Hitman Now a Fully Episodic AAA Game with Live Events

Io-Interactive today released further details for Hitman which launches on March 11 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

[-Foxtrot]

Urgh. Well guess I'm missing out my first Hitman game

No point experimenting with silly episode content in a big franchise.

I just want the full god damn game. Not little experiments where it's probably (knowing them) to see how little they can do over while still charging full price, if not more in the end.

[jb227]

Sounds to me like coming down to the wire they knew they'd been in some hot water if they dropped what they had and people felt like they overpaid for it.

I'm not against episodic games, I think they can be done right but it remains to be seen if Hitman is one of those titles that fit the model, although I'm skeptical. Not that story has ever really been it's strong suit but it sounds like this would essentially be a short setup & an open area for one or two hits, maybe a couple challenges & a $15 price tag. Not for me personally.

[TheCommentator]

What? Hitman has always had a good story. Even the backstories on your targets makes them seem like real people with actual lives.

With that said, SE screwed the pooch with my favorite stealth franchise and I won't be buying it until it is finished and released as a complete game on a disc.

SE = Screw Everybody

[_-EDMIX-_]

@TheCommentator-Hitman has had a ok story, but I don't really play the series due to its story to be honest.

If your still getting it when it releases as disk, how did SE "screwed the pooch"?

Play it this fall as a full thing.

I'm sorry but many on here have a negative view toward the method even though it helps a lot of things when it releases this fall.

Consider millions will be play testing the game for you when you get it this fall lol. Now how is that a bad thing?

[mikeslemonade]

Haha you garbage Square Enix. You're making it too easy to boycott y'all.

[bouzebbal]

ok but at what price?

[SolidStoner]

As a huge hitman fan.... I need only Blu ray disc, with all content on it, and finished Hitman game with open world type missions like in first 3 or 4 Hitman games.

If it will be linear or have hidden content like in Pre-order or hidden for DLC, I will reconsider is it still worth a buy..

[TheCommentator]

Edmix, what happens if the initial release or the subsequent content doesn't sell as well as expected? They probably won't finish it, or will shorten the story itself, but in some ways it will adversely affect the quality of the release as a whole. If I/O makes the whole game first, then the game would end up being what the developers intend, rather than what the publisher feels is best for the business. It sucks that they're doing this to my favorite SE franchise, but to be a bit more clear, I will only buy it if it is a full game and isn't compromized by the episodic business model.

[_-EDMIX-_]

....or you could just wait til it actually releases on disk ending of this year. Is there a reason you can't merely wait until that is actually a thing considering it will be this fall?

What does it matter to you that others are playing parts of it? Just buy it on disk ending of this year.

Mind you, I did this with Resident Evil Revelations 2, I bought it on disk merely after their whole episodic thing was done.

I don't even get how this effects you if you can just get the final thing ending of this year..

I'm fine with the method as it gives users options and Hitman is a mission and level based game.

[Pongwater]

Why wait when you can knee jerk months ahead of time based on how you think a game will turn out?

I greatly enjoyed playing Walking Dead Season 1 in an episodic way so I have no problem with this, in fact it actually makes me more interested in the game than I was before. I've only ever played one Hitman game and I didn't enjoy it. That was so long ago I can't even remember which one it was, but now I'm intrigued by this one which wasn't even on my radar.

As you say, wait and you can get the whole thing if you wish.

[Lamboomington]

The price is still the same though, so I don't see what the problem is. It's still $60 max. Now, however, people can pay only a part of that for some of the game, which means people can try it out for less.

I mean, worst case scenario you drop $15 bucks and you don't like it. Honestly, in terms of the business model, I'm not seeing any downsides here IF there is enough content overall.

Ofcourse, I still prefer a full SP campaign that I can play in one go, so it always sucks in that sense. Spacing out content every month is not enough to keep people occupied.

[tinynuggins]

I've never played a hitman game so this is actually good for me. I can try one episode to see if I like it.

[-Foxtrot]

Or you could just buy Blood Money on steam which is really cheap then supporting a crappy practice like this

You pay less

Play one of the best games in the franchise

Don't egg Square Enix on to do this again

[donthate]

I know there is a lot of opposition to this model, but I for one do support newer models that gives us more consistent content year long instead of one title every 2-3 years that might be a hit or miss.

I like the idea of smaller releases more frequently, and each episode requires the developer to deliver or I won't buy the next one.

There are benefits to this, so don't let the naysayers and haters stop you! :)

[-Foxtrot]

"but I for one do support newer models that gives us more consistent content year long"

Lol...it's Square Enix hardly the most trust worthy people

God no wonder companies like these think we are all easy to screw over

[_-EDMIX-_]

You could buy it for $15 to try it, you could play older Hitman games etc.

@Donthate- "I like the idea of smaller releases more frequently, and each episode requires the developer to deliver or I won't buy the next one"

100% agree! Once you buy a full price game, they are done, its over and they cut a check and move on. This method hold accountability and seeks to engage the user every time, not some times.

@Fox- this practice helps him, I'm sorry if you don't like it, but if he never played a Hitman game before and doesn't know if he might like it....this best actually helps him.

