earn money and pay for your equipment rather than unlocking them by 360 no-scoping a lawn mower that turns on and runs over the target.
So excited for the James Bond game. And super interested to see how IO will implement the conversation part of James Bond. They've pretty much nailed most of the Bond fantasy. They're also technically an indie company and own the rights to Hitman so maybe we'll see them drop the always online eventually when they release their next game.
I've never played a Hitman game and I knew the moment I've saw that James Bond teaser that this is THE studio to make the first ever proper James Bond game.
Your recommendation of master reminds me of why i recommend XCOM on Ironman: The game mechanics are built to accomodate plenty of accidents and failures, and is better when you do instead of always steamrolling from infinite momentum. Edit: also your video is the best sales pitch for a game I ever seen Edit2: The actual ad too.
The first two games in this Hitman trilogy were so damn good, Hitman 3 became the first western AAA game I preordered since Assassin's Creed 3 back in 2012.
@@marciodr09 i uh... did care if 3 would be bad? i just had enough confidence to believe that not only would it be a wonderful time but also worth the $60 to play it at launch. idk how lenient egs is on refunds for preorders, but if hitman 3 disappointed, you know i would've asked for my money back.
just picked up WOA and the devs definitely know their fan base. The moment iwas wondering "gee i wonder if theres going to be a hotel level" and immediately the next mission was the hotel level. Amazing.
