So with the episodic releases and Elusive Targets, this new version of Hitman is like this spy-drama thing doing a lot of different things from what previous Hitman games have done. Do you think there’s something particular about this IP that made it prime for that? Or maybe other titles in your realm that could pull this off well considering how well you’ve done this successfully?
Vogt: I think Hitman is the only AAA title out there that gives you the contemporary agent fantasy – there are plenty of other similar games taking place that provide more fantasy-like or sci-fi-like – but if you want that contemporary agent feel and a game that takes place in a completely civilian world, which is kind of unusual in games. Normally it’s a more binary, like people are either for or against you, right? But Hitman is a truly civilian world and that’s part of the challenge. If that answers your question.
No, no, I think it did. It’s that special challenge that only Hitman provides in not just being an assassin that other games provide, but going back in and really fine-tuning your approach.
Vogt: Well I think obviously the gameplay is very much inspired by Blood Money, which was always the staple of the Hitman franchise and a fan favorite. But obviously we had to reinvent it for a new age and take it to the 21st century. There are different standards now also and we wanted to raise the bar and make it feel like an HBO series.
Liebold: Yeah I mean there is no other game out there that is like Hitman, so we wanted to open that narrative and bring it to the next level.
It’s a different type of episodic.
Liebold: Yeah, and it’s a curse and a blessing at the same time. We see it a lot at game shows. Sometimes people haven’t played a Hitman game before, will pick up the pad, play it for 5 minutes and be like what the hell is going on here? So, it’s awesome, but you have to spend time, you have to embrace it.
Vogt: Yeah it’s vulnerable to reviews in a way. Because you have to spend more time than just completing the missions and main objectives to really get a feel for the game.
Were you guys hesitant of doing that, too? Because as you said, the story is now busting wide-open, the first four episodes were more of an introduction to characters, the story is just being touched upon now and the final episode will really break it open, leaving it to the future seasons. Were you worried that people wouldn’t get what you were doing?
Vogt: Yeah, I think it played out as we had anticipated. We knew it would start out with the prologue that takes place in the past, and then with Paris, people would be like, “ooh this looks interesting.” But then with the next few episodes people would be like, “okay now I don’t get it. Cool cutscenes, but what does it have to do with what I’m doing, and what’s the story actually about?”
And then when we got to the end of Bangkok and then to Colorado, people were like, “ohhhhh.” So you know, it pretty much happened the way we thought it would, which at least is a good thing.
Yeah that’s definitely a good thing. So I have one last question. This first season, which as you said has gone according to plan, has taken us around the world, all these different targets and interesting story tidbits. The world hopping isn’t particularly new to Hitman, we saw it in Blood Money, Contracts, 1 and 2. How do you plan on mixing things up for next season to keep it as fresh as this season has been?
Vogt: We can’t really, unfortunately, talk about it.
We need to come up with a cool location obviously, but also a cool event that can take place there and an environment that is believable, that the targets you’re going after would actually exist there. So it is kind of like, it’s a very elite fantasy. Agent 47 only goes after the 1%. It’s supposed to be the type of environments that normal people don’t have access to. So it’s a bit of a puzzle to get the right location with the right event that can also spawn new mission.
Season 1 of Hitman concludes this Oct. 31 with the release of its seventh chapter, Hokkaido, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A physical version of the game, complete with all of the digital content released so far, is set to release January 2017.