Hitman Blood Money is a great game, I don't dispute that.

But its NOT the new Hitman game, if he wants to try it at a lessor price....what harm would it do?

He could then go on to pay full price for the final game and not regret the purchase.

I'm sorry but he is just to feel that way, Square is just to have other methods.

I'm happy they are at least trying other methods vs the classic wait a year, $60 full price see if you like it or not.

At the cost of gaming currently, I'm happy to see alternatives as we are still getting a full game, you don't need to buy it day 1 etc.

I got Resident Evil Reveleations 2 AFTER it released on disk...

I'm still living, I didn't buy it eposidic, but I'm happy if MORE gamers played it due to being able to try some of it at a lower cost to see if they didn't like it.

Though I'm much more happy at how Capcom did it then Square is doing it as a year is pretty long, I at least want them to look at the method of this form of pay as if your getting the final game later on....who cares?

if your always going to get the final game.......who cares? So long as the final game still cost $60 and those who buy the first part can still get the rest at the same price, its a fair deal and I welcome someone trying something different.

If tinynuggins becomes a life long Hitman fan because of this, clearly its a method worth doing. I've become a fan of series I always passed up due to price based on PSN Plus and some Steam sales, I got to tell you....if not for those, I might not even played those games and started buying them DAY 1!

Its a great idea, pay less, try it out, hardcore fans still get a full game ending of this year.

I don't see any benefits to hardcore fans merely just waiting ending of this year for the disk version.

How is it being released in parts hurting you if your still getting the final thing this fall?

[RedDevils]

At the end of the day, you'll be spending more than you normally do.

[curtis92]

@EDMIX

If your favorite band is recording a new album, would you rather experience the album in it's entirety, or hear one new track every month for a year?

Not saying one way is better than the other, but for me and a lot of others, I'd rather get the WHOLE experience. Besides, we all have levels in games we're not as fond of as others. So how does that benefit gamers if, say, one month a level isn't nearly as solid as the previous? That could easily ruin the momentum the game had since the gamer will have to wait to see what is next. It's not like nothing else is coming out this year. Plenty of ways for gamers to get side tracked and not revisit episodes as they come out.

You need to catch gamers interest at it's peak and give them a lot to chew on so that whole experience sticks with them. Peppering epsiodes throughout this year, when so many other highly anticipated games are releasing, is just begging for your game to get lost between the cracks because you're not giving them that big experience of a complete game. And by the time the full game releases later, it's not going to have that same must-have feeling about it because people will know it's not necessarily 'new' but rather a collection of episodes. Doesn't carry the same weight as a one time, complete release.

[DemonChicken]

Answer to your question:

Pricing is as follows:

-Intro Pack ($15) – Contains Prologue and Paris levels.
New Locations ($10) – Each new location will be released as a $10 add-on to the Intro Pack.
-Upgrade Pack ($50) – Users who buy the Intro Pack can upgrade to the Full Experience through this package.
-Full Experience ($60) – Includes all of this year’s content as it’s released, and guarantees them not to miss any live or bonus content.

A disc version of the game will ship at the end of 2016.

The beta for the PlayStation 4 and PC versions of Hitman will begin on February 12 and 19, respectively. Pre-orders for the Intro Pack or Full Experience will guarantee access to the beta.

http://gematsu.com/2016/01/...

[Lamboomington]

So you pay $5 extra if you don't get the Full Experience pack.

[smashman98]

I'm sorry guys but I preordered the collectors edition on this and I'm honestly excited even if I'm a little apprehensive.

[MicrosoftMackin]

Thanks square enix, first you wanna ruin FF7 remake and now hitman whats next? tomb raider and deus ex?,I guess episodic is the next profitable step after dlc for greedy companies. SMH

[showtimefolks]

Foxtrot

wait till 2016 and buy the physical like i am doing(only if the game is actually good)otherwise i will pick it up when it's in bargain bin

it's like square enix trying it's best to make sure this hitman game won't sell well

[MoveTheGlow]

I'd normally react the same exact way about this - screw episodic - but Hitman's an interesting one.

Normally when something's episodic, it's story-driven, so by design it's made to keep you coming back instead of giving you a fulfilling experience, and there's no guarantee that final episode will be any good. Hi, Final Fantasy VII Remake! Telltale says hello.

But with Hitman, if they can make it very mission/contract-based with the kind of giant murder-puzzles that have a ton of different approaches to them, it might just work. You could have a giant venue per episode with multiple things to do, and it switches around based on the week/special day/etc. Yeah, you couldn't binge it, but it might be nice.

My big concern is that they didn't plan on this out of the gate, though. It wasn't designed from the ground up to be episodic. It's a crapshoot whether this will be any good because of that.

(Granted, whether or not that matches its price is another story.)

[UnHoly_One]

Same here, I'm out.

Somewhere down the line when it is a full game I might pick it up.

[JMPetrequin]

Fuck it, let's just make every game episodic I guess.

[TheNemesis501]

In the words of darth vader, NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[mcz]

I'll just leave this here.

http://www.nooooooooooooooo...

