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Hitman (2016) · The Long and Short of It

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Thanks for checking out the Long and Short Fit Podcast.
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You can find us on all good podcast platforms.
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Please consider following or subscribing.
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We hope you enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to the Long
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and short Fit, the podcast where we discuss each of the games on
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the Open Critic Top 100 list. My name is Dan and I'm joined
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by. This is Lawrence, welcome to the
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podcast. It's been a hot minute, but
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we're back. It's.
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Been a very hot minute, hasn't it?
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It's been quite warm recently. Yes, it's been a hot minute in
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in more than one sense. In many, many ways.
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So how are we this morning? Yeah, I'm all right.
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Not bad, going through a period of lots of change, but I'm I'm
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quite well, as always. As always, Yes, but I haven't
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said that I'm tired this time, so there is that.
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So yes, what about you? Yeah, I'm also not as tired as I
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have been. But yes, we are obviously here
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to discuss a game. We are still going, we are still
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kicking. And the game that we are
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discussing is the game that we revealed that we would be
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discussing in the last episode. Which did we reveal this one?
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I can't remember. I can't remember either, it's
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been about 84 years since our last episode.
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It has, yes. Yes.
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So the game we're going to be talking about anyway, probably
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to nobody's surprised as we are both fans of the series, is
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Hitman Definitive Editions. This is the this is the Hitman
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game that was released in 2016 in quite an unusual format and
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then eventually came out as a whole collection of the levels,
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which is the first series of the new Hitman trilogy.
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So on Open Critic, that version of the game has an 84, with
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mainly the critiques being about the online elements of it, which
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I don't think people are a huge fan of.
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There weren't many criticisms levelled at the game itself, so
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whether that justifies an 84 score, I'd argue it should be
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higher than that personally. But I'm jumping the shark.
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I'm getting ahead of himself for a shark.
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That's what you are. I am exactly right.
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So as a bit of a preamble and because we don't really have a
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back of the box feature with this game for a couple of
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reasons. Now, I'm sure there is a
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physical version that was released at some point of the
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entire first series of Hitman, yeah.
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There must be. 16 I've never owned that.
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And because it was released in episodic, episodic format, it
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was never, if you, if you look on digital stores, it, it, you
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can't find a sort of breakdown in that way.
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And considering now you can't really buy Hitman 2016 because
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it's all part of Hitman 3 or Hitman World of Assassination,
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it's just not, not an easy thing to do.
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But to be fair, I could have looked for the, the definitive
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edition physical version, but I didn't.
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So in replacement of that, I just want to start by asking you
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broadly for the uninitiated, what is Hitman Definitive
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Edition? It's the definitive edition of
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Hitman is what that is and and that's the longest short of it.
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Thanks very much. And what and what do you do in
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it? What is What is the game?
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We we talked about Hitman before, haven't we?
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We I think was it Hitman three that we played last?
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Hitman Three. We played Blood Money.
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Yeah, yeah. So we've played a couple of
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Hitman games. However, when this Hitman was
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released in 2016, it was it was kind of a, well, not even a soft
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reboot. It was a full reboot of the
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series after the very mixed reception of of Hitman
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Absolution, which came out I think in 2012 perhaps.
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20/11/2012. Yeah, because I remember, I
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remember playing it when we're at uni when our housemates Danny
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had it and I thought it was all right.
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But like, I think we said in the Hitman 3 episode that I hadn't
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really had much experience with the Hitman series before that
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really, other than playing Blood Money and a bit of contracts.
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So yeah, Hitman 2016 was like a hard reset of the series.
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And it's also there was a bit of controversy around it to begin
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with because people didn't like the whole idea of an episodic
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nature release of the levels, which I get.
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However, the first, I think it was the first two training
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levels and the first level Paris came out initially, followed by
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the other levels. And Hitman is is it's got an
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overarching story across the entirety of the the levels, but
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it is just a case of here's the plot.
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Here is your target. Go and terminate them using as
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many creative avenues as you possibly can.
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And there are so many that you can choose from whether it's
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following like hints and little kind of story opportunities or
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finding your own creative ways. There's a very big speed running
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community of the of the Hitman games that's out there.
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So yeah, that that's kind of what this game is and a little
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bit of background on it. Yeah, so.
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What, what do you think the initial reservation was towards
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the game being episodic? So I've got my thoughts on that,
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but what do you what do you think it was?
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Well, this, this came out in 2016 around the time the
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microtransactions were becoming quite problematic.
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I think people were starting to get tired of always online DRM,
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the the whole microtransaction gig.
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And I think that because around Hitman 2, I think it was IO
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Interactive where they're in trouble.
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And when we eventually do get to talking about Hitman 2, you'll
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see the amount of cuts that took place when that game was being
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developed and the fact that there are no cutscenes in that
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game. And I think that people worried
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that they would start the process and if they didn't see
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an immediate return or an immediate kind of uptick in
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people being interested in it and they just can it.
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And I think that's a big element of why people didn't like it as
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well as the fact that you're paying X amount of money for 1/2
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completed game. And it's, it's a very similar
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kind of feeling that I think people had in 2013 or 14 when
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MGS 5 Ground Zeroes came out, because that was like a 45
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minute demo for what the Phantom Pain was going to be.
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And I think there was a bit of that about it as well.
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And I mean, I, I picked up a a few of the levels quite early on
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when this came out and it didn't bother me too much.
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But I do remember thinking to myself, I really wish I could
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play more of this, but it isn't out yet.
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And also the money that they were charging per release, I
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think ended up being more of what it would have been if you
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just picked up the whole game on its own.
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I think I might be wrong about that because that's going back
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nine years ago now, you know? Yeah, so I, I, I paid for the
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game upfront. Oh yeah, because you could do
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that as well, couldn't you? Yeah.
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So I paid for everything upfront and I think it, I think it
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worked out like 4045 lbs, which don't quote me on that, but it
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wasn't anything ludicrous for the time.
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And you initially got the training missions and then I
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think few months later Paris was released, a few months later
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Sapienza and so on and so on and so on.
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And I think my concern was that it wasn't going to get the the
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sort of fanfare that it probably deserved because it was being
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released in an episode episodic format, which I think to a
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degree was was right. Obviously when you've got a big
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new temp pole release of a game, you get it makes a mark if it's
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good and you get people talking about it.
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And I feel like the the episode, it's structure of Hitman 2016,
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it was different and it wasn't that sort of thing of a big
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mainstream release that we're used to, which historically the
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Hitman series had had. But what actually happened was
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interesting because word of mouth for this game became
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pretty big, and it's slowly, slowly, slowly built to what it
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became. And obviously now it's it's it's
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sort of ridiculous to think that we were worried that this game
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might fail. And in terms of the episodic
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side of things, although I wasn't, I, I would have at the
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time would have preferred to have everything right there,
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right then. Yeah, but I think the the
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episodic format gave you the opportunity to really delve into
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these infinitely replayable levels again and again.
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And I probably engaged with certainly the earlier levels a
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lot more because of that, because you were just waiting
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for the next thing. So you thought, oh, OK, I'll.
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Go over it and play it every way that I possibly can.
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Yeah. So I'm just going to try
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something different. And actually I think again, this
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kind of helped this groundswell of conversation that happened
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around this game. So.
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So I think, I do think actually the the episodic format benefits
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it in the end, yeah. But it was hard to see that to
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begin with. Yeah, exactly.
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It was a hard sell at the time, but we're going to get back to
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the episodic structure in a bit more detail later on.
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What's your history with the game?
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When did you jump in? What's your history with the
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series and maybe a bit more beyond obviously what you played
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of contracts, Blood Money and Absolution?
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Yeah, I I played this game a lot when it first came out.
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And I think that we talked about it briefly when we talked about
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Hitman 3. And what we've done with this
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series is the same mistake that we made when we originally
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covered the Metal Gear series is that we started with MGS 2 with
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that game, didn't with that series, didn't we?
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And I think that I, I played this game a lot and I did
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exactly what you just mentioned there is that I couldn't play
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all of them all at once. So I had to kind of get used to
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playing through different, different things over and over
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and over again. And to be honest with you, I
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thought that it was I really enjoyed it.
