I've never played any game of the franchise and just saw a video and it looked like an interesting stealth game, so how are they?
So how's hitman
- Thread starter axillarypuma
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Blood money is really, really good. Absolution is ok. Silent Assassin is pretty good, from what I have heard.
I'll agree that if you want to get an easy entry then Absolution is it, and if you want to really get stuck into the methodical game of a hitman you go for Blood Money... that one is a ball buster.
It's funny this thread pops up as soon as I buy and start Absolution.
I suck at stealth games. I've played a bit of 2, and am on the first mission from Absolution. If you know how to play stealthily, then either should do, although the no time limit of 2 mentioned above is more fun. Absolution runs on a point system which keeps track of your friends, your country, and the world.
I guess I can only provide information. I don't have much experience in this, I just jumped in since I recently started playing one of them.
In case you're wondering how much I suck at stealth games, I am having plenty of trouble getting through Dishonored.
I suck at stealth games. I've played a bit of 2, and am on the first mission from Absolution. If you know how to play stealthily, then either should do, although the no time limit of 2 mentioned above is more fun. Absolution runs on a point system which keeps track of your friends, your country, and the world.
I guess I can only provide information. I don't have much experience in this, I just jumped in since I recently started playing one of them.
In case you're wondering how much I suck at stealth games, I am having plenty of trouble getting through Dishonored.
I tried the earlier ones. Didn't care for them. Clunky as hell and haven't aged well.
Enjoyed Absolution though, despite it's silliness. The tone of the game left a bad taste in the mouth though, but that's about as subjective as a criticism can be.
My main problem is that they require a lot of trial and error to work out the ins and outs of each level. Then once you figure it out it's an absolute cinch. So if the prospect of doing like six recon runs of each level in order to get it all mapped out in your head before doing it "properly" doesn't dissuade you, then give 'em a look.
Enjoyed Absolution though, despite it's silliness. The tone of the game left a bad taste in the mouth though, but that's about as subjective as a criticism can be.
My main problem is that they require a lot of trial and error to work out the ins and outs of each level. Then once you figure it out it's an absolute cinch. So if the prospect of doing like six recon runs of each level in order to get it all mapped out in your head before doing it "properly" doesn't dissuade you, then give 'em a look.
4.Blood Money
3.Contracts
2.Silent Assassin
5.Absolution
1.Codename 47
From top to bottom is the order I rank them in, the numbers are release order so you know which is oldest.
Blood Money and Contracts are very much the same except Blood Money is newer and has more features, they are both pure sandbox stealth assassination games. The way Hitman should be.
Silent Assassin has mix of sandbox stealth assassination and stealth action/running missions.
Absolution is mostly stealth action/running missions with odd bit of sandbox stealth assassination throw in half way through a few missions.
Codename 47 is horrible in this day and age frankly. The only reason to play it is if you play all the other games and want to fill in the final narrative gap. But I just recommend reading a Hitman wiki or something for the story if you want it that bad.
3.Contracts
2.Silent Assassin
5.Absolution
1.Codename 47
From top to bottom is the order I rank them in, the numbers are release order so you know which is oldest.
Blood Money and Contracts are very much the same except Blood Money is newer and has more features, they are both pure sandbox stealth assassination games. The way Hitman should be.
Silent Assassin has mix of sandbox stealth assassination and stealth action/running missions.
Absolution is mostly stealth action/running missions with odd bit of sandbox stealth assassination throw in half way through a few missions.
Codename 47 is horrible in this day and age frankly. The only reason to play it is if you play all the other games and want to fill in the final narrative gap. But I just recommend reading a Hitman wiki or something for the story if you want it that bad.
Yeah same, for the most part I managed to do Absolution without running around a few times first.delta4062 said:
OT: If you're trying to get into Hitman, start with Absolution. It's the least dated and is still pretty good in terms of stealth in it's own right.
Play Blood Money, the one Hitman game that actually succeeded in being a Hitman game:
You have a target(s) maybe an extra objective to spice things up and an open level with numerous possibilities to achieve your mission. Plus, actually killing the targets is actually pretty easy - making sure there are no witnesses/collateral damage is the real challenge.
Also, don't go into Hitman: Blood Money expecting it to be a 'sneak in the shadows' type deal. Disguises and deception are your allies.
The first Hitman is a lot stricter in terms of how you assassinate your target and it gets shitty near the end of the game. Silent Assassin is pretty fun due to the variety but it has its fair share of 'infiltrate this base' type missions which aren't really Hitman-ish if that makes any sense. Absolution is pretty fun, but I don't consider it a Hitman game.
This isn't directed towards the OP but what are your opinions towards Contracts? Its the only Hitman game I haven't played.