[Moe-Gunz]

I'm not hating the idea. Going to see how it play out.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Im with you. If implemented well it could be great....IF being key.

[slappy508]

So now they asking 60$ up front and you get the rest of the game later, or pay $15 for each episode. How cute

[Ark_]

It's a "safer" business modell for them I guess. If gamers don't like the game initially, they can put more effort in the following episodes or half arse the rest of the episodes to safe money. Also more time to polish etc.

The advantages lie more on the developers side as usual.

But like one post suggested: let's see how it plays out. Can't blame them for experimenting with new business modells. (EA access is another recent example.)

[Clown_Syndr0me]

No thanks I like to play throug games quickly not drag it out for months.

[Lamboomington]

This. This is the biggest problem with episodic content.

[Psychotica]

Not disagreeing with you if that's how you like it but why would you want a game to go quickly instead maximizing the value? I feel ripped off if the game goes quickly.

[Darth_Apathicus]

Hitman has always been like that, except whatever was called the last hitman. But that's the beauty, you play a mission and can play it many times in diferent ways. Then you get bored and play next mission. Maybe you finish your run in two, three days and begin another trying to get silent assassins. After a while you return to the game and play again just for the kicks. With this, you get 1 mission... you finish it and the only option is to... play it again, ok, now i'm going to do it this way... ok, i finished again, the only option is to play this mission again... next week OH now i have to play this mission again but have to kill this target... next week oh look, same mission but different target. After a month, we get a new mission, rinse and repeat. I don't find it enjoyable with Hitman.

[Seraphim]

that's my problem. I play a game at a time and want to play through it. There's no room for me to be jumping in and out of a game.

Also, my other problem is content timelines. If this is something they're doing with set release dates this means the game is finished. Or mostly finished. Developers can't create episodic content in a reasonable, timely fashion. The only way I see to successfully do this is by having a near complete or completed game, chopped up, pieced out, and sold as episodic. Development takes too long for them to release a chunk then create the next chunk in a timely manner. If the game is near completion why not just do what they all do, push it back a few months? I never have nor will ever be behind episodic content.

[Good-Smurf]

A huge waste of time when I think about it waiting a month for new content to play,what's wrong with a full complete game nowadays?!

[SatanicEyeJesus]

Man, episodic games suck a LOT. If it become a trend, maybe is time for an old guy like me to retire the gamming addiction.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"There will be a disc version of Hitman which will ship at the end of 2016."

Why do you care others are playing parts of it early? How does that even hurt you?

[cemelc]

@_-EDMIX-_

why do you care for his opinion?

You know youre actually doing the same thing he is... :/

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Cem- OT and I'm doing it to find why it "sucks" to him if they confirmed a disk based version releasing this fall that is the final game.

He is still getting a final game. Others playing parts of it early don't actually hurt or effect him.

(emotionally clearly it must lolz)

[2pacalypsenow]

Will wait until the full game comes out

[AizenSosuke]

Lelouch Britiana : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lonnie18]

I agree, hating waiting for all that episodic content!

[Money_Launderer]

Laaaaaaaaaaaaame. Looks like I'm waiting until the end of 2016 to buy the entire game. Disappointing, as I love the Hitman franchise.

[WeAreLegion]

I'd be fine with shorter, cheaper releases, but I'm not paying for a promise they may or may not keep.

[gangsta_red]

Oh, so this is episodic. I wonder if Square or IO would have said installments or any other term besides "episodic" would it be any different?

Is this not what FF 7 remake is doing?

[averagejoe26]

No.

FF7 remake is multiple full game titles.

Think FF13 trilogy. One story told over a few full length games.

[MasterCornholio]

@Solid

They did confirm that each part would contain the same amount of content as a full game. That's the main reason why people don't believe it will be 2 hour episodes like many Tell Tale games.

[gangsta_red]

MasterCornholio

But it still hasn't been officially confirmed. For all we know it could be set up just like Hitman is.

[Quickstrike]

Multiple full game episodic titles ala .Hack ;)

[nommers]

By "full game" they're only saying the quantity of the content will be there. But you can't finish the whole story of FF7 until all the episodes are out, so it's not a full game. The story isn't going to be complete, and that's a huge problem for a game like FF7. I have no interest in doing endless fetch quests after completing each episode. Can we really trust SE to not do that is the real question for this so called full game amount of content.

[ClayRules2012]

"We decided to take the full leap and publish Hitman as a truly episode game experience.
Part of that decision is for that little bit of extra time to ensure every location we release is at the quality level fitting for a Hitman game"

Now PLEASE, GIVE US your MONEY?

My response- Nah, What? You aren't getting my money, NOT TODAY!

[user9950279]

wait for all episodes to release. wait for price to drop to regular full retail price. We all know SE will have charged in excess of $160 for all the episodes when all is said and done.

[jb227]

It's weird because on one hand they may be hoping to trick enough people into buying the full pass sight unseen, on the other an episodic model would dictate that anyone unimpressed w/ the first couple installments that are buying piecemeal would most likely check out entirely.

