Thursday, December 8, 2016

Hitman (2016) - Episode 26 - Achy Breaky Heart

Here it is, the final story mission. Not the end to our time with Hitman, but it does feel like a finale of sorts.



(BTW, I looked up Situs Inversus, and it is an actual medical condition.)

I thought it was a bold move to restrict the items that 47 can bring in with him to just his suit and whatever smuggling locations the player has unlocked. This means that players can't rely on what items they prefer to bring in with them. They must instead focus on the mechanics and the systems that they (in theory) have spent 5 other story missions learning and mastering.


It also helps sell the idea that the facility is highly secure. After all, in every other area in this game, and in previous Hitman games, 47 is always able to find some way to bring his basic equipment in with him. Since players can't do that for this mission (until the achieve mastery level 20), they are reminded that this is a high security location despite being a hospital/hotel/spa.

While I could understand complaints that it seems unfair for players to build up this vast arsenal by mastering the prior missions, I wouldn't agree with it. Every single level has the all of the items one would ever need to complete most (but not necessarily all) of the challenges without having to bring in any additional items. The items aren't necessary, but they make some tasks easier. If you take this mission as another form of final exam for people who don't want to try the Elusive Targets, it makes sense to remove the crutch and ask players to take advantage of all the level has to offer.

We'll talk about the disguise gimmick and how cool it is next week, when we finish Japan and wrap up the story missions for Hitman: The Complete First Season.

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