|
Thursday 27 September, 2018
My last Hitman playthrough for this class was a mission in Sapienza to eliminate Silvio Caruso and Francesca De Santis. Once again this mission required the assassination of two targets, but I didn’t really think too much of it. Compared to the heavy indoors fancy venue of the last level, this mission was a lot more outdoors and open. I believe that this was planned by the developers so that players get a breath of fresh air from the last mission, and are able to experience the exact opposite visual layout. Unlike the last mission where the two targets were manipulating world class information, the targets this time were working on a virus that could be programmed to target specific individuals by DNA. The opening cutscene posed the question of what if there was a bullet that could pass through anyone unnoticable until it was too late. The game posed it as “A world of armchair assassins killing with impunity”. This question not only sets up why it is vital that the targets are taken out, but also brings up the moral implications of assassination so easy that no one is truly safe in the world. It really made me think of how if a bioweapon like this ever got produced, the countermeasures would never be fast enough with how easily passable and undetectable it would be. By starting off the level with this, the developers were able to create a sense of purpose into the player that Agent 47 doesn’t have, because he only follows orders. The gameplay progression this time around felt more standardized now that I had gotten used to how the game was feeling. There was a good variety of outdoor exploring compared to last time with pretty much only indoor action. An interesting part that I noticed during my time playing was how a variety of tools and potential methods that one could use were locked behind areas that involved subduing an individual with access to that area and getting in there. Designing it this way made me feel as if there was a lot of time and preparation needed to pull off a really strong assassination. The map definitely rewards players for taking the time to explore and replay levels opening up all the different ways to successfully take out the target(s). Hitman was a lot of fun for me to play, and while the game doesn’t feel anything like a triple A budget game, it does have a strong feeling of polish and effort put into it that really shines.
|