Either way I'm not on board w/ the idea of breaking up normally mainline games into chunks, but it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. The model itself may dictate that the devs are under the gun to make every pack worthwhile for fear of losing potential buyers, so it could result in a better full game than the devs that coast on franchise familiarity, release a couple cool sections, then cash in on hype alone after releasing a subpar product.

[Kingdomcome247]

Somewhat in keeping with your line of thinking, I feel that this may also be another by product of the rising cost of AAA development these days, and possibly a means to combat and minimize risk and loss on their part. Initial episodes can serve as a barometer of sorts, allowing them to guage interest,gather feedback etc... without having spent the entirety of what the full game's development would be. Sales don't meet expectations for the first episode? Game is poorly recieved from a critical stand point? If they so chose, they could pull the plug after the initial episode without having invested all of the time and money that the game in it's entirety would've required of them. Just a thought. Probably a poor one...

[jb227]

@Kingdomcome

That makes plenty of sense to me. Although if they sell season passes it might be a tricky situation to pull the plug midstream & potentially be forced to refund those customers for the remainder of their purchase. In that sense I think they'd be best served not offering a season pass at all & just offering the game on an episode by episode basis.

I think you make some good points and there are byproducts of those that could ultimately end up positively affecting gamers. Namely you'd have devs that have real reason to make every section a worthwhile experience in its own right as opposed to some devs who may have a penchant for padding their games w/ superfluous content & sections. Also it'd be interesting to see how they work on pacing, where each episode could offer differing experiences. I've always wondered what a game like Uncharted could be like in episodic format. Considering the gameplay is paced so well & evenly between multiple gameplay mechanics, would they break each one of those down and represent them equally in each section, or would they offer one installment that may be combat heavy & another that may be puzzle heavy...lot of cool potential there even among any potential negatives of the format.

I'd like to see more AAA franchises use episodic titles to plug in gaps in the wait between mainline installments, I'd love to see a day where your Uncharteds & Halos and the like could have something on offer every year that isn't some forced annualization of mainline franchises but worthwhile small chunks of content & story that leads up to the next release & gives devs proper time to work on the main installments while giving fans content to tide them over between releases.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Jb22 and King- 100% agreed. The end user benefits from this as well as the publisher.

Users could just wait til the game is done if they feel just.

[Asilayhasteoath]

Do you guys think SE as producer told IO Interactive to, as sort of either testing the waters or as a ploy to ease people into a episodic FF7.

[gif]

Could be.

[nutcrackr]

SE want income as soon as possible. Io Interactive probably are torn between doing what they say and doing it the old fashioned way. The result is this episodic format.

[Pancit_Canton]

I guess all that DLC are not working out for them. They are taking greed to the next level.

It seems to me that Square-enix are following Konami's footsteps.

[gif]

Konami games never have episodic and they quit gaming business that all.

SE worse than them.

[nucky64]

I think i'll just wait for the retail release.

[Hasswell-NeverCold]

ehh.. If there's a lot of replay value and fun content in those episodes I guess it can be worth a look.

[Herbalistic]

I'll just wait for the full release of the game

[Kreisen]

Yeah i sure as hell wont be renewing my pre-order.

[BigGamersSmallTalk]

The entire problem with this generation is everything is being rushed, and we're missing out on key elements of these franchises that we've gotten in the past. We get no Rainbow Six campaign, no Battlefront campaign. Hitman as a downloadable episodic game? Come on!
And even the delayed games still have day one updates and issues.....

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

i blame internet

[_-EDMIX-_]

"There will be a disc version of Hitman which will ship at the end of 2016"....

[retrogamer09]

You keep repeating that. People can read and are not stupid. Why would I buy the full game when the entire game will be spoiled months before I get to play the full release?

[BigGamersSmallTalk]

Exactly, game was supposed to release in 2015. Now it's releasing episodically (cash grab) and you have to wait a year to get the entire game. That's not how AAA games work IMO.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Easy, don't actually view content on that game. Do you know how many games right now I haven't finished that are clearly up on youtube?

its not a movie, the story isn't THAT big of a deal that its a day 1 or bust type situation. You still PLAY a game.

No one is forcing you to view any footage on the game prior to release.

I keep repeating it because folks very much keep stating that they want a full game as if its never going to release in that format.

So long as someone thinks a full game won't release, I will state otherwise. Its that simple bud.

@BigGamersSmallTalk- It was suppose to release in 2015 in terms of in epiosides NOT IN FULL, it was NEVER FULLY 100% going to be released last year, it was stated long ago and you can look it up, it would release as a final disk based game after content has been made.

It must be played by users in order to have user feed back READ WHAT THEY ARE DOING BUD, its sounding like majority of you on here got a lot of misinformation regarding this title.

You can still get it as a final game ending of this year, it was never going to release as a final title in 2015 as that was stated months ago.

AAA's cost money, your still getting a final game, also how is it a "cash grab"? your getting a game early, at a lower cost to see if you like it while STILL GETTING A FULL GAME ENDING OF THIS YEAR. I'm sorry but that isn't bad in any way shape or form, not for the user, not for the publisher.

[ifistbrowni]

@edmix,

Explain to me how a movie plot is more important than a game plot? Like, seriously. I sit down to watch a movie and I can't even finish over half of them (unless they're documentaries).

