Afro Republican
Banned
Hitman was one of the fastest growing franchises out there. it focused a lot on open-world stealth and disguise mechanics, had an interesting plotline, and was a lot more atmospheric compared to the more action based stealth games like SC or MGS, granted you could play some levels of the older hitman games like the latter, but often that would cause issues. Well until Absolution.
Hitman Agent 47, a game that I swear the developers are trying to pretend doesn't exist, and don't want to remake/fix, started it all and set the template for what was to come. Though not very good it was innovative and gained lots of attention.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin brought Hitman to the frontlines, it was a big success becoming the best selling Hitman game ever (until absolution temporarily) fixing all the problems of the first game offering better controls, more varied and detailed cities, better weapon and stealth mechanics, and better disguise implementation. Highly acclaimed, rewards everywhere, even the PS2 version was a million+ seller. Hitman was going places.
Hitman would continue with Contracts, while plot wise was mostly a recap of previous events, improved the mechanics of Hitman 2 immensely, selling large numbers and once again receiving positive receptions.
Hitman Blood Money would introduce some new mechanics and continue with Hitmans current trajectory, selling well with positive reviews, however Hitman BM would stay close to Contracts LTD with legs not being as expected. Being a cross-platform game, the next game in the franchise would be built-up for the next generation.
Hitman Absolution would be that game. it was made for the next generation of gaming technology, it features a deeper plot, stream-lined mechanics that would target the current Hitman audience, as well as attract more casual gamers, and this approach worked initially. It became for a time, the best selling Hitman game. However the reception among Hitman hardcore and softcore fans, along with Absolution not "keeping" the new casual audience hurt the Hitman franchise immensely, not only that, but the costs to make the game led SE to deem the game a failure despite it's sales compared to the rest of the franchise at that point.
But the crazy thing is, since that ONE game, Absolution, Hitman has never been able to recover, Game sales were down not just for other retail hitman games, but on PC services like Steam as well.
Hitman had a reboot in 2016 just titled "Hitman" which would be an episodic title. This new generation Hitman went back to the old open-ended style of gameplay and hardcore stealth mechanics the fans loved. However, it was deemed not a success and a slow burner.
A sequel would be made, however, when the confusing titled, "Hitman 2" was announced, so was SE's lack of interest in Hitman studio IO interactive, and the studio was separated from SE. Hitman 2, which makes searching for the real Hitman 2 frustrating with it's title, sold very poorly.
It's clear that Hitman Absolution was the start of the fall but that still leaves questions. What went wrong? Why was Hitman killed do to one game despite a history of great games before? Where did the Hardcore Hitman fans go after absolution? Why did the more causal players not stay? Why is it hard for the franchise to regain its relevance with two reboots going back to its roots?
Hitman Agent 47, a game that I swear the developers are trying to pretend doesn't exist, and don't want to remake/fix, started it all and set the template for what was to come. Though not very good it was innovative and gained lots of attention.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin brought Hitman to the frontlines, it was a big success becoming the best selling Hitman game ever (until absolution temporarily) fixing all the problems of the first game offering better controls, more varied and detailed cities, better weapon and stealth mechanics, and better disguise implementation. Highly acclaimed, rewards everywhere, even the PS2 version was a million+ seller. Hitman was going places.
Hitman would continue with Contracts, while plot wise was mostly a recap of previous events, improved the mechanics of Hitman 2 immensely, selling large numbers and once again receiving positive receptions.
Hitman Blood Money would introduce some new mechanics and continue with Hitmans current trajectory, selling well with positive reviews, however Hitman BM would stay close to Contracts LTD with legs not being as expected. Being a cross-platform game, the next game in the franchise would be built-up for the next generation.
Hitman Absolution would be that game. it was made for the next generation of gaming technology, it features a deeper plot, stream-lined mechanics that would target the current Hitman audience, as well as attract more casual gamers, and this approach worked initially. It became for a time, the best selling Hitman game. However the reception among Hitman hardcore and softcore fans, along with Absolution not "keeping" the new casual audience hurt the Hitman franchise immensely, not only that, but the costs to make the game led SE to deem the game a failure despite it's sales compared to the rest of the franchise at that point.
But the crazy thing is, since that ONE game, Absolution, Hitman has never been able to recover, Game sales were down not just for other retail hitman games, but on PC services like Steam as well.
Hitman had a reboot in 2016 just titled "Hitman" which would be an episodic title. This new generation Hitman went back to the old open-ended style of gameplay and hardcore stealth mechanics the fans loved. However, it was deemed not a success and a slow burner.
A sequel would be made, however, when the confusing titled, "Hitman 2" was announced, so was SE's lack of interest in Hitman studio IO interactive, and the studio was separated from SE. Hitman 2, which makes searching for the real Hitman 2 frustrating with it's title, sold very poorly.
It's clear that Hitman Absolution was the start of the fall but that still leaves questions. What went wrong? Why was Hitman killed do to one game despite a history of great games before? Where did the Hardcore Hitman fans go after absolution? Why did the more causal players not stay? Why is it hard for the franchise to regain its relevance with two reboots going back to its roots?