Hitman (2015) - [PC , X1 , PS4 ]

**Jorge-Vieira** · 11-02-16, 16:23

HITMAN To Feature Best Implementation Of DX12 Async Compute Yet, Says AMD

AMD just sent out a press release about HITMAN using DirectX 12, in what has been described as the best implementation yet of Async Compute Engines.
Three weeks ago we had spotted a GDC 2016 session about HITMAN’s usage of DirectX 12, but at that time nothing had been officially confirmed. Here’s what AMD had to say, specifically:

AMD is once again partnering with IO Interactive to bring an incredible Hitman gaming experience to the PC. As the newest member to the AMD Gaming Evolved program, Hitman will feature top-flight effects and performance optimizations for PC gamers.
Hitman will leverage unique DX12 hardware found in only AMD Radeon GPUs—called asynchronous compute engines—to handle heavier workloads and better image quality without compromising performance. PC gamers may have heard of asynchronous compute already, and Hitman demonstrates the best implementation of this exciting technology yet. By unlocking performance in GPUs and processors that couldn’t be touched in DirectX 11, gamers can get new performance out of the hardware they already own.
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AMD is also looking to provide an exceptional experience to PC gamers with high-end PCs, collaborating with IO Interactive to implement AMD Eyefinity and ultrawide support, plus super-sample anti-aliasing for the best possible AA quality.
This partnership is a journey three years in the making, which started with Hitman: Absolution in 2012, a top seller in Europe and widely critically acclaimed. PC technical reviewers lauded all the knobs and dials that pushed GPUs of the time to their limit. That was no accident. With on-staff game developers, source code and effects, the AMD Gaming Evolved program helps developers to bring the best out of a GPU. And now in 2016, Hitman gets the same PC-focused treatment with AMD and IO Interactive to ensure that the series’ newest title represents another great showcase for PC gaming!

It looks like Square Enix is at the forefront of AAA publishers diving into DirectX 12 territory. HITMAN may be the first one to release, but Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was the first one to be announced and there are also hints that DX12 support may eventually come to Rise of the Tomb Raider, too.
Let’s hope that other AAA publishers and indeed, the game industry as a whole can soon follow in these footsteps. After all, who doesn’t love better performance and/or graphics?
HITMAN, due to release on March 11 (though there will only be two missions, with more to be added through the year), will have a beta soon on PS4 and PC. The system requirements were unveiled just yesterday via Steam.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/hitman-feature-implementation-dx12-async-compute-amd/#ixzz3zsRfBTlf

Resta ver as diferenças que os Asyn Shaders vão fazer para a nVidia.

**Jorge-Vieira** · 12-02-16, 14:07

Only digital pre-orders unlock access to the Hitman beta

If you want to get into the upcoming singleplayer Hitman beta test, then you'll want to avoid pre-ordering physical copies unless you shell out for the collector's edition.

Square Enix has revealed that only digital pre-orders will unlock access to the Hitman beta test set to kick off next Friday.

"The only way to guarantee your access to the HITMAN Beta is to pre-order the game digitally on PlayStation 4 via PSN or PC via Steam," reads a FAQ post. "Alternatively, you can pre-order the Collector's Edition. Access to the HITMAN Beta is available for the pre-orders of the Full Experience, Intro Pack and Collector's Edition."

If you've pre-ordered a digital copy of Hitman from a recognized retailer like BestBuy instead of PSN or Steam, VG247 notes that you'll be able to get access to the beta. This is a strange move on Square Enix's part, as we don't usually see beta tests get picky with pre-order methods--usually beta access is one of the many perks of pre-buying a game on faith. Although the Hitman beta contains a singleplayer prologue mission, it'll be online-only so that the devs can glean stats and feedback. Luckily you won't need an active PlayStation Plus membership to play the beta. Oh, the beta will clock in at 4.7GB on PS4, and Square affirms they didn't do that on purpose. The Hitman beta will be downloadable and go live on PS4 starting Friday, February 12, 11AM CET/8AM PST, and will be closed on Monday, February 15th at 11AM CET. PC gamers have to wait a full week later starting Friday, February 19 at 11AM CETand ending on Monday, February 22 at 11AM CET.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50325/...eta/index.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 12-02-16, 14:21

Hitman is part of AMD's Gaming Evolved program, includes DX12 features

We're beginning to hear more and more about the Hitman reboot, where we now know that AMD pushing out a press release that teases that Hitman is part of their Gaming Evolved program.

