Install Steam
login
|
language
简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
日本語 (Japanese)
한국어 (Korean)
ไทย (Thai)
Български (Bulgarian)
Čeština (Czech)
Dansk (Danish)
Deutsch (German)
Español - España (Spanish - Spain)
Español - Latinoamérica (Spanish - Latin America)
Ελληνικά (Greek)
Français (French)
Italiano (Italian)
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
Magyar (Hungarian)
Nederlands (Dutch)
Norsk (Norwegian)
Polski (Polish)
Português (Portuguese - Portugal)
Português - Brasil (Portuguese - Brazil)
Română (Romanian)
Русский (Russian)
Suomi (Finnish)
Svenska (Swedish)
Türkçe (Turkish)
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
Українська (Ukrainian)
Report a translation problem
Discussions Rules and Guidelines
Report this post
Instead we got the singleplayer version of a failed pseudo-multiplayer mode.
that is kind of a completely different game. This game has nothing to do with PvP
Ghost Mode was PVP for the Hitman Trilogy.
Ghost Mode originally launched in just 1 location, then a 2nd was released and a 3rd was scheduled for release, while it was also announced with plans to roll out to all locations eventually.
The entire mode was cancelled, the release date for the 3rd map never happened and even the two working locations were eventually removed with the entire mode being shut down.
Freelancer uses 2 of the main mechanics from Ghost Mode while completely removing the PVP aspect and layering numerous other features on top of it.
Freelancer uses the random spawn mechanics for targets and the same loot box system that had been built for Ghost Mode as the foundation for the Freelancer mode. The rest of Freelancer is new systems to make use of those mechanics.
But to say "it has nothing to do with PVP" kind of ignores that this did have PVP at one point and that when the mode was removed, the foundation of it was repackaged into single player content.
A lot of work had gone into making the random target system and the loot box system for Ghost Mode and they decided to repurpose it into something else instead of letting it go to waste. All the maps had even been designed with the Ghost Mode concept, you can see it with the number of water hoses and random kill spots spread out all over the place that aren't anywhere near main-mission targets.
If you had played Ghost Mode you would understand what I'm talking about, if you haven't played it, you might not get it.
---
In Ghost Mode you get dropped into a random start point with no equipment and a random target. Your PVP opponent is given an identical world, you can see each other but only interact indirectly with specific cross over items that interfere with each others worlds, hence you are each a "ghost" visible to each other, but you're really in a race to see who can get X kills the fastest. Random targets spawn around the map, and loot boxes with items that you pick 1 out of 3 items from the box to keep, this looks and works the same as Freelancer.
Ghost Mode ends when you finish the face of kill X targets and the winner did it the fastest.
Freelancer takes those random targets and loot box systems and instead of using it to race against another player, you're using it to fill contracts handed to you from the safehouse system (which is entirely new).
So fundamentally you're random spawning into the world the same as Ghost Mode, you're collecting loot boxes that look and function the same as Ghost Mode and you're killing random targets just like Ghost Mode. The only difference is why you're doing it, because now you're following an issued random contract from the syndicate generation system, and you're not racing against an opponent and you have the entirely new layer of the safehouse and unlock system that didn't exist before.
There's a lot more fleshed out to Freelancer beyond that which is new, the way you solve the boss using the camera, how you unlock the safe, etc. So yes, Freelancer goes way beyond what Ghost Mode was. But to say it "has nothing to do with PVP" kind of ignores that the core mechanics used to be the core mechanics built for the PVP Ghost Mode. It was just scrapped and the parts used for this with the rest built on top of it.
Anyway, one of the main things wrong with Freelancer is the loot box system, and half the reason it's like this is that wasn't originally designed for this, someone just decided to reuse it from the PVP system instead of building a better concept from the ground up for Freelancer.
Nearly any complaints you could make about Freelancer are due to the fact most of the mode is built using recycled parts and concepts, very little of it was truly well thought out and purpose built for Freelancer originally, it's scraps of other modes and ideas that are now just kind of cobbled together into this.
1. I'm not upset at all that Freelancer exists. I'm just aware of its origins.
2. Have you actually played it? It's not a casual mode at all. i've completed the game to 100% and I play contracts mode and some of the hardest contracts for fun. I would rate Freelancer as very difficult, it's more hard core than the normal missions by quite a large factor.
Casuals aren't being thrown a bone with this, they are being shown how hard the game can be with restricted load outs and no way to save, reload or restart. The difficulty level is well above the normal game. You lose everything you bring with you if you fail, two missions failed (out of 18) and you fail your entire campaign, lose all of your items (including what's back at the safe house) and half your money.
Overall I had fun with Freelancer despite its flaws, but a lot of what people (in particular casuals) asked for, isn't included. This doesn't have the easy collection aspect people wanted, it doesn't have the buy/upgrade system people wanted. It doesn't have a logical shopping system, etc.
Freelancer is a brutal rogue-like system with heavy penalties for failure and very little room for error.
I'm happy that any content is being added and having put 40 hours into Freelancer already I'll be doing another 400 once it launches in January. But if you want a conversation about what it's missing, I'm more than capable of pointing out both sides of the issue, the good and the bad.
