Topic: Push Square Game Club Spooktacular: Resident Evil 4

@Jaz007 I played it for 20 minutes in VR and had to go lie down in a dark room. It’s incredibly impressive and great fun but oh man, the motion when running is stomach-churning.

@ralphdibny Beautiful..

@Th3solution @nessisonett @Jaz007 @RogerRoger I don't know why they didn't get Bateson to play him in the movie, he already looks like the character 🤷‍♂️. Not that the game needs a movie or anything it's probably best they don't make any more but if they really had to and they really needed star power then I think Tom Hardy could probably do a decent job at it.

I can see partially why you might like the game Rog, I got some real James Bond vibes from the cut scenes in the prologue. More Casino Royale/Quantum of Solace vibes but Bond nonetheless!

Is the VR mode only available if you are playing the levels through Hitman 3? I couldn't see the option in Hitman 1

Was finally able to spend some time on the Paris level tonight. It’s so much bigger and more complex than the training level. It’s quite fun, but a little overwhelming. I wandered around for a long time just trying to get my bearings and figure out where I was allowed to go. It was a chore to find my first security guard alone enough to knock him out and proceed into more restricted areas. I finally chose to follow the thread whereby I got the male target (I forget his name) alone by arranging the meeting out in the garden, then I shoved him over the railing into the river below. Getting to lady target has proven much harder. In order to even get access upstairs I had to ditch all my weapons to be frisked and so now I don’t know what I’ll do. She’s never alone.
I do love how this game has liberal autosaves as well as manual saves anywhere. I’ve definitely reloaded an earlier checkpoint many times already.

@Th3solution I’ll give you a couple of hints.

1. Use your coins. Those guards on the stairs can be fooled rather easily with a good coin toss.

2. Look for drainpipes. Sometimes the best way to get upstairs is to find a route along the balconies, this holds true across multiple levels.

Best of luck!

@nessisonett Thanks. I have tried the coins a few times with mixed success. Sometimes it’s tricky to get in a place where no one sees you throw them. 😅

I’ve gathered from my limited play time that there are triggers that will prompt the targets to move about to different areas? Or is it mostly time based? When I started following that one “opportunity” (I think they call it) then suddenly things started falling in place and NPCs seemed to follow a set path so I could accomplish that goal. That made things easier. With the second target, she’s just walking from room to room with her attendants endlessly, and I haven’t found any “opportunities” and am wondering how long should I wait for her to do something to help me out, like at least go to the bathroom or something where she’s alone. Is it just a matter of waiting long enough, or do I need to do something to trigger the game to make the NPC leave this endless loop of repeated activity?
I tried pulling a fire alarm to see what happens and all it seemed to do was make a horde of security descend down upon me and arrest me. 😂

@RogerRoger Haha! Wow we have a knack for the simultaneous post, don’t we? 😂

Ok — I didn’t realize I can track an “opportunity”. I thought you had to stumble across it.

@RogerRoger Yeah, I got an “opportunity missed” message and then checked the menu and I think it was the one about impersonating someone and walking on the runway, (which sounds brilliant and I need to try to do that on one of these runs 😄) so that made sense I probably didn’t get there in time before the models started the show.

I do think I’ll try the tactic of following opportunities for a while, until I acclimate. I suppose it ruins some of the sandbox fun, but wandering around aimlessly also ruins it too.

It’s possible I’m too far along to take advantage of any more opportunities, I’ll have to see. I might just run up and choke the target in front of everyone and then just run for my life and see how that turns out 😂

Thanks for the tips by the way!

@Th3solution That was a task. I was a security guard and I couldn’t get her alone. I had reload a couple times, but I put an explosive in the auction room while waiting for the door to open. I just waited by the wall looking all professional and blew her up. Couple guards ran right by me with no idea. It was so satisfying to see them rush in not knowing it was me.

Another hint time!

If you’re struggling getting Dalia alone, remember that certain distractions can break movement patterns and distract guards. For example, there might be a couple of objects in her bathroom that make noise!

I put together a much better run tonight! Still only three stars but I can feel that I'm getting the hang of it more? I popped the trophy for unseen murderer at least. I managed to take over helmet kruger's identity, used the disguise to get upstairs, sneaked into the control centre and found out about the lighting rig. Then poisoned margolis, stashed her in the closet, came down and got rid of the designer before heading back upstairs and getting novikov with the lighting rig and escaping in the helicopter. Felt great for people to be telling me to run out of the building for my own safety when I was escaping.

I did a few runs in the Paris level this week and I must say it is a joy to revisit this game, certainly in the absence of MGS or Splinter Cell. The first run is always a mix of chaotic fun and a sense of discovery. It really shows the versatility and the different systems at play. I really like that you can execute a perfectly scripted plan using all your knowledge and skills, but that it is equally viable to just “wing it” and improvise. I never had problems with the episodic release schedule, because it felt much more focused and really encouraged me to fully explore each level (just like MGSV Ground Zeroes). Playing this game I really look forward to IOI’s take on James Bond. Should be a great match as long as they don’t make it too much of an action game. Also, it is great to read al your hints and tips. It gives me new ideas. So keep them coming..