I bought Ant-Man when it launched on Blu-ray and just took it out of the package a few days ago, watched 5 minutes (when Paul Rudd gets out of prison) and I shut it off. Tried to watch American Sniper on HBO, it was to "man-bro, Mericuhhh" and I shut it off within 20 minutes.

Games. Now games I can play. Sure, if the plot isn't top notch, the gameplay is still there. I never skip cutscenes in my games and absolutely hate gaming spoilers.

The problem with spoilers is they're absolutely unavoidable. I can think of a few instances where things got ruined for me in situations where I was no where near the game in mention.

Fallout 4 was spoiled in a game's forum that was not Fallout 4. They were discussing in a post how cheesy it was who the enemy at the end of the game was.

Journey was spoiled on an IGN podcast where Journey was just brought up and Brian Altano's fat-face had to spoil the ending before I got around to playing it (in fact, I think it might have been podcast beyond when they were discussing "this week's releases" and Journey was launching on PS4, I had it pre-ordered but had not yet played it despite owning a PS3).

Point is, it's inevitable that this game will be spoiled for more than a few people in a remote area of the internet. Be it a comment section, youtube commentary, IGN podcasts, forums for other games, etc. What do you suggest, people avoid the internet from early release - the games official launch?

Because that's how I view this release. The episodic is "early release" and the official release isn't until it's printed on disc and sold at retail.

I'll buy it when it releases on disc and possibly when it's discounted (although, if they release it at "launch/retail" for $60, I think it will fail).

[_-EDMIX-_]

@ifistbrowni- "Explain to me how a movie plot is more important than a game plot? Like, seriously"

Never stated that. Merely that the concept of Hitman as a game doesn't really rest on its narrative or story, you can play it in any order and its not really that important to the overall concept of the game.

In fact you could have changed the story of Hitman and leave the game play concept alone and I would legit still play it just the same with really no difference of opinion.

its not saying games can't be that, merely that Hitman's man concept really isn't its story.

"Journey was spoiled on an IGN podcast" Don't listen to them if your plan to play the game..

"Fallout 4 was spoiled in a game's forum" don't go on forums taking about games if Fallout 4 is a hot subject, I'm sorry bud but all you have to do is control F to find if someone it talking about a game you don't want to know the ending of.

I do it all the time. That isn't the fault of anyone or the publisher or anything like that, its such a first world entitled problem its not even funny.

No on one is dying because of this, the industry is not dying because of this, no country is being overruled by this.

I'm sorry but you might be exaggerating to a extreme degree.

"Because that's how I view this release. The episodic is "early release" " thats nice.........so?

So you don't play any game that already released? LMFAO! Do you think I just buy houndreds of games a year? Do you not get just how many games I have to skip due to actually needing money and time to actually work to earn said money?

I didn't play Dying Light, Bloodboren, Mad Max, Dragon Age 3, Shadow Of Mordor and many more. I still plan to get to those over time. The story to any of those games being slightly spoiled is not enough to make me not play the game.

I wasn't playing it solely for the plot as if its a movie. Its still a game to be PLAYED, PHYSICALLY PLAYED! Someone telling me some tidbits about the story won't make me not play it. A year going by from not playing it won't kill me, I went YEARS without playing Witcher 2 and I owned it for a long time.

This release won't kill anyone bud. I still bought Walking Dead series, still bought Resident Evil Revelations 2 etc. I have no clue how someone else playing it early has anything to do with me. Consider how many RIGHT NOW are currently enjoying Just Cause 3 before me? I didn't buy it...you think I now NEVER going to buy it based on this concept? Are you legit serious bud? LMFAO!

[ifistbrowni]

I can't even get halfway through your post without seeing you twisting your words and mine.

When did I say I would not buy it? Are you blind? Can you read? First post I made in response to you, "I'll buy it when it's released on disc." So am I legit serious bud? Legit serious about what bud? Legit serious about buying the game when it's complete? I'm completely legit serious about that, bud! I'd advice you to follow the same rule, BUD!

Where am I exaggerating? I said more than a few people will get the game spoiled. A few. Not millions, not thousands, a FEW. Where is the exaggeration?

You're extremely defensive on a subject that more people disagree than agree with your point of view.

Maybe the exaggeration came from me saying I absolutely hate gaming spoilers? Idk who you are to say that I exaggerate my own feelings. Like you, I work for a living. Like you, I need to work to pay for my games. Like you, I have limited play-time because of work. Because of this, when i pay $60, I don't want a game's plot to be spoiled because some dick on the internet decided that since he had time to play to the finish quicker than me, then he has the right to spoil it.

You're talking about minor spoilers. But, knowing the ending of Journey before you actually play it definitely ruins the immersion. It was nominated for many "GOTY" when it was released. Since I wasn't a huge PS fan then, I overlooked it. SO, when I "switched" to PS this gen, I was hyped to play it. Once the ending was revealed, I thought "big deal," but playing the game (what little you do, "play" considering it's impossible to fail in that game) knowing the big reveal at the end totally killed it.

