Buried as part of a gigantic Hitman 3 pre-launch guide – which digs into all the details of progression transfer and content exports – IO Interactive has confirmed that it’s retired the controversial ICA Electrocution Phone. This was a Mission Stories unlock in Hitman 2’s New York, and was considered overpowered by some parts of the franchise’s community.
For those of you who don’t know, you could effectively “drop” this phone in the path of a target, and they’d subsequently pick it up. You could then call the phone, triggering an easy accidental kill. While it was fun to use, it effectively meant you could breeze through some missions in minutes with very simple Silent Assassin kills.
It’s still not clear whether the ICA Electrocution Phone has been replaced with a different gadget, or if it’s just been removed from the game entirely. We’re not sure where we stand on this, really: obviously it does strip away some of the purity from the leaderboards, but we’re not professional players and we had fun with the gizmo. Either way, it’s been taken out of Agent 47’s arsenal.
[source ioi.dk]
Comments 29
Always amuses me when people complain about things being 'overpowered' in single-player games, when you have the option to not use them.
Never played a Hitman game, but it's not the first time I've seen such nonsense. There are complaints about some of the mods in SnowRunner making things too easy, which is ridiculous when they're not in the base game, and you'd have to go out of your way to get access to them. How other people choose to complete their game has zero effect on you.
"Sorry 47, we've retired the use of you little electric phone gadget because our clients complained that your kills were 'too easy'. They also told you to 'get gud' and threatened to remove the rest of your gadgets so that you can assassinate your targets 'like a real gamer'. It is out of my hands 47, I suppose you better start gettin gud."
@Paranoimia This game has a platinum trophy though, which loses some of its value if you can cheese Silent Assassin for every single level. Fair enough in the previous games where it didn’t matter but I can understand why IO have done it.
@Paranoimia To be fair, it does affect the leaderboards. If everyone’s using this to get the best possible time, it could be argued that it’s affecting the integrity of the game
Couldn't they just say you can only use this once per level??
@nessisonett It's a virtual trinket. It has no value beyond what you yourself allocate to it.
@get2sammyb But it's there for everyone to use, just like any other option. If it were real life and you had a device to minimise risk and make the job simpler, you'd use it.
Whether it's included or not, as long as it's not DLC and available to all, the playing field is level for everyone. Whining about other people using a perfectly valid method and getting a quick time, just because you (general 'you', not you specifically) don't want to "lower yourself" is ridiculous. You may as well complain that people are beating your lap time in GT Sport because they're using a Veyron and you want to compete in a Fiat 500.
@Paranoimia I agree, it's a device that's in the game, so it's fair to use it. But clearly IO don't want people to use it in Hitman 3, hence it's been "retired".
@RogerRoger yeah I haven't used the phone at all I see no reason too but I can understand why people would use it too cheese it especially when there's a plat now..
@RogerRoger lmao 🤣 doughnuts haha ...yeah seems weird how kills are perceived in the hitman universe...im looking forward to hitman 3 and glad its not episodic and more like absolution where you play from start to finish
@RogerRoger that's one of the things that put me off hitman 1 and 2 with this episode rubbish just waiting month or 2 for the next episode was killer especially when games come out thick and fast (when both hitman released) I forgot about them lol....
Currently playing hitman 2 from PSNow so I can play from start to finish lol
@nessisonett Trophies should never affect game design. They are completely over-stepping then. I agree the gadget may have been too much, but for a trophy? That’s horrible reasoning
@Paranoimia I've never understood that, what if someone likes to use it but doesn't like how OP it is? For example, invisibility in Miles Morales is a fun ability but the enemies just give up the moment I use it right in front of them.
@get2sammyb That's fair enough, if the devs want to take it out, that's fine. I'm only referring to those players who think that its use is somehow 'cheating' when it's there for all to use.
@Nepp67 It is what it is. Use it if you like it; if you think it makes things too easy, don't. It's a single-player game - play it the way you want to.
@Paranoimia This WAS sort of DLC though, as the way to unlock it, New York, was not part of the 'base' game.
