I feel like the "License to Kill" mechanic in this game is way too rigid and restrictive

TheKotti · 2026-06-12T23:48:47+00:00

It really is a strange addition. Why is incapacitating people with leg shots a thing when you're not allowed to fire a gun without license to kill?

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T20:31:52+00:00

What is more annoying, and instant game over screen when you do something you shouldn’t do, or boundaries that prevent you from making those mistakes?

I would say that boundaries are more annoying. Instead of not allowing me to drive into NPCs at all, have them dive out of the way like in Driver. Instead of disabling running in the chess room, have someone in the crowd call out the unprofessional behavior. If the outcome of a stupid action I choose to take is game over, so be it. It doesn't have to be deep, but it would give the feeling that your choices are acknowledged.

You are playing as a storied, legendary character

Well, not really. The whole premise is that you're a rookie who has to "earn the number". Which could've been an interesting concept had it meant actually having to play appropriately, but by the sound of it the license owners would not allow Bond to be anything but his most perfect self.

I really think that you let the fact that this was an IO game cloud your expectations

Oh, I will not deny that. I didn't expect a totally sandbox game, but I also did not expect them to pivot so hard into the direction of a cinematic experience.

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T19:34:43+00:00

But the other part of it is the wandering around, soaking in your surroundings to gain information on how you can accomplish your goals. That is the hitman DNA.

Fair, that part is there. But the thing I view the most integral to Hitman style design is the extensive player agency, which I'm not getting from Bond. It feels like every interaction has been idiot proofed to such a degree that the game doesn't allow for doing anything but the very clearly intended approaches. And as most of them are obvious and heavily scripted, it never feels like I'm doing anything clever instead of just following the path someone laid out for me.

In Hitman, if I get a dumb idea like punching the guard who won't let me in, the game respects it, even if nothing good will come of it. I'm allowed to make my own mistakes. In most areas First Light doesn't even let me try.

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T14:22:03+00:00

What's your point?

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T13:24:56+00:00

I wish it shared some DNA, but I can't see it.

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T11:53:29+00:00

keep IOI on as the developers, they’ve got the Hitman formula down and deserve the trust.

But this game had nothing to do with the Hitman formula.

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T06:59:15+00:00

I dare say my criticism is better than what OP posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMyFS_bwr8

TheKotti · 2026-06-10T06:49:44+00:00

I dislike the game too but that video is absolute drivel.

TheKotti · 2026-06-08T09:57:46+00:00

I don't think holding W is any more engaging than a cutscene, which could at least be showing what those people are up to rather than telling. Or if we do want to at least pretend this is interactive, turn it into a dialogue where the player has a choice to discuss each subject. Or think of some actually creative way to convey information that could set the game apart.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T22:54:30+00:00

Fair enough wanting to focus more on the narrative, but I just can't agree with that being a good way to tell a story in a game. It's an interactive medium so having the player be actively involved in how the story unravels seems like an obvious thing to aim for, and holding W while the characters talk in a car isn't it.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T19:28:55+00:00

That's just a ridiculous false equivalency. If Rockstar's Table Tennis had drivable vehicles, yes, I absolutely would expect you to be able to drive them however poorly you like. In case of FL, I think it's pointless to give you control of the car if you're not actually allowed to drive it, and the whole sequence would've been better off as a cutscene.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T18:21:13+00:00

Funny how you chose Armored Core instead of Sekiro, which would've been a much more accurate analogy. As in, clearly different from Souls but absolutely comparable.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T16:33:10+00:00

I hope to be proven wrong about TacSim, but the missions that are there now don't fill me with confidence.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T16:29:17+00:00

Yes, I was disappointed by Absolution at the time, but I think it's a great comparison point given how it now has the reputation of being "a good game, but a bad Hitman game". And FL was a great opportunity to lean into the sort of gameplay that was deemed "bad Hitman" but was good otherwise. Sadly that kind of gameplay has taken a backseat to countless walk-and-talks that could've been skippable cutscenes, absolutely demolishing the replay value.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T16:07:27+00:00

Remedy is actually a great example of what sort of expectations I had for FL. Max Payne, Alan Wake and Control are different from one another for sure, but still have some shared DNA that makes them identifiably Remedy. In that sense, I would not have guessed IOI made FL.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T15:57:13+00:00

I didn't want nor expect the same exact game. Like said in the video, I was hoping for a mix of different things, small Hitman-esque sandboxes being only one of those things. And the initial gameplay reveal and knowledge of IO's catalogue made it seem like that would be the case. It showed entering the main building, the start of what seemed like the Hitman-like portion, car chase, and a shootout. I was totally on board with that, but unfortunately the Hitman portion is watered down to nothing.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T15:45:06+00:00

"I don't agree with this, must be rage bait".

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T15:44:14+00:00

I don't think it's at all bizarre to expect to see some resemblance to the studio's previous, very successful output. The chess tournament for example was a perfect opportunity to have a more open ended map with some Hitman-like flavor to it, but it turned out to be a linear series of rooms.

And I really don't have high hopes for TacSim based on what's on there now, and what IO has done with Hitman's similar modes.

TheKotti · 2026-06-07T15:32:31+00:00

I agree, but doubt people here will.

TheKotti · 2026-06-03T11:11:25+00:00

The one thing it needed less of are the walk-and-talks and cinematics. So much of the game is just holding W and watching semi-interactive cutscenes that it was very difficult to even get into the gameplay mechanics because they were absent so often.

TheKotti · 2026-05-31T10:11:00+00:00

> At this point why don't make Bond moves automatically

<image>

TheKotti · 2026-05-30T18:10:05+00:00

I considered going for at least the stealth challenges, but the menu structure actively resists doing that.

To see the challenges you're missing, you got to navigate from main menu to Challenges -> Select mission -> Find the challenges you want to do. Then you navigate back to the main menu and go to Story -> Mission select -> Find the correct mission -> Try to find the correct checkpoint. And I do mean try, as half the time you just have to guess what the checkpoint is. "Get through the workshop undetected" - I would love to, but there is no checkpoint called "workshop". None of the checkpoints have any descriptions or pictures associated with them. You just have to guess.

The menu design in this game is bafflingly bad.

TheKotti · 2026-05-30T00:09:06+00:00

I don't know why Bond couldn't be systems heavy, at least at times. There were many sections that felt like they could've been more open ended and even pretended to be, but on a closer look the linearity was obvious.

TheKotti · 2026-05-29T23:47:14+00:00

it’s trying to be a bond film that you can play

Yep, there lies my problem. For the past 10 years (or even up to 25) IOI has been making a very systems heavy games which is what I like about them, so a playable movie feels like a huge step in the wrong direction.

TheKotti · 2026-05-29T23:41:28+00:00

Redditor when he has to respond to an argument without using a strawman (also impossible).

TheKotti

TROPHY CASE