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There are there are misses in this game in terms of some of
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the the maps aren't as good as others perhaps, but I think
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that's just that's just yeah, yeah, that that that's just
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gaming. You know, you get some, some
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good levels and some bad levels. But I I went back and played
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through this game numerous times, some levels more than
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others. Like, I'll be honest, I probably
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played through Colorado three times in the nine years that
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I've had this game. That's my favourite game, my
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favourite level of all time. Didn't you join a cult and visit
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Colorado as a result of this? I did, I put on my military
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garb. But yeah, it's I've played this
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game a lot and I've, I've played a lot of the different like DLC
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things. I've played the the contracts
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and the one off things that you could do.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there is a lot, and I mean IO
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Interactive across the entirety of the trilogy of the Hitman
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games have been pretty good at, they've been very generous.
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Yeah. They, they've always kept
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updating it and adding new stuff, even to the point when I,
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I think it was just before we decided to play this game.
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I said to you, by the way, I don't know if you're aware, but
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IO, because they've just released the trailer for Double
12:23
O 7 First Light. Yeah, they've they've included
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the shift from Casino Royale into the Paris level as an
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elusive target. So yeah, there's a lot to go out
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with this game and with these levels, and I've played them to
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death. Probably Hitman one more so than
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the other two, Yeah. But yeah, like a load of
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replayability in this. And I've, you know, I've gone
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back to it for this episode and it won't be the last time that I
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go back and play. I have phases with Hitman, you
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know. Yeah, I I'm, I'm sort of in a
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big hitman phase at the moment. So it leads us nicely on to
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where we played this game. So I will start off by saying
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that one of the, when I, when I was pre ordering games for the
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switch two, I was really pleasantly surprised that they
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were going to have a native version of Hitman 3 or Hitman
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World of Assassination, which is everything basically of the
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Hitman modern trilogy in in one place.
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And that was coming to the switch too.
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So that was so Hitman 3 was already on the switch, but it
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was a cloud version. And from what I hear, that was
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an OK cloud version, but obviously with the drawbacks
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that come with being a cloud version.
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So I, I kind of pre-ordered this.
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It was it was quite well priced as well.
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I think it was like 30, 35 lbs or something like that, maybe
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maybe 40 at most, which. Was that a pre-order?
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Yeah, so I pre-ordered it. I may have to check that, but
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yeah, yeah. Because I had been looking, it
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was quite expensive, but maybe that's because that was after it
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came out. Yeah, I don't don't know.
14:05
There's there's a few games that at Switch to release were quite
14:11
reasonably priced. Maybe I'm maybe I'm down grading
14:14
that a bit, but definitely things like Yakuza 0, which
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again made its debut on on the switch to for the first time.
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That was, that was around 30 to 40 lbs as well.
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But yeah, so, so, so that's where I played it and I've
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played a combination of on the screen, which actually looks
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really quite nice. Not, I wouldn't say miles behind
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the the basically the newer versions that were released on
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the series X and the PS-5. And I also played this in
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handheld, where again it looks great.
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Yes, there are some frame rate rate issues here and there,
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particularly when it's docked, but nothing nothing that grinds
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the game to a halt or anything like that.
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It's it's very playable. It looks nice.
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Where did you play it? I played through.
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Yeah, we did. We did discuss it a little bit
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before playing it like how we were going to how we were going
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to do it. And I, I didn't really want to
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touch this on the Switch too, because it was from from when I
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looked. I think it's about 40 to £50.
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Yeah. And I've pricing, isn't it?
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Yeah, and I've got the entire trilogy on PlayStation already,
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and that's where I've played most of it.
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And that's where I've got all of my costumes, all of my like,
15:39
restart points, etcetera, to make it a bit more fun.
15:42
So I I played on the PS-5, which is where I've always played
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Hitman to be honest. Yeah, and you know what?
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They're not, They're not really drastically different games.
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I suppose the only part you get with the Switch to is that you
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can, you can take it on the go. Which admittedly is fun.
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Of course, I've been I've been away a fair bit recently for
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work just in hotels. So having the switch to having
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Hitman on the switch to, it's a great way to spend an evening.
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And it's that kind of game where you can just Chuck something on
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the TV in the background and just play Hitman because it it
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doesn't demand your focus like a really story heavy game, which
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is not so. Yeah, that's that's where I
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played it. Solid version on the switch to,
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so if you can get it for the right price, would recommend it.
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And I also know that IO is patching it, so some of those
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frame rate issues will probably be ironed out very soon.
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In terms of the story, could you just give us a bit of a story
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beats from the first Hitman game?
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Yeah, I mean. It's quite difficult to follow
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the entire trilogy. It's quite convoluted, but the
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first one is probably the simplest in the, the start of
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the game gives you some training to get used to the controls,
17:00
etcetera. And it gives you a bit of a
17:01
narrative of how the character that you play out, which is the
17:04
same as through the rest of the series.
17:06
Agent 47, how he got his starts in the the, the kind of the,
17:14
yeah, the, the company that you work for, the ICA, the, I don't
17:17
know what you'd call it, like MI 6 or whatever the espionage
17:22
business. Yeah, sort of like a a shadowy
17:24
organisation. Yeah, organisation, a good word
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and it kind of gives you a background on him and how his
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relationship with his handler Diana began.
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And that becomes important in Hitman 3.
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And the the the primary narrative of Hitman 1 is that
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there is a shadow client who is asking the ICA to take out.
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Admittedly, at first it seems like random people, but as you
17:54
progress through the story you realise that they're all linked
17:58
through another organisation. And the end of the first game,
18:02
it doesn't really give you too much of an idea as to who the
18:07
people that you're after are, other than there's someone
18:09
called The Constant. And the story kind of really
18:13
starts to give you an idea as to who the shadow client is and
18:16
where things are going when you get to Hitman 2.
18:19
So really Hip and 1 is very much kind of trying to work out who
18:22
the shadow client is while you're going after these people
18:25
and effectively finding creative ways to off people really.
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Yeah, and you know what? The story is not why we come to
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this game. No, but it is inoffensive.
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And I thought actually revisiting the game is is
18:44
certainly better than the way the story is presented in Hitman
18:46
2 and even Hitman 3 to a degree. I quite like the story here.
18:53
And as you say, it's easy to follow and it and it motivates
18:55
you enough to assassinate your targets, which is what you're
18:59
there for. It's not.
19:02
I'd say that a couple of the high points of the Hitman games
19:06
in terms of story were probably Contracts and Blood Money.
19:10
I don't think it's it's that level.
19:13
But also the Hitman games in general have never been games
19:18
that you played for the story. You're always playing for the
19:20
gameplay, for the levels, for the assassination types.
19:24
And yeah, on to our ever present feature.
19:29
Always present gameplay is king is Hitman.
19:33
I mean, this is the silliest question in the world.
19:36
Is Hitman 2016 fun to play? Yeah, massively.
19:39
It's it's probably one of the most replayable games that we've
19:45
discussed on this podcast for the last few years.
19:48
There's just so many ways that you can play it.
19:50
You can, you know, I've seen YouTube videos of people doing a
19:54
suit only silent assassin run, or you can do it as a go into a
19:59
map and just try and take out absolutely everybody in the map.
20:03
There's so many different ways to play it and there is no wrong
20:05
way. So yeah, it's fun and it's
20:08
ultimately always replayable, like 100%.
20:11
And I'm guessing you probably feel the same.
20:13
Yes, just Hitman in general. There's something about it.
20:18
It's like comfort food. And I, I like one of the things
20:23
that I want to do. I've not played contracts in a
20:24
while. I want to go back and play
20:26
contracts now because there's just something about the Hitman
20:29
series that just feels good. That idea of strategically
20:35
planning your assassination, getting to know the levels,
20:38
knowing where all the little secrets are and carrying out the
20:43
perfect hit. And you're almost like an actor
20:47
playing a part. So let's let's let's take Hitman
20:49
blood money's it's opera level, which is obviously hugely
20:54
famous. You're almost like a like an
20:56
actor playing a part in that narrative of assassination.
21:00
You're basically you pick your assassination route, you're
21:04
walking that that area. And I just replay it and
21:10
sometimes I just do the exact same kill that I've done
21:13
probably 10s of times before because it just feels good.
21:17
And I don't know what that is. And I don't know why that is.