So, if theres a huge Journey-esque reveal in this game and it gets spoiled for many, it will undoubtedly change the experience that "many" would have originally had on the game not knowing the big reveal.

Overall:

Hitman is releasing a demo in which you will pay for. Good job. Hitman is releasing a $60 game on the back of this $15 demo. With your $60, IN YOUR OWN WORDS**** they will be testing the water and seeing if the franchise that you "LEGITIMATELY BUD" just paid for is worth investing in or just cutting their losses and "eh, whatever bud, games a flop bud. Thanks for your money bud"

& this is exactly what you're defending. Sounds like you're part of the developing team. If you're wondering, whats with all the "buds," it's me mocking you. It doesn't translate well, but when you type bud, it makes you sound dumb. Legit serious bud. LMFAO *so obnoxious*

[ifistbrowni]

Lol, I just read your justification as to why I deserved to get the games spoiled.

A. Journey was randomly brought up on podcast beyond. This is a podcast where they talk about gaming news (centrally, PLaystation news). They very rarely just blatantly spoil something without giving sufficient enough warning. Fat-mouth just outright said "Journey was stupid, all you are is a person climbing a mountain and *the end happens*"

Of course, he didn't say the end happens, he spoiled it.

Fallout 4 was A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GAME FORUM. Not a Fallout 4 forum. It was in a story discussion for an upcoming game and the person said something along the lines of "hopefully they don't do the cheap thing Fallout 4 did and make *the ending enemy*." The post had just randomly brought up how the game ended. If you can read sufficiently, and you evidently cant (since you overlooked both of my original explanations of how these games got spoiled + the fact that i said I'd buy Hitman on disc), you can read most posts in mere seconds (unless they're story books- like mine).

So, for fallout I hit CTRL F, type in fallout, just to jump straight to the post where the game is spoiled OUT OF NOWHERE. Good idea. I'll remember to do that every time I browse the web for now on. In fact, everyone should take his advice, from launch until retail launch, everyone should be required to "CTRL F, HITMAN" on every webpage they visit related to gaming.

[ion666]

How many times can I play the same level over and over before I get bored. just finish the game then call me. Does this mean I cant even let a friend check out the game because he would have to download the DLC too at a fee. F*ck that noise.

[N0TaB0T]

I want to be optimistic but this industry keeps doing weird things to initially wholesome franchises.

Episodic? All I am hearing is "Absolution 2.0" where each level uses excess in-between segments with no real gameplay.

[Gamer4life13]

I'm getting really annoyed and sick of publishers and devs cutting content then release them as dlc, having major issues when it's release and now AAA games are turning into eposodic BS. Like come on can things get any worst? Honesty once PS3 and 360 generation has arrived that's when gaming has went downhill not with new games being made but with companies try and screw us with half ass made games cut content and broken games that needs multiple patchas just to get it to work right. I was so damn excited for FF7 remake until I heard it's going to be a eposodic and my excitement has went to zero. I won't be buying it at all until the complete game comes out but even then it leaves sour in my mouth knowing that it was a eposodic game.

[Rhezin]

Screw any episodic game. What a rip.

[ocelot07]

I honestly don't mind this. $15/£12 for 1 location and am assuming a few missions is really not that bad.

If for what ever reason the game does not do it for you. Then you have only spent $12. If you do like the first location then upgrade to get them all once released.

I hated absolution. But loved the others. So I think I will be getting the £12 pack. Then if I like it. I don't mind buying the upgrade.

[ifistbrowni]

yeah. I remember when demos were free.

Pretty sure Pizza Hut gave demo discs away when you bought pizza there. I might be remembering my child-hood wrong. I also remember Burger King gave Xbox 360 games with a certain purchase (this I know is true, I was a young-adult at the time). I think there were like 2 or 3 different games.

But yeah.... $15 for a would-be demo is totally reasonable.

[Rhezin]

"yeah. I remember when demos were free."
"But yeah….$15 for a would-be demo is totally reasonable."

huh?

[ifistbrowni]

sarcasm, my friend. Sarcasm.

[MasterD919]

Frankly, the last Hitman game wasn't up to par, the movies were both really bland and kind of made me want the series to go away for a bit and now this? All or nothing...so, sorry Agent 47.

[jay2]

No thanks

[masterfox]

lol guess they want to kill this IP slowly.

[retrogamer09]

This is what happens when games don't meet unrealistic sales expectations. That studio pretty much is told that they can only do hitman games. The last game didn't make money, so now Square is trying to milk as many sales out of the IP as possible. We're seeing a similar thing happening over here to Fable Legends. Fable 3 didn't meet expectations so now lets make a F2P game and hope it hits big instead of doing a huge epic Fable 4 which would be expensive.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Not really. Consider they are merely seeing if a demand even exist for Hitman that warrants more development?

Someone on here stated they would try Hitman at that price that wasn't a fan. This is making it clear that those that are not familiar with the IP, can try it out, this is NOT HURTING THE IP, its HELPING IT.

NOTHING is hurting it at this cost as its letting users play it at a low entry price to see if they like it or not vs $60 take it or leave it.

