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“ The density and the size we have; we’ve never had that before.

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“ We have lots of fans that have been with the series for a long time, and that is something we always need to take into account.

Coupled with the immense scope of the Paris level itself the amount of options this affords players tackling the hit here is extensive. There’s a loading dock filled with equipment, rigging, and contractors. There’s the catering area, packed with hospitality workers. There are the dressing rooms and make-up tables. There’s the main hall and catwalk, private quarters, secret rooms, a basement and a large attic. Io Interactive describes that levels in Hitman are like Swiss cheese, full of holes 47 can use to infiltrate and work his way through them. It’s abundantly clear as I watch 47 negotiate his way through parts of this massive area that delivering on the spirit of 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money while retaining the more nuanced controls of 2012’s Hitman: Absolution is the key aim here.“I would say is that Absolution was the odd man out by being very story-driven,” says Hannes Seifert, studio head at Io Interactive. “That is something I think served its purpose but it necessitated that the hits, the actual action, be like pearls on a string. You had a more linear experience with some sandboxes in between.”“This is not bad, but many games do that. What we did with the previous games is something nobody does; this high-density kill sandbox where you can be creative with what you want and save at any time. So we wanted that back very early, and that’s what I hope shows in the Gamescom demo.”The Gamescom demo bustles through several brief segments of this Paris level (previously touched on in videos released during E3) illustrating some tactical problem solving and a few of the methods 47 can use to gain access to key rooms and floors. A lot of the tricks will be familiar to long-term Hitman fans (the ability to throw certain items to effect a non-lethal knockout is new, though) but I am genuinely taken aback by just how many areas there are.Seifert explains that building a level this large is a complex process but it’s crucial to get it right because of just how important large, densely-stuffed, and varied environments are in order to facilitate the Hitman fantasy.“Our studio creative director actually is an architect by trade, so that helps a bit, but creating believable environments is very important,” says Seifert.“It’s no fun to go to a museum where every room looks the same and every room is just filled with tourists. So we created this fashion show in this museum, in Paris, where there’s a purpose to why you are there, why the event is there.“It gives you the feeling of being James Bond, right? You’re wearing a suit and there’s this high-level target, and all these rich people are here and there’s all these secret trades going on in the background. That is something we think works really well.”The levels also need to be highly responsive to the player, which is a complex and layered task.“One of the things in any Hitman game is that the level design we have makes us unique but it makes it very challenging,” says Seifert. “All of is procedural and systemic. You make an action and you trigger a reaction. You could potentially snipe a model on the catwalk, and the fashion show has to react to that. The audience has to react to that. And this is something that is happening in the game.”This is the area where proceedings can seem a little grim, as players experiment and poke the simulation. It will still be softened, however, by the series’ typically black humour, Seifert explains.“We take these realistic environments and we spice them up with what we’d say is the Hitman humour,” he says. “We need that because you’re an assassin at the peak of his career; it’s a sinister job but with the humour it makes it very entertaining. It doesn’t make it so dark. That is something that I think is a trademark of what Hitman is.”“We try to have this abstract, realistic style. I do not believe in full realism for a game like that; it would be too grim. Also, I think ethically speaking that would not be okay. It needs to be very apparent that this a game; a game that wants to entertain a mature audience. It’s not a game for children; we are very clear about that. Our players are, like 30-plus, right? We have lots of fans that have been with the series for a long time, and that is something we always need to take into account.”“There’s always a balance, right?” says Seifert. “We want to give people the freedom of choice to do what they want in the game. That’s the nature of a high-density sandbox game; you want people to be creative with the game they have.”“Some people use this creativity for violence; other people use this creativity to find original ways to isolate the target to only execute the target.“In the new game you can make people unconscious so they can wake up again; it’s hilarious and one of the features we consider pretty new and something we could not have done on the previous generation because of the complicated AI.Hitman will be released digitally on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on December 8, 2015. New missions, environments, and targets will be added to the game as free, regular updates following the game’s release. A retail version of the game is planned for 2016.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can find him on Twitter