@Mr_B021 As much as I dislike episode release formatted games, I agree that this game is probably one exception where it does make sense, for the reasons you state.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the freedom to move on if I really wanted to, but the depth of replayability is better highlighted when the next level isn’t immediately available to beckon the gamer forward.

Personally I'm glad I played Hitman 1 after all the episodes had been released. That way I was still learning the game and getting better at it as I played through each level, instead of just being an expert at it by the time level 2 released. Replaying levels was more fun for me after I'd completed the game since I could then use all the tricks I'd learned from the other levels.

I preferred the episodic release too. Spent a lot more time on each level than in Hitman 2 and each new level releasing was proper exciting.

@crimsontadpoles I think I'm going to do this too. I'd like to feel like I'm progressing through the game a bit at least. I know it's not in keeping with this month's guidelines for game club but I think I'd rather go back and replay levels if I have the time. I know it's designed for replays but I am more of a progressor than a replayer so I need to satisfy my own behaviour before I try out the games intended behaviour.

With that in mind, I have done the Paris and Sapienza missions. Paris was a bit of a s-show for me. I managed to do the lady and her aide with a silenced pistol in a room they were in but the aide had just opened the door so I had to duck out and get changed somewhere. I managed to do the fella and his guard up the side of the dance floor with the garotte. Somehow nobody saw me but they found the bodies obviously so there was panic but I just legged it out of there. In between that, I killed a lot of randomers, just pushing them off balconies and stuff after I had run out of places to stash the bodies lol.

Same with Sapienza really, (spoiler tagged as this is next week's level I did the guy in by his mum's grave after putting some flowers down. (I climbed into the castle at the side and stashed my weapons so I'd pass the frisk as the delivery man) Then I dropped his body off the cliff. He looked like a fun person to kill in different ways based on all the clues and trails I found out about him after that. I did the woman in her office with some guard, I think I garotted the woman and CQC'd the guard. Then I spent ages killing people while looking for lab, even dropping canisters down various chimneys for no real reason lol. I dressed as a plague doctor and I killed the butler because I wanted his outfit. Took me ages to find his body bag because they moved it to the lab entrance, I dressed as him for a bit but had to change into a lab guard to go in to the lab really. I also dropped my silenced pistol and had to find that in another area where they were stashing bodies in body bags! I then dissolved some bodies while wearing a hazmat suit for the heisenberg challenge. I also loved how the cyclist was all injured at the beginning but when I killed the flower guy tending to him, all of a sudden he got up like he was fine haha. Anyway I killed him and took his cycling gear for a spell.

Anyway, I wanted to make some more progress in the game before making another post in this thread!

@RogerRoger Im not sure if I've seen a hitman film, I might have seen the olyphant one in the cinema but I struggle to remember it at all.

You know, I can see the Bond game being very similar to Hitman actually. There's a lot of leeway, as you've mentioned to play this game like a suave spy or like a bull in the China shop. My admittedly clumsy Daniel Craig approach to missions so far is evidence of this. Maybe I'll progress to a Connery like firm but fair approach before moving on to a Brosnan esque smarmy in and outer. Forgive me if I'm simplifying their characters, I've only seen about 10 or so Bond films!

Thanks to you and @nessisonett for the tips as well, they've definitely helped me be more aware of different things!

@Th3solution I'm having mixed results with the coins too! It's mainly because the NPC is facing my hiding spot when they pick up the coin. I've managed to lure people further by throwing a couple of coins but I have to time the second throw properly or they just ignore it if they're either consumed by the first coin or walked away too far to hear the second coin. If its a failure then I'm out of coins 😭 lol

@ralphdibny I’ve never been a high utilizer of the “tossing or placing a distraction” mechanic in my stealth games. I agree that it’s often just too fidgety and they end up facing the wrong way, not hearing it, etc. I barely used the wind chimes in Ghost of Tsushima, even when I went for stealth. Same for MGS games when you could distract guards with magazines and stuff like that (although it was at least funny to see the guards ogling the magazines 😂)

One tip for using coins as a distraction is that you can pick up the coin immediately after throwing it. They'll still investigate the noise. That way, if you're unable to knock them out, you'll still have the coin.

@Th3solution I did a lot of knocking on walls in MGS, I think the various Snakes are a bit faster than 47 too so it's easier to run around the block and get them from behind

@crimsontadpoles oh sweet, yeah that should do the trick!

For me it’s been the total opposite of an episodic release. I had the entire trilogy to start with. I’ve replayed a couple of levels from Hitman 1 to get my progress back since I tried it first as a Plus game when H3 was approaching. That aside, I’ve been playing them in order and will probably play them again afterwards. Maybe I’ll do a replay or two of some levels before I start H3’s levels, but it’s been neat playing through it sequentially. I also take like 1-2 hours going through a level, I take my time and let the sights sink while I’m at it.