21:21
And I don't know what that special source is that they've
21:25
kind of hit on over the years with the Hitman series.
21:28
But this is here in spades again.
21:32
And whereas in some games, replaying something and doing
21:38
the exact same thing, if you were to do that wouldn't be fun,
21:44
here it absolutely is. And then if you want to move
21:47
away from that, you try a different strategy, you explore
21:51
more of these huge, huge levels and try a different disguise, or
21:54
you start in a different place, or you use different equipment.
21:57
It really the world is your oyster in these games.
22:01
And it really is what you make of it if you have the creativity
22:06
and you have the patience, because I do think these games
22:09
demand patience. Yeah, they do this, this game
22:13
will be right up your alley. So yeah, there's there's no
22:16
denying it's fun for players like us.
22:22
So I alluded to this earlier. We're going to talk about our
22:25
level rankings. We're going to start from the
22:28
bottom and we're going to include the training levels and
22:32
we're going to work our way to the top.
22:34
So in total there are 8 missions if you include each of the
22:39
training levels individually. So what would be your least
22:45
rated mission? Probably, to be fair, probably
22:50
Colorado. And I mean, even if we're
22:55
including the the training levels, I think that Colorado's
22:59
the the weakest of the game. And I think that a lot of Hitman
23:03
fans agree with that. It's fine.
23:06
But it just, I don't know, there's something about it that
23:09
isn't that exciting. It's what is it about Colorado
23:15
that do you think gets to people?
23:18
We've got 44 targets, which is fine.
23:22
There are a couple of levels throughout the trilogy that have
23:24
3 or 4 targets. But I think it's the
23:26
environment. It's like a like a military camp
23:31
of these terrorists and, and there isn't too much you can do
23:35
that's exciting in terms of creative kills or anything like
23:39
that. It's very much of you need this
23:41
disguise to get into this area, to take out this person in a
23:45
handful of ways. And I think more than anything,
23:50
it's the environment that you're in that makes it the least
23:53
exciting. A.
23:54
Bit drab. Yeah, it is.
23:56
It's just the the whole element of going undercover with stealth
24:04
and fitting in with people, which is kind of removed because
24:07
any outfit that you put on is just a different level of like
24:12
military gear. Yeah.
24:15
Just isn't interesting, I'd say so, Yeah, that would be my
24:18
bottom one. What about you?
24:20
I'm going to go for the the IKEA built cruise line boat.
24:27
The training level. Yeah, the first, the the very
24:29
first mission you play, you know what?
24:31
There's there's there's absolutely nothing wrong with
24:33
this mission. It's just small and there aren't
24:38
huge amount of assassination options.
24:41
But it is a good proof of concept for what the series will
24:46
be. And it demonstrates very quickly
24:49
that this is Hitman of old. Yeah.
24:53
So. So for that reason, it's great
24:55
and it's a nice introduction and it works well as a training
25:00
mission as well, which it is used for.
25:02
And then you, you're, you're tasked with completing it again,
25:06
but in a different way or your own way.
25:09
So it's a solid mission. I'm going to, I'm going to put
25:14
it out there that I don't think any of the missions are bad.
25:18
So it's all sort of on, on a, a relative system when we're
25:22
rating them. But yeah, so this, this would
25:24
probably be my lowest. What's your second lowest?
25:28
I think probably the one that you've just described, just
25:31
because it's very basic training level, isn't it?
25:33
It's very basic. Nothing wrong with it, just not
25:38
super engaging in my opinion, for all the things, all the
25:44
reasons that you've just said, you know?
25:46
Yeah, I. Agree.
25:49
So for my second lowest, I'm going to go for the second
25:52
training mission, which again, probably quite an unexciting
25:55
ranking. So the second training mission
25:59
is is apparently a recreation of a Cuban mission that Sodas
26:05
attempted or completed back in the day.
26:08
So Sodas turns out to be sort of the villain in the first series
26:12
of Hitman and it's it's better than the boat.
26:17
There's a bit more to it. There's a few more layers,
26:20
there's a bit of a better atmosphere.
26:22
It feels more like its own level rather than an IKEA kind of,
26:27
Yeah, Which it still is. And there's some nice
26:31
assassination types in there, which is good.
26:36
So yeah, again, nothing offensive about this at all.
26:39
It's decent. It's a great proof of concept
26:42
for the rest of the series, and it's exciting in that way.
26:47
Again, that returns form after absolution.
26:49
These two levels single handedly laid the foundation for the rest
26:55
of the series and the rest of the second and third games as
27:00
well. What's your third lowest?
27:06
Yeah, same as you there. It seems like we've got a
27:08
relatively similar bottom 3, just in a slightly different
27:11
order. But yeah, again, because it's a
27:13
training mission, there's quite a lot of ways that you can do
27:16
it. And it's cool to have like the
27:18
the whole kind of Cold War esque vibe about it because I think
27:22
it's supposedly, like you said, it's recreating a mission that
27:25
took place in the 1970s. But yeah, again, quite limited.
27:30
It's in a big warehouse. So yeah, probably not very
27:35
exciting because I think a big element of why the Hitman games
27:38
are exciting is because of the environments, you know?
27:45
All right, so my, my, my third lowest is not going to be
27:48
Colorado. It is and and this is, this is
27:52
sort of, after this playthrough of the game, a level that I had
27:57
enjoyed when I first played it. I think I know what you're going
28:01
to say. And a level that I'd enjoyed
28:03
over the years. And it's not Marrakech either.
28:05
Yeah, it's, it's the, it's the Bangkok hotel.
28:11
Yeah. I I think structurally and I was
28:17
watching a video about this, so it's a YouTube that I know
28:20
you've watched in the past writing on games.
28:22
Yeah, Scottish guy, isn't it? Yeah.
28:25
And, and, and the way that he describes the Bangkok Hotel is
28:31
it's a bit similar to Paris in the setup.
28:34
And what he means by that is your goal is to get to the top
28:39
floor. And to get to the top floor, you
28:42
obviously have to have the right disguises or, or climb up or
28:46
whatever it is. And structurally, that's very
28:50
similar to the way that you approach Paris.
28:53
And it's not the same as the way you approach other levels.
28:57
So if you just look at how the level is set up, it's like a
29:01
mini Paris in that way. It's not as big as Paris, it's
29:04
not as exciting as Paris. It looks really nice.
29:07
It does look really nice with the sunset over all the waters
29:11
and hotel levels hardly ever go wrong.
29:14
I think my problem with this is the first target, the lawyer, is
29:22
dull. There's just not a huge amount
29:26
of ways to take him out. The best one that I've found is
29:31
luring him over to the Tuk tuk at the back and exploding it.
29:35
That's fun. There's there's one where so one
29:40
one thing about the way that I play this game, I try to play as
29:42
authentically to the traditional Hitman games as possible.
29:45
So I turn off mission stories and obviously you can still pick
29:50
up Intel in the environment, but I like to piece together the
29:53
Intel and find see if I can find the story myself.
29:57
And with him, there's one part where you can lure him to the
30:03
basement. And I lured him to the basement.
30:07
I did all the stuff to get him down there.
30:08
And I thought, what's the kill down here?
30:11
Because this room has three other people in it that I've
30:14
lured him to. And I didn't quite figure that
30:16
bit out. And I was thinking, what am I
30:17
missing here? And I didn't mess around with
30:21
that for quite some time. I'm sure there is something and
30:23
I'll figure it out at some point.
30:25
But yeah, it's that final element.
30:27
I just don't find him to be a particularly exciting kill and
30:33
there's a lot more that you can do with the other target who is
30:36
on the top floor. There's a hell of a lot more and
30:40
he's quite a fun character. I think the thing that I find
30:45
frustrating about that is, yeah, unless you do suit only, you're
30:53
needing very specific disguises to get up there.
30:55
There's quite high security and it lacks a bit of the playful
31:01
element of some of the better levels.
31:02
This is not to say that this is a bad level, it's not.
31:06
It's still a really nice slice of Hitman.
31:08
It's just that on this playthrough, and I actually
31:11
replayed this mission again as part of the Patient Zero DLC,
31:17
where obviously they changed the targets and I felt again, this
31:21
level for some reason just doesn't jibe with me.
