Briefly: Square Enix has announced the new Hitman game is now episodic, meaning you don’t have to pay $US60 ($86) upfront — you can pay in chunks. Previously, the game was going to cost $US60, but there’d be new content released every so often. The first episode hits March 11.
New Hitman Will Be Episodic
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31 responses to “New Hitman Will Be Episodic”
Personally, I’m a lot more interested in when the LAST episode hits. My experience with Telltale’s episodic games has got me to the point where I’m not really interested anymore until a game is completed.
March – Paris
April – Italy
May – Morocco
Then another 3 locations one for each month.
Here’s a better article with a lot more info
http://au.ign.com/articles/2016/01/14/hitman-goes-fully-episodic-releasing-new-locations-as-add-ons
Thing is I can see it working for a game such as Telltales Walking Dead (less so the others they put out tbh) for the story purpose and how we’re used to seeing a narrative play out on a weekly or whatnot basis on tv.
But this, this is just… jarring. An action game divided? How is that going to feel? Bizarre no doubt. Will it still be six hours long like Absolution? Have they put actual effort in? The Walking Dead from Telltales strong point (no idea about GOT or Borderlands, havent played em) was that it had a storyline strong enough to bring me back and wonder what was going to happen next. But if the gameplay sucks like Absolutions did… it’s going to drive me away as of episode 1… risky as fuck move I say.
GoT was what put me off episodic gaming for good. Just as it was starting to get interesting the episode would end, and by the time the next one came out I didn’t really care anymore. Then I’d start playing and start to get interested again, then the episode would end. Rinse and repeat.
Thats why im only just finishing it now – i started by playing the first two episodes then left it until it was all out
Did the same with Life is Strange – If it were only a week or two between episodes it wouldnt be so bad but when they delay an extra month or so its so hard to not feel like its a disjointed experience
Yeah, that’s why I’m waiting for the full version of Life Is Strange to come out on disc later this month – I’ll pick it up then and play it in one hit.
Wish i did that – We went through the first two eps then decided to wait and DL the rest – now ive got next to no idea what was going on!!
Misses will probably remind me though
If, like they claim, it’s going to be like the original games with the large, open environments and different methods available, I could see it working quite well with a gap between missions. You’d just replay that mission over and over, trying to perfect it.
It’d be especially good if there’s a big gap in difficulties between missions; then, it’d be like you’re honing your skills
I liked Absolution a lot and yes it was my first entry into the series and yes everyone says that Blood Money is better – well not the controls which on 360 are absolutely hideous and border on unplayable.
I for one am happy they’re going episodic as I think Hitman in particular lends itself to that format – hopefully the AUD pricing isn’t taking the piss
How did you do Absolution in 6 hours? Did you just grab an assault rifle and kill everyone?
I have 57hour on record on Steam and I didn’t even finish the main story line, and barely touched the online contracts. I think I got through 16 of the 20 chapters. At 6 hours, you’d have to do each section in less than 20 minutes.
I really liked absolution but actually thought it was too long compared to the older Hitman games.
Exaggeration but an experienced hitman player can definitely get through in 8 to 9 without speedrunning. Levels were incredibly linear bar one and incredibly segmented. Hopefully thats fixed.
Games as a service is fine but it doesn’t fit for a game like Hitman. I won’t be buying this until a disc release and it better not be full price.
Nope!
This works perfectly for me, primarily because I always find the Hitman games to be better in concept than execution (no pun intended).
Having one month with just one level might lead me to master all the finer details of each mission rather than finishing a level in really sloppy fashion and then moving on to the next one. I always had more fun with the PC game demo’s than I did with the full game for exactly that reason.
Also, unlike the Telltale games, I don’t really care that much about the story.
I guess the important thing for them to nail is ensuring the controls are intuitive enough that I don’t have to relearn them every time a new episode is released.
So it’s basically going to be like Ground Zeroes but a map each month. I’m okay with that.
I remember Square going to great lengths to explain that this wouldn’t be episodic. I can only assume that they looked at what they were going to charge full-price for and backed off. Whether the content was incoming or not, they were going to have issues with the price tag for the first “episode” at release. Reviews wouldn’t have taken incoming content into account.
Much like most other episodic titles (and in fact, most games full stop), I guess I’ll buy it when they’re done making it.
Well, of course it is.
It’s all our fault really. As a society, we’re far too impatient.
Well, in this case it’s because Square Enix’s investors have gone on record wanting the company to figure out how to make money from their investment before games are actually finished, because it takes so long and they want returns now instead of after like… three years of development.
Yes. Impatient for money.
It’s not necessary a bad thing. If the pricing is appropriate …. eg 6 episodes at $10 each. Each episode had 3 chapters. That’s almost the same length as Absolution (which I actually thought was a bit long).
If they want $40 + $20 for each episode they’ve stuffed up.
Also it’s pretty good incentive to make the game good. If it sucks and people pay $10 for the first episode, then they won’t bother buying the rest.
You make a fair point, but as one who generally just buys the finished product, this kind of news is basically met with: of course it is.
It suits me to release it this way because I’ll play a game for a bit then move onto something else before finishing the other game so to break it up like this is something I’ll appreciate
Fair enough. To each their own 🙂
Fuck you,
KonamiSquare-Enix.This is disappointing news. I think the episodic release schedule works great on smaller more casual games like the Telltale series, but most definitely not on a Hitman game. I’ll wait and see how this pans out as I’m hoping that the gameplay/maps end up being like Blood Money. If they do I’ll probably wait until there is at least a few missions out before picking it/them up.
What the hell made Square Enix thought this was a good idea? and what about the people who have pre-ordered it? i pre ordered it through the humble store for $60, i better get the full fucking game.
What the hell made you thought (think?) giving $60 to someone months in advance for a product that you knew almost nothing about was a good idea?
Stop being a sucker and companies will probably stop treating us all like morons.
I can’t help but feel this cheapens the experience.
I’m a massive resident evil fan and the format used for revelations 2 added absolutely no value in being episodic.
I’m open to it being done right but I find it kinda tacky and unnecessary. Final fantasy VII blerg…
While I don’t know how Hitman is going to turn out, as a fan of the series I think comparing it to telltale isn’t accurate. Telltale is about story, hitman is about gameplay, about exploration, strategic planning, attention to detail and experimentation. I think a better comparison would be a sequential set of demos.
I remember playing the far cry demo, back in the day. It has hard, punishing and unforgiving. It was also awesome. I replayed it again and again and again, I found all the best tactics to storm the island, to take out the soldiers and defend against the onslaught at the end. When I got the final game, I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t the same as the demo. Don’t get me wrong, the demo level was in the game (although you were far more armed), but it wasn’t the same. There was too much at once. I didn’t replay it like the demo, I blasted through it and that was it, it was over. Unlike the demo, I didn’t wonder what else there was, I didn’t think of trying a different path, I had finished it, that was it. I can say the same about hitman absolution, although I didn’t play a demo for that (and yes, it was inferior to hitman: blood money).
So what I’m saying is that releasing hitman with gaps in between has the potential to work. Hell, it has the potential to make it even more awesome, as players are focused on one level at a time rather than beating the game. Of course, as many other people have commented, if it sucks, it’ll tank, as it should. But I think that we should wait for the results before we judge it, because episodic release does have the potential to work, and to actually complement the game.
Personally, I read this and think they haven’t got the game finished in time, so they will just release some content now.
Make some quick cash from that, maybe pay for further development of the game.
I hope this isn’t a new strategy or the new “DLC” model