by: The Button Man | November 23, 2002
General Gameplay
Let's get this first one over with quickly. If there's one thing that bugs me about
the gameplay right now, it's leaning. In Hitman, this was an absolutely essential
tactic, allowing you to peek unnoticed around corners, quietly stick your
Berretta 92SD round the corner, knock off an unsuspecting victim, and quickly pop back
behind the wall before anyone saw. It was brilliant, and helped rid the world of so
many pesky Triad members whilst saving the hide of 47 numerous times. It was even
possible to buy a few seconds of time using this technique, to get rid of a guard before
a patrolling buddy would return.
It wasn't an invincible tactic. If you missed, you could be guaranteed swift retribution.
If you popped out too far, you could be seen, and it was fairly regular for an innocent
bystander to wonder by behind you and blow your cover. But it was an extremely useful
tactic.
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Leaning: workable, but not quite up to par.
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Don't get me wrong - I don't want it to be a perfect tactic for killing enemies.
What I was envisioning was something that kept you inconspicuous to guards facing
you at medium distances, whilst visible at short distances, making it useful, but
not infallible. As it stands, I used it extremely rarely in the game, and then only
to pop my head round some tight corners to get a slightly better view. Hey, maybe I've
missed the point with it.
Moving on, let's hit the AI. Actually, I'd like to lavish some praise for the most
part. There have been some really sensible improvements to the engine since Hitman.
Firstly, there's the simply fantastic disguise system. This scared the hell out of me
early on in the game, and it's possibly the most important addition. It not only
makes more sense (having to keep your distance when wearing a simple disguise), but
it keeps the tension up, freeing the level designers to concentrate on more clever
things. Previously, the only problem to a perfect hit was a guard stumbling in on your
actions, or a predestined NPC who could recognise you. Now, you have much more of a
problem just walking away from the scene - you need to be quick, but run or get too close,
and you're dog food. It might be a touch sensitive, but it is intelligent and well
thought out, and everyone has their own ideas of fairness.
Secondly, there are some very nice touches to the guard AI. No longer will a
guard simply sound the alarm and become alert when aroused from general duty.
Guards will often check the surrounding area of a dead body for suspicious activity.
I've caught them wondering into nearby rooms looking for the killer, or going to the
end of a corridor and looking round the corner to see if anyone's hanging about. This
is a really sensible addition, especially when combined with the disguise system.
There is now a real urge to clear out of the area before you're discovered, and keeping
that body hidden for as long as possible has become essential in many cases.
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I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it.
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However, not all is good on this front. There seems to be a great variety in NPC
alertness across the levels. In Hitman, you could alert guards in the local
area by making too much noise (e.g. with a Desert Eagle), and it would cause local
guards to come rushing to the scene of the incident. This could be dealt with using
a bit of quick thinking and a big gun, and it left distant parts of the level untouched,
allowing you to continue your mission as before.
In Hitman 2, sometimes the alert system works perfectly. For example, in the first
St. Petersburg level, positioning yourself carefully when you take your shot will
save your bacon. It doesn't stop guards in the area from being alerted (you're firing
a sniper rifle after all), but it can stop them from narrowing down your position,
so effectively the level continues as usual. However, there are occasions where causing
a ruckus in one area can cause guards all the way across the level to become alert.
It is still only local guards that come to
investigate the situation; distant guards don't actually seem to do anything about the
event. However, they continue to stare in the direction of the incident. Surely, if
they were fully alerted, they should come running, but if they decide it's not their
problem, then they should return to previous duties.
As it happens, they just turn to
face the noise, and stand there for the rest of the level in their new orientation. You
can see this on the first level (easiest to do if you're invisible - I know that
changes the AI, but the effect is the same invisible or not). Make a large amount
of noise (blow someone away with a shotgun for example) and then look at the map.
Everyone is staring at you, and they'll never move again. I feel this is a massive oversight.
Whilst the majority of the game completely
immerses you in a realistic world, with fairly realistic action/response from the game,
something like this completely disrupts the suspension of disbelief.