31:26
Again, visually lovely. But something about the way that
31:29
it's designed, the way that it's laid out doesn't quite tick with
31:32
me. Maybe it's because it's quite
31:34
small. And for a hotel that is supposed
31:37
to be this luxury hotel, it only has like 16 rooms.
31:42
Yeah, 16 bedrooms, I think. And some of them are out of
31:45
order because of fumigation. Yeah.
31:48
So. So, yeah, that's, that's my
31:50
ranking of the third lowest out. What's your fourth lowest or
31:55
possibly fifth highest? Marrakech.
31:58
OK, so I thought you were going to say Marrakech, to be honest,
32:03
but yeah, I I don't like the setting of Marrakech.
32:08
I don't like Turkey. No, I don't.
32:10
I've never been to Turkey. It's.
32:12
Morocco. Ah, fantastic.
32:14
Well, there you go. That shows my geographic
32:16
ignorance then, doesn't it? I thought that Marrakech was in
32:19
Turkey. Good.
32:20
Good job to me. But yeah, I, I just don't find
32:25
it a particularly interesting map.
32:27
You've got 2 sections. You've got the, the the, the
32:31
embassy, which is where your first target is, who's a, a
32:35
Swiss banker who has like swindled millions of dollars
32:41
from the country and they're a huge protest outside regarding
32:45
him. And then the second area is an
32:47
abandoned school where a general is based.
32:52
And there are a couple of interesting ways that you can
32:54
get your kills in Marrakech, but I just don't think it's kind of
32:59
two separate sides to the map with a bit in the middle that
33:03
isn't really utilised. There are some interesting spots
33:08
to it, I think kind of wandering around the embassy and stuff.
33:10
There's a fair bit to do in there.
33:11
But overall, again, not particularly interesting.
33:17
So yeah, that that would be where my next lowest one goes in
33:21
in Marrakech. So my next lowest is Colorado.
33:28
So when I first played Colorado, didn't like it and playing it
33:37
again over the years, again, like you, I've probably not
33:39
played this one as much as I've played other missions, but
33:42
playing it for this playthrough, I kind of went in with very low
33:45
expectations thinking well, I've never really liked it and it was
33:50
better this time than I remembered it being.
33:54
Now you take away, I think one of the things that I think
33:59
people don't like about Colorado is the fact that it doesn't have
34:01
like a pedestrianised area and you're automatically you're
34:07
you're trespassing and you've got to find a disguise or you
34:10
can just try and get through without a disguise.
34:13
So, but once you get that first disguise, you can kind of pretty
34:19
much roam where you want to roam.
34:21
And it's different. It is different.
34:24
And maybe it's more akin to Blood Money in that Blood Money
34:27
does have a lot of missions set in the USI don't dislike that.
34:33
And actually there's quite a lot going on for a military
34:37
compound. Obviously you've got the the
34:38
greenhouse, you've got the junkyard, you've got like the
34:41
explosives there. You've got the barn, you've got
34:43
the the mansion itself and there's quite a lot of activity
34:49
there. Like there's there are people
34:50
everywhere, it's just a little bit different.
34:53
And I just took the time this time because there are
34:59
specifically for the main assassination target, there are
35:02
quite a few ways you can take him out.
35:05
The other ones less so, but there's still is at least I
35:08
think one unique way of taking them all out.
35:12
So I was figuring that out this time and I was just following
35:15
them. And I don't know, it just it
35:16
just clicks with me a little bit more this time.
35:19
And couldn't write, couldn't quite put my finger on why.
35:22
Maybe it's because my expectations were low and they
35:25
were surpassed. Yeah, it was fine.
35:29
And that's probably how I describe Colorado.
35:34
OK, so your fourth highest? This is where it gets difficult
35:39
because the final four that we have I really like, but for
35:43
different reasons. I've played a lot of the Bangkok
35:48
mission. I quite like the Bangkok
35:50
mission, but when I leave it to the kind of like the final four,
35:53
I'd say that Bangkok is probably the weakest of the four.
35:58
So I'm going to say Bangkok and I don't dislike it at all.
36:01
I, I disagree with you. I think it's quite a cool map
36:05
and I like how small it is in comparison to some of the other
36:08
maps because I don't think it's that much smaller than like
36:10
Paris really. But I do get that there's a lot
36:15
less to do in the Bangkok hotel. In in in Bangkok.
36:19
Yes. And in Paris.
36:21
So yeah, I think that Bangkok's a really cool location.
36:25
I like the whole you're taking on a hit in a luxury hotel.
36:30
I think that's a cool setting. So yeah, I'm just saying Bangkok
36:35
because I think the other three that we've got left are much
36:38
stronger. But I think the Bangkok's a
36:39
really decent level and is up there for me.
36:43
Cool. My fourth highest is Marrakesh.
36:46
Marrakesh is a missed opportunity for me.
36:49
It's got a tonne of potential and I agree with what you said
36:54
is disjointed. In the main mission between the
36:57
school and the embassy, there are some cool kills in there,
37:01
like when you kick a toilet on the general's head.
37:04
That's always fun to do. I do like to do that in my spare
37:06
time. Don't we all?
37:10
It is a pastime of mine. It's Britain's favourite
37:13
pastime, I believe. I had heard that.
37:16
Yeah, so, so there's some fun stuff in there now I, I like the
37:20
setting in terms of I've just so last year I went to, it's a
37:25
different country, but similar feel I'd argue.
37:28
So I can understand why you said Turkey.
37:30
So I, I came back from Istanbul last year.
37:32
Yeah, Istanbul was fantastic as a city to visit.
37:36
It's so alive. It's so diverse, it's just
37:41
amazing. It's an amazing city that I
37:43
think gets overlooked quite a lot when people talk about
37:46
places to visit now. The market section of Marrakech
37:51
really reminded me of Istanbul and I really like that section
37:56
now. I will also say that in the main
37:59
mission it doesn't really utilise it them very well and
38:02
there's a lot of space in the Marrakech mission that isn't
38:05
utilised, but there's a lot of detail in there like it really
38:10
is a well. I've never been to Marrakech,
38:13
but it feels to an outsider what it would be for recreation of
38:16
what it would be like and that's part of why we play these games.
38:21
It's sort of like, I think I described it, I don't know if
38:24
it's with Blood Money or Hitman 3 as like sort of, I use this
38:32
phrase probably carefully like travel pornography in a way.
38:38
So like you the idea of, of, of playing something of somewhere
38:45
exotic that you want to visit, but it tantalises the mind and
38:50
the body and, and that's what that's what Hitman is like a
38:55
bit. So Marrakesh, particularly when
39:01
you, there's, there's a, there's a mission as part of the side
39:04
missions where you replay it and it's based exclusively in the
39:09
market area. And it really, and it's set
39:13
during the night time. It's still bustling, it's lively
39:16
and there's a lot in the shisha bar and it transforms that level
39:21
and it's got a really great atmosphere.
39:23
And it's you almost play it and think, well, this is what the
39:25
main mission should have been, something more akin to this.
39:29
So yeah, I think my appreciation of Marrakech is not limited to
39:34
the main mission. It's more the environment
39:36
itself. And it's also a good argument of
39:40
how they can misuse an environment as part of the main
39:42
mission. OK, on to the top three for you.
39:45
What is #3? I think #3 would probably be
39:53
difficult. I think Hokkaido, I think
39:57
Hokkaido is another mission that I haven't played a lot of, but I
40:02
think that it's a very cool setting.
40:06
It's kind of like this private hospital for the very, very
40:08
wealthy who want to get like plastic surgery, etcetera,
40:13
etcetera. But it's also a spa.
40:15
It's a Wellness centre in the mountains of Japan and you've
40:19
got two kind of two targets up there.
40:23
But there are so many different ways that you can kind of off
40:26
them, as well as the fact that I can't think of many of the games
40:31
where you get to mess around in the mountains of Japan in like a
40:34
super high tech facility. I think that like, the costume
40:41
for the the facility director is stupid because like 47 just puts
40:47
on a wig, yeah, to look like him.
40:50
But there's also quite a cool thing with like the hospital's
40:53
AI system that you can take out. So yeah, again, really, really
40:59
strong mission. But probably, yeah, I think that
41:03
in 3rd place is is the right place for it, in my opinion.
41:06
What about for you? 3rd place for me would be
41:09
Sapienza. I love Sapienza.
