Agent 47 of the well-beloved Hitman franchise is the ultimate knife in the dark. His methods of performing high profile executions are so swift, so cunning that the job is done before his targets even knew it began. Now a handful of speedrunners are adding a whole new spin on how quick the legendary Silent Assassin can be.
Two speedrunners named Wreak and Der_Lauch_Linus recently managed to complete the first level of Hitman 3 in about nine seconds each. These are not speedruns that rely on exploiting glitches in the game’s design. Instead, they used methods where the targets can be taken out during a small window of opportunity at the beginning of the gorgeous Dubai level.
Both Wreak and Der_Lauch_Linus relied on lightning fast aiming with a silenced weapon to eliminate the two primary objectives as soon as they enter line of sight above the player. Impressive reflexes to say the least.
There were one or two NPC’s that reacted to the visibility and sound of the guns, which means that neither of these speedruns are truly a ‘Silent Assassination’. However, Agent 47 can still escape through the required door to end the level with no one in pursuit.
As mentioned by pcinvasion.com, there is no word yet from developers IO Interactive on whether or not this was an intentional opportunity for sharp-eyed players to exploit. Let’s not forget that the chance to eliminate a boss or target early has long since been something of an Easter egg feature in other stealth games.
For example, Metal Gear Solid 3 gave agile players a brief opportunity to snipe a boss known as ‘The End’ early in the game, which bypasses his actual encounter that takes place later in the story. Perhaps this is Hitman 3’s nod to Hideo Kojima?
You can check out Wreak’s speedrun here, and Der_Lauch_Linus’s here.
Source: pcinvasion.com, pcgamer.com
Pieter hails all the way from the tip of southern Africa and suffers from serious PC technophilia. Therapists say it is incurable. Now he has to remind himself constantly that gaming doesn’t count as a religion even if DRM is the devil. Thankfully, writing reviews sometimes helps with the worst symptoms.