I am not talking about that the game is too easy or stuff like that. If you wanna play casual on easy difficulty then go for it. Play whatever style you have. What I am talking about that they add features that makes no sense, that are immersion breaking. When they announced the game they explain what freelancer will be about and what features there will be there, but the result was different.
after reading your desc, im so glad this pvp thing not implemented. i play hitman only for singleplayer stealth enjoyment
freelancer is the most anti-casual thing to date
where the hell you getting the idea that it's casual
it should be anti-casual, but there are tons of features that are not that makes no sense.
I do however agree about the difficulty, and I doubt how much the mode will interest me in long term - it is definitely my favourite side mode, but I didn't feel it added too much variation to what base missions had to offer - it still mostly tests player's familiarity with previously released missions, which the challenges did already
To the individual complaints
Yes, but that is not really a problem in itself. I don't think keeping targets secret would add much - what the gameplay loop be there, exactly? It would add tedioum as we try to locate NPC, yes, but difficulty? Nah.
Yes, gear capacity is there to limit you from using stuff you rely on. Sure, if I can take lockpick and silenced, then I am golden, but if I want to complete side objective I probably need to leave out one of those.
Yes, I suspect the point of the boxes is to encourage players to reach other parts of the map.
Yes. I think the idea is to encourage different playstyles, and they do that through challenges. There are syndicates clearly tailored for a more aggressive playstyle.
Some kind of consequnse system could be a good idea for a stealth game, and a global alertness level could be interest for a rogulite mode like that. I am thinking of Invisible Inc and it's per-mission alarm meter that makes missions more challenging with every passing turn and every player mistake, without outright game over state.
I do think it is a more underlying hitman "problem". It is less of a stealth game and more of a puzzle box - once you know the solution (what item is there, how the map is constructed, location of guards and disguises etc.) there is little challenge left. Steath systems itself are very rudimentary. That's always been a Hitman way.
I wouldn't say better, but I appreciate what Hitman2 tried to do. Social stealth is an interesting concept but unlike "staying to shadows" it is difficult to gamify. Hitman2 awarness meter had a problem of being unclear and arbitrary - same player behaviour could lead to different outcomes for unknown reason. Series moved away from it already in H3 and especially in Blood Money. All of the hitman games felt off - either by making enemies suspicious for unknown reasons, or allowing player to get away with behaviour that should raise eyebrows. I personally felt new hitmans made the comedic odd side of this sytem work rather well.
At the very least Hitman reboots have a clear, and transparent system with which players can engage. Gaming the AI is perhaps too easy though, but I don't have a good solution to suggest.
Hey, the OP began with:
and then continued to complain about hand holding, and finished off reminiscing fondly - the days where you get aggro-ed when crouching.
So I got the wrong idea from what he wrote?
maybe he didn't play it enough but it gets pretty brutal
Keep in mind, a straight "consequence" system would lead to an inverted difficulty matching. Gameplay wise, you shouldn't match the skillful players against easy levels, nor match the sloppier players with stuff they already can't handle. So the logic of "the cleaner you are, the less alert they'll be next time" would have that issue.
All this is predicated on the game having that much range over the difficulty slider. If that were true, the experts would want the challenge set to maximum from the start anyways. You're right about map knowledge being paramount, and you can't make people forget a useful route.
a way to fix some of this problems would be a customization of the dificulty level. Have some presets of difficulty with each having a procent of how hard it is and a customizable difficulty where you can turn on or off features that will increase/decrease the procentage of difficulty.
Categorize each level of difficulty to in a certain range:
Easy = 0 to 25%
Medium = 26 to 50%
hard = 51 to 75%
brutal = 76% and above
This one when you get your customized % of your difficulty setting is inside of this ranges (this are examples) it will count as one of those levels. For example, I change the settings and customize my gameplay difficulty and I end up having 68% difficulty. That will mean y settings will be equal to hard. That way you will still be able to complete challenges, achievements, mastery, etc.
The things he's complaining about for hand holding exist in the main game anyway, targets being known etc. He kind of glossed over the increased difficulty added by Freelancer. You die way faster than professional difficulty. You have 0 saves (even master let you have 1), no restarts, no choice of infiltration point, etc.
Basically him saying that the mode is "too easy" is he wants it even harder than it is, which is already harder than the normal game. You really have to understand the perspective, Freelancer is more hard core than the base game was, but it's still not hard core enough for him.
I can show you hours of me playing it that I recorded. Every time you make a little mistake there's no restarting to fix it, you cascade into whatever consequences you triggered. I don't mind, but that's not casual.
To put it in perspective I can do all the main missions SASO with times that rank in the top 100 (that doesn't make me the best, there's guys way better than me in the top 10) and I'm struggling to get through even a single campaign of Freelancer.
Instinct and known targets that he's complaining about are part of the base game, so his complaints about them being in Freelancer don't mean Freelancer is easy, it just means those are two things they didn't make harder. It kind of ignores that literally every other aspect of it, is harder.