41:12
It's great and it's massive. And I think the thing that lets
41:16
Sapienza down is, is the same thing that everyone says, which
41:20
is the lab underneath, which isn't offensive, it's just a bit
41:24
annoying. And having to do the virus
41:28
stuff, it's just like wow, this isn't fun.
41:31
Whereas taking people out is fun.
41:33
There are some great opportunities to take out the
41:35
other two targets. I think probably pound for
41:40
pound, Sapienza is probably the biggest map and there's a lot of
41:45
sapiens that feels like it goes unused, but it's used better
41:49
than the main mission in Marrakech and it's just a
41:52
fantastic location. Who doesn't want to be in a in a
41:56
town on the Amalfi Coast? It's just a really great
41:59
location for a target and it's reused to great effect in some
42:05
of the side missions. There's the icon where it's
42:10
repurposed as a film set brilliantly and you've got to
42:13
take out the movie star. It's just great.
42:17
It's it's then reused again and you assassinate A politician.
42:22
And it's also in patient zero where you're you're taking out
42:28
an author and some person who's trying to give them some virus.
42:33
It's a bit weird, but but yeah, it the amount of times that
42:37
they've repurposed successfully Sapiens, it just shows how good
42:42
it is. Yeah, I think the only bit that
42:46
lets it down time and time again is the lab.
42:48
But yes, it's still a great mission, strongly deserves its
42:52
place in the top three. Yeah, I am number two, yeah #2
43:00
I've kind of, obviously, I'll tell you #2 so you know what, my
43:03
number one is by process of elimination.
43:06
And I've kind of played with the idea of these a little bit.
43:08
And funnily enough, so my number 2, I think, is Sapienza.
43:13
And when the game first came out, I didn't really like
43:16
Sapienza. I didn't think it was a
43:17
particularly good level after Paris, because I think that
43:21
Paris, obviously, because my number one is such a strong,
43:24
strong location. But Sapienza over the last few
43:28
years has grown on me. And funnily enough, I mean, you
43:31
know this, But while we've been playing this game, I've been
43:34
away for a week. I've actually been in Italy for
43:38
a week last week, and I was actually on the Amalfi Coast.
43:42
So I spent three days in Sorrento and then I spent four
43:47
days in Maori. So Sorrento is a little bit more
43:51
off the Amalfi Coast than on it, but Maori is, Maori is the
43:56
Amalfi Coast did. You visit Positano.
43:59
No, we didn't. So Positano was about an hour,
44:05
an hour and a half's drive from Maori.
44:08
So we didn't make it that far. But I mean, like it.
44:13
It's, it's my first time in Italy and it's beautiful.
44:18
And you know, one of the highlights is going to be me
44:21
talking about Italy now. But one of the highlights in
44:24
Maori, there's a, there's something called the Path of the
44:26
Lemons, which is like a, a hilltop walk through the trees
44:32
from Maori to a place called Minori.
44:35
And honestly, like just stunning, beautiful.
44:38
And obviously the food in Italy is unbelievable as well.
44:43
And anyone that knows me knows I'm lactose.
44:45
Well, not anyone that knows me. Anyone knows me well knows I'm
44:48
lactose intolerant and I was only I'll once when I was over
44:51
there. So I'm going to say that as an
44:53
absolute win. It just seems I can't eat, can't
44:55
eat tiramisu. So there we go.
44:58
But I think kind of looking at the Sapienza level after
45:04
spending some time on the Amalfi Coast, it kind of has made me
45:09
appreciate it a little bit more. And if we'd have talked about
45:12
this game a year ago, Sapienza would probably have been like #4
45:16
for me, maybe. But it has grown on me so much
45:19
because, like you say, there are so many different, like, Elusive
45:21
targets that show up there, as well as the fact that they've
45:26
repurposed that map so many times as well.
45:29
But I just love how many areas there are.
45:31
You've got the Manor house, you've got the lab, which is,
45:34
you know, arguably the weakest section.
45:36
You've got the harbour, you've got the beach, you've got the
45:38
small little alleys around the town.
45:40
Yeah. You've got the church, you've
45:41
got the sewers, the apartments, the little shops.
45:46
It's just, yeah, it's just so versatile.
45:49
And I think now going to Italy and seeing a place that Sapienza
45:55
is somewhat based off has made me appreciate it a whole lot
46:00
more. Yeah, it feels truthfully.
46:03
It does, doesn't it? It does.
46:04
Very Italian. Just not enough people, you
46:09
know, saying Bongiorno and bonacerity on the yeah.
46:13
That, that is a thing with the Hitman games, isn't it?
46:16
They're all, they're all got the same voice.
46:18
Yeah, yeah, sapienza #2 for me. What's what's yours?
46:22
Because you've only got a couple of options left now.
46:24
Yeah, so I think prior to this playthrough I would have said I
46:31
would have switched these two, but I'm putting Paris at #2 I
46:37
think Paris is amazing. It's such a wonderful entry into
46:44
the world of Hitman. Obviously after the training
46:46
missions and the way that you enter the map as part of a
46:51
fashion show on the red carpet, brilliant.
46:55
The scale of it, the glamour. I don't think in terms of an
47:00
event, any of the other levels really top Paris.
47:05
It just feels big. It feels glitzy.
47:08
Obviously you're right in the heart of Paris.
47:11
You've got the, I love the way that this is laid out.
47:15
So you've got loads of grounds all around.
47:18
You've got stuff going on in the ground.
47:19
You've got the fashion show, you've got the catering, you've
47:22
got the people in, in the the Cellars and you've got the area
47:26
at the back where the helicopter is.
47:28
And then you've got the house itself, which is just so nicely
47:33
textured. And it feels like this, this
47:37
Parisian Manor house or, or palace and you've got all the
47:43
stuff going on there, which again is so diverse, the fashion
47:46
show. And then you go up to the higher
47:48
floors and you've got this sort of shady bidding process going
47:52
on. One of the reasons I really like
47:56
Paris is that it feels cohesive sometimes, as we've talked about
48:00
with some of the other other levels, it feels disjointed
48:03
between the two targets. 1 is in one area way over here, the
48:06
other one is in another area way over there.
48:08
And these two targets feel interlinked and it feels like a
48:13
natural sort of progression. And it and it's such a a great
48:19
entry into the game. And if any level is replayable,
48:25
I'd say it's Paris. I'd say it's probably the level
48:28
I've played the most. It is.
48:31
It's a it's a great, great level, but just surpassed this
48:35
time on this playthrough, but nothing at all against Paris.
48:39
It's just the way that the chips fell this time, I think.
48:43
So what's your #1 Which? Paris has to be yes, Paris.
48:48
Yeah, I think that that Paris is.
48:52
I mean, again, I before playing this game, I didn't really have
48:55
a particularly strong link to the Hitman series, but I think
49:00
that Paris is probably the most replayable level in the game
49:06
with the amount of options that you have in it.
49:08
And it had to be because it was the first level that they
49:11
released, along with the two training levels, which they
49:14
count, but not really. So IO had to.
49:19
Yeah, IO had to really knock out the park and nail it with Paris,
49:24
because if they didn't, then people would be like, yeah, I'm
49:27
not that fussed about this game then.
49:29
Like, why am I bothered? So yeah, I think that Paris is a
49:35
really, really good starting point for the game.
49:41
I think it's designed perfectly. You've got one target who is
49:45
milling around kind of the very public space on the ground floor
49:50
where there are a few opportunities to take a kill,
49:52
but you have to be really, really precise on how you
49:57
undertake that. And then your second target,
50:00
yeah, so many. And then the second target is 3
50:04
floors above in AVIP section of this huge house.
50:09
And you have to really understand how the costume thing
50:12
works, how to get around shortcuts, how to avoid guards
50:16
that want to pat you down. And then once once you're up
50:18
there, she is very rarely alone. So I feel that Paris is the
50:25
perfect introduction to what they wanted the new Hitman
50:29
series to be, as well as the fact that like, like you say
50:34
with it, the the scenery and the environment is just so, so good.
50:39
And there are just so many different ways that you can that
50:41
you can do it. I mean, you know, you've got the
50:44
the very obvious ones that they show off, like get the first
50:48
target, Viktor Novikov onto the catwalk because it's a fashion
50:51
show and drop this huge chandelier on him.