You have a target(s) maybe an extra objective to spice things up and an open level with numerous possibilities to achieve your mission. Plus, actually killing the targets is actually pretty easy - making sure there are no witnesses/collateral damage is the real challenge.
Also, don't go into Hitman: Blood Money expecting it to be a 'sneak in the shadows' type deal. Disguises and deception are your allies.
The first Hitman is a lot stricter in terms of how you assassinate your target and it gets shitty near the end of the game. Silent Assassin is pretty fun due to the variety but it has its fair share of 'infiltrate this base' type missions which aren't really Hitman-ish if that makes any sense. Absolution is pretty fun, but I don't consider it a Hitman game.
This isn't directed towards the OP but what are your opinions towards Contracts? Its the only Hitman game I haven't played.
I absolutely loved Silent Assassin, Contracts and Blood Money at the time but I agree; they haven't aged well. Espescially when you never played them before. However if you don't mind getting past clunky controls and outdated visuals, the classic Hitman games still have the most satisfying gameplay as it leaves the scenario to assassinate your target completely up to you. There are quite a few branching and multi-layered paths, methods and tools to do so giving these games an intricacy I think Absolution lacked.
However Absolution is still a great game with the best controls and having the absolute best visuals of the series(with lots of color and a vibrancy that's lacking in many other games of the same genre). It plays more like a stealth shooter than a proper stealth game though(not that this is necessarily a bad thing). There are still some open-ended segments in some of the levels that are somewhat reminiscent of the previous games but the enemy AI and the way they react to your presence makes these bits quite different. As a stealth shooter Absolution is great, when it half-heartedly tries to be like the previous games...not so much.
Sooo..if you want a slick and pretty good stealth shooter I'd say go for Absolution. If you want a hardcore stealth challenge and can stomach clunky controls and outdated visuals I'd say go for the classics. You can't really go wrong either way.
However Absolution is still a great game with the best controls and having the absolute best visuals of the series(with lots of color and a vibrancy that's lacking in many other games of the same genre). It plays more like a stealth shooter than a proper stealth game though(not that this is necessarily a bad thing). There are still some open-ended segments in some of the levels that are somewhat reminiscent of the previous games but the enemy AI and the way they react to your presence makes these bits quite different. As a stealth shooter Absolution is great, when it half-heartedly tries to be like the previous games...not so much.
Sooo..if you want a slick and pretty good stealth shooter I'd say go for Absolution. If you want a hardcore stealth challenge and can stomach clunky controls and outdated visuals I'd say go for the classics. You can't really go wrong either way.
It's probably my favorite Hitman game. Basically 47 lies injured in a hotel room recollecting various moments from his career. It's probably the darkest, most varied and 'out there' Hitman game in terms of level set-ups and locales.fezgod said:
I think that the Hitman series is awesome. You get a lot of freedom in deciding how to kill your targets and most of the missions offer big open maps. You can kill/knock-out people and take their clothes to disguise yourself, use a variety of weapons, and use creative methods to make an assassination look like an accident.
I suggest starting with the second game - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. It is the 2nd most difficult game in the series, but as long as you play on Normal, and don't try to get high ratings it shouldn't be that hard on the first playthrough. If you decide to play the first game, be warned - it has awful controls, and enemies have very quick reactions when playing on a PC with a modern CPU.
I suggest starting with the second game - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. It is the 2nd most difficult game in the series, but as long as you play on Normal, and don't try to get high ratings it shouldn't be that hard on the first playthrough. If you decide to play the first game, be warned - it has awful controls, and enemies have very quick reactions when playing on a PC with a modern CPU.
Yeah, I find Absolution to be really fun when played in bite-sized chunks, quickly retrying a level here and there to beat another couple of challenges after you've finished the main storyline.Zhukov said:
But I also found the game leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. Basically, you know the big controversy about the Saints trailer they did? Yeah, the entire game is like that. Even worse, in some places.
I'd suggest trying out Blood Money and going from there. I think it still holds up decently well today (depending on your tolerance for older games, but really, it's mostly just the graphics that aged, gameplay is solid) and is easily one of my favourites because you can just do your thing and pick how you go through it. Contracts aren't very far from it either and Silent Assassin was brilliant in its time, though I can't say how well it would hold up today. I imagine it would personally feel too old for me to play today, but I loved every minute of it when I was a kidaxillarypuma said:
Absolution I didn't play. It looked like it went off in a different direction and had a lot of issues at launch I couldn't be arsed with considering the game didn't hype me up enough for it.
What I love about Hitman games is planning and executing a kill. I've done everything from completely silent assassinations where I poison the target and am long gone before anyone notices, to walking inside calmly, guns blazing like a lunatic. Some of my favourites though are in the golden middle - taking down the target in a way where people notice, but no one knows who did it (usually sniper kills) or playing it 'professional'-style where I kill any bodyguards/police protection that are in my way silently before taking out the target.