@CptH0vvDy Okay, fair enough. But it still doesn't change the fact that it's a single-player game, and so still has no effect or bearing on anyone but the individual playing, as others aren't at a competitive disadvantage.
@Paranoimia It was over-powered as hell though, yes you don't "have" to use it but why do something what takes a ton of set up and planning when you can use the phone for the same result without any need of set up and planning? Its been a widely disliked tool because its just too useful not to use and is way OP.
@WallyWest So don't use it! The choice is entirely yours.
The reason to do something which takes a ton of set-up is to gain the enjoyment of doing so, and the satisfaction of having it pay off... and get your money's worth out of the game. If you choose to go straight to the easy option, that's on you, nobody else. Have some self-control. Save the shortcuts for a second play-through.
@Paranoimia "It's a virtual trinket. It has no value beyond what you yourself allocate to it." Yes, and when all people can get the platinum with this device easily that reduces the value of the platinum for me and many other people which sucks.
@Ah-Void Even if you were the only person on the planet to get it, it's still ultimately worthless.
It's a single-player game. If you earned it without using the device, you get some personal satisfaction from knowing that. That's all that matters. If others used it, it makes no difference whatsoever to your own personal achievement.
As I said earlier, be less concerned about how others play their game. Unless you upload a video to YouTube, no-one else knows how you earned it, and I can pretty much guarantee very few will care.
@Paranoimia It's not inherently a multiplayer game, but there are leaderboards, which I would argue is still a massively competitive element.
@CptH0vvDy And everyone is using what the game supplies. No-one is cheating, it's all above board.
@Paranoimia Not people who own the base version of the game. I think the issue is settled...it clearly has been for the developer, anyway.🤷♂️
@get2sammyb Lock out the times that use that gadget isnt that a option?
@CptH0vvDy Indeed, but we're talking about those whining about its use in the previous version.
On the one hand, if you have the DLC and access to the gadget, there's nothing to complain about.
On the other hand, if you didn't like the game enough to buy the DLC, it really shouldn't matter to you that much anyway.
@Paranoimia
You can't determine the value of things for other people. I might say that gold is worthless, but does that change the value and price of gold for other people? no. Same thing for platinum trophy. many people and I think that it is not worthless and you can't change that.
Yes, it is a single-player game but the trophies are online and there is a rarity percentage. When you get a trophy that is not rare it feels like you won a game in a casual match. However, when you get a rare trophy it feels like you won a game in a ranked match. By your logic wining in casual and ranked should give me the same feeling.
No idea this was even a thing. Had I known it would have made me getting the silent assassin ranks all that much easier.
screams
Sad to hear the cheaters forced the devs to remove the weapon, I would have loved to toy around with it a little.
@Ah-Void... So are you collecting trophies for yourself or for others.....
If this was eSports, your argument would make sense, however this is an offline single player non competitive game, the game is essentially played in a parody spirit similar to Untitled Goose Game but with guns and humans to kill instead of just annoying them, so in a game like this a device like this which is essentially a device to just mess around with is good to have in the game, those who want the "I did it the hard way " trophies can form their own online tournaments and marvel at their leader board achievements, while the rest of us use the ICA E phone to see if we can be named the world's quickest assassins, not the most merticulars....
If I was an assassin, I would want to have a reputation of getting the job done super quick, and the ICA E Phone allow me to live out that dream, now that fantasy has been taken away.
Again, this is I. O. bending over to the "If its does not play like Bloodmoney, then it's not Hitman " Bloodmoney fanboys and this has resulted in them losing creative control of their own, hence 47 has goen from being AAA blockbuster to AA niche game.... Which is why they ditching this spy/assasin Mr 47 for Mr not shaken but stirred 007 so they can regain their creative control, nobody is going to tell them how 007 should play and because 007 is much more famous than 47, the casuals more will drown out the vocal blood money fanboys.
@Paranoimia that's sadly because the masses (majority of people, particularly Americans) are taught to live externally (e.g. all about material possessions, women getting Brazilian Buttlifts and other physical modifications for men, and can't forget "the devil made me do it" instead of take self-responsibility and accountability for your actions). Since this is a standard trait of people, it seeps into the gaming community.
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