50:54
But then there are others where if you start off undercover as
50:58
one of the techie people, you can take the the firework
51:02
clicker, orchestrate it so that the fireworks go off.
51:08
Whatever her name is, something Margolis is on the top floor,
51:12
goes to the balcony to look at the.
51:14
Yeah, that's it. Dahlia.
51:15
She goes to the top floor and onto the balcony to look at the
51:19
fireworks. Victor's directly below.
51:21
Yeah. You push her off and she lands
51:22
on top of them and you take out both of them.
51:23
There's just so many different ways to do it.
51:25
Yeah. And I I think that Paris is
51:27
possibly one of the best missions in the entire trilogy.
51:31
Yeah, I agree. Just because of how well it sets
51:33
everything up. One of the One of the other
51:35
things that Paris does really well is the the pedestrian or
51:39
the MPC chatter is just full to the brim of Intel to discover
51:47
little side like conversations. And it just, I mean, it feels
51:54
like a real place in the very best possible sense of that.
51:58
And we talked about blood money when we paid that and how those
52:02
missions have become iconic and how some of the newer ones
52:07
haven't earned that status yet. However, I think Paris has
52:11
earned that status because as you say, it was the first full
52:15
blown level. It's a proof of concepts.
52:18
And not only did they demonstrate to people in a
52:21
single level that they'd blown absolution out of the water, but
52:25
they they did it in that way with such confidence.
52:29
I think any doubts that anyone had about the Hitman 2016
52:34
experience were completely blown away by Paris.
52:39
And that's such a bold statement.
52:41
So yeah, This is why I flip-flopped between the two.
52:43
But I think on this occasion I went for Hokkaido.
52:48
It's small, it's elegant. Again, you've got those great
52:55
assassination examples. It's got a wonderful atmosphere.
52:58
You're a patient in a an exclusive therapy centre.
53:05
And I, I love Japan as well. So the, the Japanese elements
53:09
just really click with me. I think in its in its sort of
53:18
small nature and in the elegance of the way that you approach its
53:23
assassinations, but also interact with the environment.
53:26
It just feels pretty close to perfect.
53:29
And just along with that atmosphere as well.
53:32
Yeah, as you said, you don't get many levels in the Japanese
53:36
mountains. There is there's a level in
53:38
Hitman 2 where you go into the Japanese mountains, but it's a
53:41
castle and it's not anywhere near as good as Hakaido.
53:45
But yeah. And also it's the game being
53:50
experimental where you can dress up as a yoga teacher.
53:54
You can also boot the yoga teacher off the side of the the
53:57
mountain. You can dress up as a ninja.
54:00
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you've got some really cool
54:03
assassination attempts like 1 where you actually doom and damn
54:08
one of the targets without actually killing them there and
54:10
then, but you have essentially killed them because you've
54:13
messed up their heart transplant, which is just
54:16
genius. Again, it it feels like the
54:21
culmination, like the perfect conclusion to that first season
54:26
and it feels like everything that IO learnt they they
54:30
funnelled into Hokkaido and. Yeah, because they were still
54:34
developing it, weren't they, while the other levels were out?
54:36
Yeah. And This is why it was released
54:38
in that episodic format. And when you look at the the
54:42
finales of the other two seasons, they don't meet the
54:47
level of Hokkaido. I think Hitman 2016 generally
54:52
has such high highs. It also has some levels that
54:56
don't meet those highs. And this is where two and three
55:01
become contenders amongst Hitman fans for which is the best one.
55:06
But for me, given they come off absolution and they present I'm
55:11
I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here.
55:13
So I'm in fact, I'm going to I'm going to pull back and we'll
55:15
talk about something else. Let's talk about the audio and
55:19
the visuals of this game. Start with the audio.
55:24
Yeah, I mean, there isn't much music in these games other than
55:27
kind of like orchestral swells when you.
55:29
Which I really like. Yeah, like when you take out a a
55:33
target or when you finish all of your kind of yeah, objectives.
55:38
Like when you finish all of your objectives, this this music
55:40
plays whilst you're extracting. Yeah.
55:42
And it's. Quite like, get the hell out,
55:46
get the hell out. It's quite dramatic.
55:49
So yeah, there isn't much music in these games, but where it is,
55:53
it's very well utilised. Again, not very much voice
55:57
acting in the actual games, I mean other than the MPCS which
56:00
will have the same voice pretty much throughout the series.
56:04
It's entertaining. Yeah, but Agent 47 perfect,
56:09
Diana, your your handler perfect.
56:13
And then, you know, I also feel you don't get much input from
56:18
him in this game until the very, very end.
56:20
But the the constant, I think his voice is perfect for how he
56:24
looks and you see a lot more of the constant in Hitman 2.
56:29
But yeah, I think that the audio in this music, not much to say
56:32
other than the bits that there are brilliant and the voice
56:35
acting is pretty solid, but I don't think there's much to say
56:38
about that. You know I.
56:39
Agree. What are the visuals?
56:42
That's stunning. I think this is what?
56:46
What engine does this run? Is it frostbite?
56:49
Yeah. I think it's a frostbite engine
56:52
or glacier or something like that.
56:54
Glacier it's. One of the two IC engines.
56:57
Yeah, and it's, I think it, I mean, it's a nine year old game
57:01
and it still looks brilliant. And obviously I played it PS
57:06
Five, you played it Switch too, so slightly different.
57:09
But yeah, it still stands out massively.
57:12
The the environments, like the sunsets that you get in in
57:16
Bangkok, beautiful Japan, the snow looks amazing.
57:20
Like this is still a really, really attractive game, like
57:22
almost 10 years on. So yeah, I think it looks, looks
57:26
incredible. I think the thing that makes
57:29
this game look incredible is the detailed texture work.
57:34
And it's so unique from level to level.
57:38
Like all of that has been created specifically for those
57:42
levels. It's what makes Paris feel like
57:45
Paris and Hokkaido feel like Hokkaido.
57:48
And there's so much work that's gone into the little incidental
57:53
details of each map that you can look at things, and it's just.
57:58
Whereas you look at things in other games and you think, oh,
58:00
that's a repeated texture. Oh, I've seen that telephone
58:03
sitting here, or I've seen that table.
58:05
This room looks identical to the one that I saw an hour ago.
58:08
Yeah, Hitman doesn't have that. Each level feels curated, and
58:13
curated is such a good word. Yeah, I think so too.
58:15
Because it feels hand picked and so delicately crafted that these
58:23
levels feel alive and they look stunning.
58:27
And in 10 years time, this game will still look stunning, Yeah.
58:30
And that's the art of it. So yeah.
58:33
Especially in the cutscenes as well.
58:36
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the. Cutscenes are unbelievable.
58:39
Which I really missed in Hitman Two, to be honest.
58:41
Yeah, Yeah, So fantastic stuff. On to our question of the week.
58:52
Now the question of the week is again looking at episodic
58:55
structures. So which major game that has
59:00
already been released that exists that you've played may
59:05
have benefited from an episodic structure, do you think?
59:10
That's a big question. Yeah, it is.
59:12
Have you already got an answer for this?
59:13
Because I need to think on it. I.
59:14
Do Now I'll start by saying obviously episodic structures to
59:21
things have become a bit more common.
59:24
You've got the Final Fantasy 7 remakes coming.
59:27
Out in. Episodic format.
59:31
The one to me. Telltale as well.
59:34
The telltale, yeah. The one to me that I feel like
59:39
really have benefited from it had the situation been right, is
59:45
actually one that you alluded to earlier.
59:47
You alluded to Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid 5.
59:52
Now we talked about this in the MGS 5 episode.
59:55
Ground Zeroes is better than the main game and as a proof of
1:00:01
concept it's fantastic. And the actual game doesn't
1:00:05
quite deliver but I feel like. Metal Gear Solid 5 could have
1:00:10
neatly been divided into episodes because of the
1:00:13
different locations that it has. If you have Africa, Afghanistan.
1:00:17
Yeah, exactly. Maybe you split them like that
1:00:21
and maybe we'd have got that famous 3rd chapter if it if it
1:00:25
really did exist. But I feel like having that
1:00:30
extra development time would have had given them time to kind
1:00:33
of iron out the story issues and all the bits in between that
1:00:38
don't quite align to get them to meet the level of the gameplay
1:00:43
itself, which is really good having having great missions to
1:00:48
go along with the great gameplay.