The $60 price point makes consumers feel as if its a all in type purchase, where at a lessor price point, consumers are free to buy and try and if they don't like it, big deal they are out $20 bucks or so.

The Hardcore Hitman fan is still getting the final game ending of this year, but this can build more Hitman fans much easier then a full priced Hitman day 1 would.

Mind you, once again...your STILL GETTING A FULL GAME ENDING OF THE YEAR.

The game isn't F2P, it isn't ONLY episodic etc.

Mind you, Fable Legends was not MADE INSTEAD OF FABLE 4, Lionhead stated themselves they are NOT working on Fable 4 but a new IP, ie it was NEVER SUPPOSE TO BE FABLE 4, it was not made INSTEAD OF Fable 4, stop spreading lies, stop assuming they can only make 1 game, stop stating they are making something instead of or as suppose etc.

http://www.polygon.com/2014...

There is reason why its called Fable Legends and NOT Fable 4 bud...

[ifistbrowni]

@edmix,

The way you view it, I get it.

But to me, the more reasonable way of viewing it, is that SE are charging for a "demo."

If they were only in the business to let people try it and if they like it enough, they'll buy it, then theyd release a FREE demo of the game.

Instead, they're going to release a $15 episode (demo) as a "test the waters."

If they "delayed" the game until release, then it wouldn't push the "hardcore" fans away. They could release the game in full, and release the demo for folks who "try and buy."

Instead, they're doing episodes and using the money off of pre-orders to fund the rest of the game. The humility is, the people who pre-order the $60 game don't even know how extensive the content is because nobody knows. At least with retail releases, you get reviews out early/day of the release that inform you on what you're getting for $60.

As I said earlier, I'll wait for disc release and I'm not really bothered by this release because its for a franchise I care only a little about. But, if someone tried doing this with one of my favorite games, I would be very adamant about voicing my opinion. If Naughty Dog tried this with Uncharted 4, I would feel like they're giving us all a big "F U, we can do what we want."

[ScorpiusX]

Sucks in some form but i love The franchise , so i say do what you will IO - Interactive just get the game to release .

[kupomogli]

"With episodic, you can purchase the first part for $15 and if you don't like it don't pay for the rest."

This is what I call a paid demo and I can't believe that people are accepting of this practice. Yes, if you like the first part you can purchase future parts and continue on where you left off, but it doesn't make part one of the episodic model any more than a lengthy demo.

Last gen we got demos, but not too many of the really huge games. On the PSX and PS2, gaming magazines like OPM and Playstation Underground had monthly demo discs with a ton of games, including some big AAA games. Developers released either free demo discs, demos included within or with games, or preorder bonuses.

This gen and starting closer to the end of last gen, devs tricked gamers into paying for an unfinished game, basically a demo of what they'd get in the future, and gamers fell for it like a fish to a lure. It's bad enough we get unfinished games sold as complete, but paying to just get the opening of the game is a ridiculous concept. People complained about it with MGS Ground Zeroes. This is the exact same thing.

[SilentSolid]

It certanly is a better way of doing things than having to pay full price and only getting a small portion of the game.

And even if you have a problem with this. Just wait till all the content is released.

Let's hope there is enough content in every episode. And since this is a hitman game, All levels will most likely be a lot more replayable than ground zeroes ever was.

This fits their vision of their game since they want an evolving game, which they can improve over time. while ground zeroes never had such goal.

But who knows, They might screw this up big time.

[SilentSolid]

If anything, You were getting screwed over with their first plan.

[Takwin]

Very disappointed.

I'll wait until the full release, and then at that time, they will be insane if they think people will pay full price 6-8 months later. Same goes for Tomb Raider on PS4 a year later. It better be well below $60, and as for Hitman, I'll get like 27% off that at Green Man Gaming.

[dip01]

60 dollars for the full game at the end of the year or 15 dollars through out the months for the full game and still 60 dollars in total. I don't get what are the complaints about. Gaming has to be one of the mediums with most amount of whiny people.

[pumpactionpimp]

It would appear the management at square is dead set at running their business in to the ground at full speed without regrets these days.

[s45gr32]

If it was priced at $25.00 will you think differently

[pumpactionpimp]

I'm not referring to the multitude of questionable decisions with this one game. But square enix as a whole. I.e. releasing tomb raider exclusive for a year on the xbox, and releasing it against fall out 4. The ff7 remake, which isn't a remake, but a complete reimagining, that will also be episodic. Then this game, and there's other evidence that someone has fallen asleep at the wheel.

[Darth_Apathicus]

Just have to wait if the content is worth it. Episodic games have never met the standard of an AAA game. As of now we have, Paris, Italy, Morocco, Thailand, US and Japan with only the first three scheduled. "Weekly live events" on the like of "where is waldo": you found waldo, good, now find the scroll and "additional planned content" wait and see. So 6 "REAL" missions (i don't think prologue will be meaningful) against Silent Assassin's 21 missions (sure, some where short) Contracts and Blood Money's 12 missions.

[Scottyxboxoneandps4]

So hitman releases late 2016? Cool, i can wait...

