Hitman 2 - Elusive Target - The Deceivers

It's been a while since we last saw everyone's favorite murder-comedian. And yet, here we are with another Elusive Target.

Watch me execute another perfect, flawless hit where I only kill the necessary targets.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target - The Undying Returns

After a miraculous recovery from the mysterious poison that nearly claimed his life, I regret to inform you once again that critically acclaimed actor Seam Bean has passed away.



I won't deny that I was somewhat disappointed about how this mission was a near exact duplication of the very first Elusive Target against The Undying.

I hope that this is the setup for a remixed third target that does something to surprise players. but I don't have much more to add beyond that.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 6 (And Contracts) - Javascript Sucks

This Elusive Target might be Deja Vu for some of you. Unlike the previous Hitman 2 ETs, this is a "Legacy Target". In other words, the brought this one back from the 2016 game to give players another opportunity to take them out.

So let us work together to take out "The Protagonist". And afterwards, let's look at some player made Contracts.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 5 - Useless Disguise

Another Elusive Target has appeared, this time in the small but dense area of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.

Question is: Does the streak continue, or is this where I finally fall flat?

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 4 - Bumpkin is a Slur (and Sniper Assassin)

Another month, another Elusive Target, thought this time I'm not alone. My friend Andre Doucet is with me this time, as we tackle The Fugitive.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 3 - Get Smoked

Another Elusive Target, another chance to show off my stuff. This time, we return to the Isle of Sgail to assassinate... "The Appraiser"!

If you wish to watch content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to follow me on Twitch.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 2 - Bash the Fash

As I like to say, whenever you see a fascist, you should do their best to kill them, unless they'd get caught. In that case, find someone who won't get caught and have them do it for you.

With that in mind, of course I would try my hand at the new Elusive Target. Codename: The Revolutionary.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 1 - Sean Bean Dies!

Poor Sean Bean. He's a legendary talent, and an incredible actor. But despite that, there's one thing that he's more famous for than anything else: Dying in almost every single role that he's done.

So when IO Interactive not only makes him the very first Elusive Target for Hitman 2, but gives him the code name "The Undying", they know exactly what kind of challenge they are giving to their player base.

And I, being a very prolific Hitman/Elusive Target player, had no choice but to answer the call.



First off, props to Sean Bean for being such a good sport about this, and to IO for getting him to agree to it.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 43 - The Poison-Her

Let us finish what we started, with puns.



In a typical Hitman level, most of your time is spent figuring out what approach would be best to take out your target. What weapon will you use, when's the best time to strike, how will 47 get out after the kill is completed, and remove all evidence of the crime?

Players are likely to screw up several times before they successfully complete the mission, one way or the other. What makes this mission different is that one of those questions is already answered for the player. What weapon will they use on the targets: The Viral Syringe (which is functionally identical to the Modern Lethal Syringe).

This would normally be fine, but this one question also answers several others. When and where is the best time to strike? The answer to that is basically any place and time where no one is looking at the target. How will 47 hide the evidence? He doesn't need to. A Poison Kill is treated like an accident, so it doesn't matter if the body is discovered.

Because of the particulars of how this weapon works, the tricky part is merely in finding where all three moving cogs (the viral syringe and the 2 targets) are. Since players can still restart until the first objective is complete, the most dangerous part of this mission is completely safe. You'll notice that once I found where both targets were, I was able to quickly kill both of them, delete the evidence tape, and escape.

I think it's good to experiment with new ways to add challenge to the Elusive Targets, but I think this experiment failed. This was just far too easy.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 42 - Pro Surgeon

We talk about the addition of the Professional difficulty while completely another Elusive Target.



The addition of a Professional difficulty hammers home the need to allow players to more easily customize their own difficulty settings to form the ideal experience for them. There are a ton of ideas in the Pro difficulty that I would love to have added to my Hitman experience. I want to play around with how the game plays if players need to make clean kills to take disguises, or if cameras can detect suspicious/illegal activities and summon guards.

But other parts of that difficulty mode, like the limit of 1 manual and no auto-saves, and the rearrangement of objects in the mission to make them harder to get to, are things I'd rather not have when playing Hitman. I'd love to be able to turn some of these options on and leave others disabled.

After playing Dishonored 2 on my own custom difficulty with enemies who are easy to sneak around, but deadly and tenacious once alerted, it's hard to not see how other games, especially these kinds of "immersive sims", could benefit from this kind of customization. In one of the recent updates to Dishonored 2, players can change everything from enemy detection rates, how much damage they inflict and how often they attack, to even how much potions heal for. It takes the innate replayability of the game and severly ampli

Hitman (2016) - Episode 40 - Getting Outside Help

It's too dangerous to go it alone...

Outside of the complications I had in finding the location of the thumb drive, there's no much to this target. Honestly, I might have even been able to get Silent Assassin if I had been more careful in walking out without getting spotted by the staff manager.

The worst part of this mission is that I didn't really have any way (that I know of) to find the thumb drive aside from brute force. It was essentially a game of guess-and-check until I lucked out with the correct room.

Kinda boring, otherwise. 

Hitman (2016) - Episode 39 - Doing A Murder

Today, we look for a deceptively simple solution to the problem of The Blackmailer.



This was a lesson in how to be more effectively experiment with NPC routines without openly exposing yourself to unnecessary danger when performing Elusive Targets. Even with the single attempt, it is important to do some basic scouting to figure out where the target is at their most vulnerable.

That said, since player death means that a contract is failed, a little more creativity is required when looking around. I pulled my gun out a couple of times not because I wanted to shoot anyone, but just to see who would detect suspicious activity. If the vision cones start appear when my gun is in my hand, then I know that it's not safe to take out the target where I'm standing.

Though certainly an easier target than average, this one required some thought. It's easier than it seems to break his routine and isolate him. Spacial awareness is, and always has been, king in Hitman. Knowing the map is the key to succeeding, no matter who the target is.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 38 - We Are The Watch_Dawgs

Another day, another Elusive Target. This time: The Chameleon.



This is another video where, like The Chameleon, I had the right general idea, but didn't execute correctly because I had lacked situational awareness.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 37 - A Critical Eye

Let us talk about Elusive Targets, the internet, and Hitman as we take on The Food Critic.

I spoke in the episode of The Guru about how the Modern Lethal Syringe isn't the completely worthless item that I originally thought it was, but only outside of story missions. It is a silent weapon, so no noise will be generated when the player uses it. It's faster than choking someone out and snapping their neck. Furthermore, poison kills are treated as accident kills, if the body is discovered later, it will not count as a body being discovered for the purpose of calculating the final score. This makes it possible to get Silent Assassin without having to worry about hiding the body.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 36 - Remember the Evidence

I was so *close*...



What kills me most about this target is that I very clearly had the Silent Assassin solution thought out, but I just missed a few details.