1:00:50
So yeah, I just feel like that game with an episodic structure,
1:00:54
I like to think it could have been a different story.
1:00:57
I know that's probably ambitious given the relationship between
1:01:00
Kajima and Konami, but yeah, in my in the theatre of the mind,
1:01:10
that's a nice thing to to think. Yeah, No, no, I agree with that.
1:01:14
I think it would have been a better way to deal with that
1:01:16
game. While you've been saying that
1:01:20
I've had a thing, can I, if they'd have structured the game
1:01:23
differently and I think they've just released a patch actually
1:01:26
to kind of change the way that you can play the the story like
1:01:30
in order. Oh, I know what you're going.
1:01:31
To say, but the The Last of Us Part 2, yes, I think if they had
1:01:36
restructured the way that that game is told slightly or changed
1:01:40
a few bits, I think that they could.
1:01:43
I mean, I don't really like games being broken up into
1:01:46
parts. I think just release the game as
1:01:48
it is. And I think I even said that
1:01:50
when we talked about Final Fantasy 7 with how they're doing
1:01:54
that. Because the story doesn't quite
1:01:57
have a neat beginning, middle and end because of the Yeah.
1:02:00
Narrative dissonance, no, and I think that when you're trying to
1:02:03
tell the whole story, particularly if you somewhat
1:02:06
change key people in the process or someone in the process dies
1:02:10
or something while you're doing it, you have a real danger of
1:02:13
completely screwing up what you're trying to do.
1:02:16
Case and point being the the new Star Wars trilogy that everyone
1:02:20
seems to hate because they had JJ Abrams directing Episode 7.
1:02:25
They had what's his chop? So I can't remember his name,
1:02:28
Gareth Edwards, I think doing Episode 8 or Gareth Edwards
1:02:32
might have been Rogue One, I can't remember.
1:02:35
And then JJ Abrams back. And because they hadn't agreed
1:02:37
on a full story throughout, they completely screwed it.
1:02:42
So yeah, I don't particularly agree with episodic content,
1:02:44
particularly in games, but yeah, I think that The Last of Us Part
1:02:49
2 could have really taken something from that.
1:02:52
I think if they'd have elongated the first section and then maybe
1:02:56
ended it, you could have even done it in three parts.
1:02:58
You could have had the first section, which is all of the
1:03:01
preamble stuff, and you finish that game off where Joel gets
1:03:05
clotted by Abby. Spoilers, spoilers.
1:03:10
And then Part 2 being Ellie's story and then Part 3 being
1:03:17
Abbeys, and then the the wrap up with Ellie going to San Diego or
1:03:22
wherever it is. I think that could have worked
1:03:23
quite well. And I think it might have even
1:03:25
taken away some of the backlash because it would have been like,
1:03:27
right, Joel's dead. You have to deal with that now
1:03:30
for X amount of months. Let it breathe a bit more rather
1:03:34
than everyone kind of in taking it all at once and having these
1:03:39
very raw feelings, which is exactly what we had when we did
1:03:42
that episode, which I think lent itself to that episode.
1:03:45
But it was still a challenging 1 to kind of digest because of
1:03:49
that. People, people had trauma from
1:03:52
that game because of what happened in it and I think.
1:03:56
Still not replayed it. No, neither have I, and I think
1:03:59
we are. Going to replay it for the
1:04:00
podcast at some point. Yeah, we will.
1:04:03
And I think I said at the time it might have come out after we
1:04:06
released the episode perhaps. But there's there's a video on
1:04:09
the last Part 2 by the YouTube channel Girlfriend Reviews where
1:04:14
yeah, well, she talks about she as a creator, her her dad passed
1:04:20
away when she was quite young and how the trauma of that was
1:04:26
kind of somewhat reflected in last was Part 2.
1:04:30
And I think that when something really traumatic happens because
1:04:32
I mean, it's a video game, but at the same time people really
1:04:37
take course. They do like stuff like that
1:04:40
personally. And you know, I think people
1:04:42
kind of saw Joel as like gamers that gamers is is dad's do you
1:04:47
know, like he was a father figure to a lot of people, which
1:04:52
is a really weird thing to say first.
1:04:53
Game yeah, that was that was that was who he saw everything
1:04:56
from the perspective of So when that when that person is taken
1:05:01
away from us, yes, OK, he made a decision at the end of the last
1:05:04
was Part 1, but I didn't really care.
1:05:07
No, I needed to die. So yeah, it was the way it was.
1:05:10
Yeah. But I think that if they'd have
1:05:12
maybe lengthen that out slightly, let you sit with
1:05:16
what's happened and then move on, maybe it would have received
1:05:19
a bit more of a a likeable reaction.
1:05:23
I don't know. I think, I think you could be
1:05:25
right there. And again, it's, it's, it's
1:05:28
quite interesting to imagine a different, different timeline
1:05:32
where that did happen. Well.
1:05:35
Same same with MGS 5. It just, they feel like games
1:05:38
that really maybe that could have changed the narrative
1:05:40
around them. I mean, we'll, we'll see when we
1:05:43
come back to the Last of Us because like I say, they,
1:05:46
they've put something in new now which restructures it slightly.
1:05:48
I don't know what that looks like really transformative as
1:05:51
well. Yeah.
1:05:52
So we'll see. But yeah, that that that that's
1:05:54
my answer to to the question of the week.
1:05:56
Good answer. Thank you very much.
1:05:57
I tried very hard. So I think we'll wrap up sort of
1:06:03
around now. I think we've had a nice lengthy
1:06:05
discussion about Hitman 2016. Does Hitman 2016 deserve to be
1:06:12
on a list of top 100 games, do you think?
1:06:16
It's a complicated answer. I can't remember what we said
1:06:18
when we talked about Hitman 3, but I think that you have to.
1:06:22
I know what I've said for Hitman 3.
1:06:24
I think that you have to look at these three games as one because
1:06:28
that's how they want it to be. It's the The World of
1:06:32
Assassination trilogy or whatever.
1:06:34
Yeah, but I see them hiding. That's how they want.
1:06:36
It, yeah, I, I see them being as, as one.
1:06:39
So I mean, even if you didn't do that and you're just like Hitman
1:06:42
2016 exists on its own, I'd say yes.
1:06:45
I think that it's like extensively, extensively
1:06:48
replayable. I think that it looks amazing.
1:06:51
It holds up almost 10 years after it came out.
1:06:54
And yes, I don't particularly agree with how they kind of eked
1:06:57
it out over the space of six, 7-8 months or however long it
1:07:01
was, but it paid off. It's a very, very good game.
1:07:06
And yeah, ultimately I think that this is one that if people
1:07:09
haven't played it, they should because you're going to have a
1:07:11
completely different experience playing it as to anyone else.
1:07:15
It does because you do it in your own way.
1:07:17
Yeah. Agree.
1:07:19
Guessing the same for you. Yeah, I think it does.
1:07:22
I I said my conclusion of the two Hitman games that we have
1:07:27
played prior for the podcast, Blood Money and Hitman Three.
1:07:31
My conclusion was that Blood Money does deserve to be there.
1:07:33
It's so iconic. Some of those hits are so
1:07:36
iconic. What I said about Hitman 3 was
1:07:41
if the other two Hitman games in the modern trilogy didn't exist,
1:07:45
then yes. However, of the three I would
1:07:50
pick, I would pick one, possibly 2, but one definitely because it
1:07:57
was, it was the groundbreaking 1-2 and three are a continuation
1:08:00
of 1 and the success that one had and the systems that one
1:08:04
built and, and two and three refined that, which is great.
1:08:09
But one was the, the one that created that.
1:08:14
So my, my gut says that if any 2 Hitman games deserve to be on a
1:08:20
list of top 100 games, it would be Blood Money and probably
1:08:24
Hitman 2016. I think Hitman 2016 is really
1:08:33
not far from perfection. What I mean by that is, OK, it's
1:08:39
online stuff. Frankly, I don't really care.
1:08:42
We've had nine years to get used to that.
1:08:46
I don't think that's enough to mark it down to an 84.