[s45gr32]

I got called on for mentioning hitman being episodic. LoL I was right all along its going to be episodic. I am surprised still at $60.00 instead of the traditional $25.00 for episodic games.

[Taz X14]

They do this to keep the cost of the game at full price for as long as they can. SO for the entirety of this year, the game won't drop in price as it'll be "unfinished" as far as content goes until the last pack comes out, at which point they won't care if it drops in price as they'll have moved on to developing something else. Considering the game was supposed to be finished soon, they're essentially taking what was a full experience and chopping it up, which shouldn't take that much effort, so that they can sort out issues they had last minute, essentially making money while developing.

My biggest issue with these episodic game is simply whether the game as a whole will be good or not. A quick look at Resident evil revelations 2 is a perfect example, starts off on the right foot, so people buy it, then as it progressed you could tell all of the effort was pushed into the beginning to pull everyone in just to let it all falter as it went on.

[Valenka]

One of the main reasons why I'm going to pass on this until the physical copy is available, is because preordering on PS4 is essentially irreversible. Once you preorder something on PS4, good luck getting Sony customer support to cancel the preorder and refund your money. I wanted to have a go at the beta, but I don't want to be stuck with the game in the event that the beta helps me determine that I don't want to purchase the game at launch.

However, I do have my eye on that pretty sweet collector's edition. I might just pick that up for the statue, tie and art book and hang onto the game code until I determine whether or not I want to redeem it. Otherwise, I'll just sell it to a friend.

[zackdollars]

Square is doomed.

[Donnywho]

I just want to play what Hitman offers. I need it, it's been a long time and no other game can give me anything close to what Hitman brings to the table. The online contract mode in Absolution was incredible and I had no problem spending ridiculous amounts of time on each individual map because of the online mode. The whole point of Hitman is to replay it from every angle...if they do this right, I don't see the problem. Just my opinion.

[bixxel]

This is Square Enix, neither CD Project Red nor Teltale Games.
Square Enix looks for CASH AND CASH $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

[Petebloodyonion]

Here's a scoop: Game cost money to develop and are made to generate revenue and profit.

Making a short game to test the water helps keeping cost low while generating revenue to make the game.

2) Also it allow 1st timer to experience the game at a small price and gather interest in the title.

3) SE isn't stupid for they saw the success of resident evil revelation 2, Walking dead and others and saw that it was a good distribution method.

4) Nobody complained about: Life is strange and nobody said that they were BS by SE with this new IP.

In the end do you prefer that they make a episodic Hitman, COD hitman or no Hitman at all?

[SilentSolid]

Probably better than paying full price for an incomplete game, and hope the rest of the game is good. This might actually work.

[MRoONEPINCHx]

is this purely because the game is not ready to release with all content at launch ? whats the reason for all this ?

[scark92]

I really want to be involved with the Live events... but Id rather a full game, and a physical disc... damn you IO Interactive :(

[BartMoons]

Don't know whether this is a good thing or not. I rather just have a full release.

[FN4GM]

This new direction for Hitman has made me lose all interest in it, such a shame.

[SilentSolid]

if that's the case, you were never interested in the game since they announced what their goal was from the start.

This changes nothing except their pricing model, which probably was a good idea.

[feraldrgn]

1st it's the FF7 remake, now it's Hitman.
I wouldn't be surprised if close to release they announced FFXV being episodic too.

[pootymcpoockle]

So that's why they cancelled pre-orders!

Interestingly, as a result of this I won't be renewing my pre-order, so they've really shot themselves in the foot with this one!

[fluxmulder]

I suspect they couldn't finish the game on time, hence episodic.

[AmUnRa]

No i will not buy it anymore. I hate that developers are taking this road. I pass.

[zugdar]

Pass. As far as events go I don't want games to control my schedule. Live events are fun if you're actively playing the game but annoying any other time. Episodically, maybe this is a necessary evil for modern AAA games for production and timely reasons but this formula has yet to really prove to be beneficial to full releases and seems setup to fail with AAA games.

[Morgue]

Shame and just goes too show how gaming has changed as a whole over the last few years. I really don't want too play 1/4 of a game then wait around for another 1/4 to be released then another and then a year from now the game will be released as a full package deal at $49.99

It's like that Bullets and Blues game on the X1. Played the first episode all the way through and was just left wanting more. I've already lost interest in it and don't even know if I'll buy the new episode when or if it's ever released and I'll have to run through the first again since I'll probably have forgotten whatever story there was by then.

[KillerPwned]

I'll wait for the complete disk edition like it should be from the start when its on sale.

[Father__Merrin]

hitman is awesome but il only buy as a full game

[StanleyRoper]

My favorite series of all time...and I won't be buying it until the disk version comes out much later. I hope I won't miss out on too much by waiting.

[xPaYDaYx]

Good ol square, all future titles are to be shipped as FFXIII was. Yay, not really. Apparently they didn't see the mess that it became due to having a new director each time around. The more and more you play the FFXIII games the less and less sense they make. Granted I really like those games, I'm just hoping to god FFXV and VII don't wind up like XIII.

[Stormweaver]

I was going to get this game to burn time while waiting for PSVR.
But its outta my plan now.
May never play this game no more.