1:08:49
And even those levels that aren't as good, I'd still rather
1:08:54
play those than a million other games, like 100 other games,
1:08:59
because they're in this game. There's still that creativity
1:09:03
that that spark of yeah, just just childishness even to the
1:09:10
game that it just makes it so, so much fun.
1:09:14
So I'd rather play Colorado than 100 Call of duties.
1:09:19
Yeah. So, so in that sense, I just
1:09:21
think it yeah, it it definitely does deserve to be there.
1:09:23
It's the innovator of the modern Hitman series and the other two
1:09:27
refine that series. I hope, I hope we haven't seen
1:09:31
the last of Hitman and I, and I doubt we have.
1:09:33
Obviously IO has been kind of put to work on the new Bond game
1:09:38
as well. I think in the same way that CD
1:09:41
project Red for a long time became gamers darling company
1:09:47
and then Cyberpunk came out and they had to kind of re earn that
1:09:51
which they've they're slowly getting back to, but not quite
1:09:54
there yet. IO really is critical and gamers
1:09:59
darling company because they've not really put a step wrong and
1:10:04
I I I love them for that. They they just feel like a
1:10:08
company that gives back in in a time when many other companies
1:10:11
are not giving back and they're just other companies are
1:10:14
demanding more and more. Well, as as well as that, I
1:10:18
mean, when we talked about Hitman 3, which must be about a
1:10:21
year ago now, maybe maybe a little less, can't remember, but
1:10:25
it was the case of, oh, we've heard that IO are going to be
1:10:28
taking on the James Bond mantle. And then since then there's been
1:10:33
a like a first initial reveal trailer for double O 7 first
1:10:37
light. And I can't think of a better
1:10:40
company to take the Bond gaming franchise forward.
1:10:45
And I mean, we've we've talked about it extensively on this
1:10:48
podcast, you know, terms and terms more things about James
1:10:52
Bond than I do, despite me being a Bond fan.
1:10:55
But I mean, from the little that I do know about Fleming's books
1:10:59
and and how James Bond is written and you know, all of the
1:11:04
back story about him that's separate to the films, it really
1:11:08
seems like IO are taking the Fleming side of things seriously
1:11:12
that it's. A great path to take.
1:11:14
Yeah, it's a, it's a reboot, isn't it, on how Bond became
1:11:19
Bond, even down to the the eyes that they've designed and the
1:11:23
scar on his face and stuff like that.
1:11:24
They're taking it seriously and they're they're treating it with
1:11:27
care. I'm excited and and I agree with
1:11:31
you. I think this is the company that
1:11:33
I wanted to see do it. Yeah, it's great.
1:11:38
And the Hitman games have so many nods towards the James Bond
1:11:42
series anyway. Yeah, there'll definitely be
1:11:44
nods to Hitman in in Bond, won't there?
1:11:47
Good. And rightly so.
1:11:48
And yeah, so. So that's Hitman.
1:11:52
So he spoke about a cult earlier and I wondered what you thought
1:11:57
of the cult of Blobby and them being a bunch of targets that
1:12:00
you take out, including Noel Edmonds, of course.
1:12:03
I, I, I really like the, I really like the Blobby disguise
1:12:08
that you can use in Sapienza. I feel that there is no better
1:12:11
way to to spend your time on that level, walking through the
1:12:15
streets of of Italy dressed as Mr Blobby, you know, raining
1:12:20
down fury and terror upon your targets.
1:12:24
That is this sort of a lifelong dream of mine, really.
1:12:28
I've heard that. To walk down, the fictional
1:12:31
Sapiens are dressed as Mr Blobby.
1:12:33
Maybe I'm Mr Trick and going to Italy and not taking a blobby
1:12:36
style costume. I think you did.
1:12:38
I think you did. Speaking of Mr Blobby, I found
1:12:43
out this week or or I was reminded.
1:12:45
I might have been aware at one point that there were three
1:12:48
Blobby theme parks called Crinkly Bottom and also known as
1:12:53
Blobby Land, and there was one very close to me in Morecambe,
1:12:56
opened up by the man or or or the Thing himself or the Thing.
1:13:01
Is the man the myth, the legend? Mr Blobby and the other man, the
1:13:05
myth, the legend, Noel Edmonds. So that's your Blobby update for
1:13:10
this this this episode. I appreciated that.
1:13:15
Yeah, your BLOB date. And there'll be more of that to
1:13:18
come. Blobby News.
1:13:19
I will. We love blobby news.
1:13:23
Well, what's coming up moving on on to our next episode.
1:13:25
Yeah we we kind of mentioned it in passing like as a bit of a
1:13:28
joke in the last episode because I found out that the the Gex
1:13:34
trilogy had been pre released and I immediately I think I
1:13:37
purchased it before we'd even finished recording the episode.
1:13:39
It was like, great. And I played a bit of it and I
1:13:43
played it while I was primarily on the plane to and from Italy
1:13:47
because I don't tend to gain much when I go away.
1:13:48
But yeah, we're going to just kind of throw a random one in
1:13:53
there and we're going to play Gex.
1:13:56
We're not going to do all. I don't know if I've even told
1:13:58
you this. We're not going to play all
1:13:59
three of them. Yeah, I don't want to play one.
1:14:02
No one is very old and I've never played three, but all of
1:14:05
my nostalgia and my experience comes from Gex to Enter the
1:14:09
Gecko. So yeah, that's going to be the
1:14:12
next game that we play. And also, have you started it
1:14:15
yet? No I haven't.
1:14:17
I've downloaded it OK. It's sitting on my switch too,
1:14:19
so. Yeah, it seems to be played.
1:14:20
The the thing that you need to know before going into this game
1:14:23
is there is an option to play the European version or the
1:14:26
American version. OK, I think you choose it.
1:14:29
You want the. European version because of the
1:14:31
voice over. Yes, because I think his name's
1:14:36
Leslie Phillips. Yeah, so Leslie Phillips is the
1:14:38
voice of of GEX in GEX 2, whereas the American one, I
1:14:43
think it's a relatively famous actor, but his voice is very
1:14:46
annoying. And the British version is 10
1:14:48
times better. So make sure that you choose the
1:14:51
European version when you start it.
1:14:53
And if you're not sure on how to do it, just just let me know and
1:14:56
I'll tell you. Excited to Google.
1:14:57
It yeah, yeah, so so I'd already seen because they released that
1:15:00
as a patch the. English.
1:15:01
Yes, correct. Voice work.
1:15:03
So yeah, yeah, voice work. It's, it's, it's, it's so of
1:15:09
it's time. I mean, I was on the plane
1:15:12
flying over wherever the bloody hell it was.
1:15:14
I was in the sky and just listening to Leslie Phillips
1:15:17
saying, oh, it feels like I'm in Boy George's pants.
1:15:21
And there are just so many weird.
1:15:23
That's. Just a standard.
1:15:25
That's right, standard afternoon for you, that is.
1:15:27
That is a standard afternoon for me.
1:15:29
But the game is so stuck in the 90s with its.
1:15:31
References. Pants.
1:15:32
I just love being in Boy George's pants, you know?
1:15:35
So yeah, that will be our next game in a couple of weeks, but
1:15:39
should be should be an interesting one, particularly
1:15:42
for someone that's not played it before.
1:15:43
But yes, as always, you can find us on social.
1:15:46
Well, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook.
1:15:50
You can e-mail us at the long shortpodcast@hotmail.com.
1:15:53
And yeah, if you enjoyed the episode, give it a rating, a
1:15:56
follow or share or whatever it is.
1:15:58
Give it to Boy George so he can pop in his pants.
1:16:00
Who knows? Yeah, there you go.
1:16:02
There you go. And anything else from you for
1:16:04
today? No, I imagine.
1:16:07
And then that episode will be either next week or the week
1:16:09
after, but we'll see how we get on.
1:16:10
Absolutely. We're not very good at keeping
1:16:12
to time frames anymore, so we'll do our.
1:16:14
Best. But we are still producing.
1:16:16
So yeah, it's still coming. Out.
1:16:17
We've not had any conversations about stopping or anything, so
1:16:20
there's no worries there. But yes, we will see you in a
1:16:24
week or two with GEX. And in the meantime, take care,
1:16:27
Cheerio. See you on the next one.