This means that AMD Radeon owners with Windows 10 installed will be able to enjoy luscious DX12 features, with the press release saying: "Hitman will leverage unique DX12 hardware found in only AMD Radeon GPUs-called asynchronous compute engines-to handle heavier workloads and better image quality without compromising performance. PC gamers may have heard of asynchronous compute already, and Hitman demonstrates the best implementation of this exciting technology yet. By unlocking performance in GPUs and processors that couldn't be touched in DirectX 11, gamers can get new performance out of the hardware they already own".

Hitman will also feature support for AMD's multi-monitor technology, Eyefinity, as well as support for Ultrawide monitors with 21:9 aspect ratio resolutions of 2560x1080 and 3440x1440.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50337/...res/index.html

**MAXLD** · 12-02-16, 15:18

Espero que não o usem em campanhas do tipo Never Settle... era capaz de haver umas certas reclamações por o jogo vir "incompleto". XD

**Jorge-Vieira** · 13-02-16, 14:24

AMD teams up with IO Interactive for Hitman

To implement asynchronous compute engines
AMD has partnered up with IO Interactive and its upcoming Hitman game which will be the newest member of the AMD Gaming Evolved program and feature performance optimizations as well as unique DirectX 12 hardware features.

According to AMD, the upcoming Hitman game will leverage unique DirectX 12 hardware found only in AMD Radeon GPUs, asynchronous compute engines, which should handle heavier workloads and provide better image quality without compromising performance.
Basically, AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) GPUs can process multiple command streams in parallel which is enabled by so called Asynchronous Compute Engines (ACEs). Each queue can submit commands without waiting for other tasks to complete and some command streams can be interleaved on the GPU Shader Engines and execute simultaneously. AMD's GCN architecture has up to 8 ACEs per GPU which operate in parallel with graphics command processors and while these were not that important so far, beside Mantle API, ACEs will be quite important with DirectX 12.
Nvidia's Maxwell GPU architecture does not support Async Compute and has previously implemented via driver update as scheduling is done by software rather than hardware, something that AMD is quite keen to point out on several occasions.
It appears that the upcoming Hitman game, scheduled to launch on March 11th will be the first game to actually at least some of the features of the DirectX 12 API. According to AMD, Hitman will also feature support for ultrawide monitor and AMD's Eyefinity as well as super-sample anti-aliasing.

Noticia:
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/games/3...ive-for-hitman

**Enzo** · 13-02-16, 16:21

Vão querer fazer uma grande demonstração de força com este titulo.

**Jorge-Vieira** · 18-02-16, 14:24

Hitman Beta Impressions

Click to enlarge

Hitman's come under a lot of fire recently for its confusing release model. So much fire, in fact, that many people have forgotten to ask the most important question: Is Hitman (2015) more like the beloved Hitman: Blood Money or the kind-of pants Hitman: Absolution?

This weekend's Beta let players get their hands on the game's two tutorial missions, retelling the story of Agent 47's training with the shadowy ICA agency and include taking down former Spy "The Sparrow" and Chess prodigy turned Soviet Spy Jasper Knight. These aren't real missions but a greatest hits compilation of ICA missions for 47 to train in that includes plywood sets and painted water.

Sneak around the side of the boat owned by the stuntman playing the role of "The Sparrow" and you can see curtains hung up around the back of the silo housing this strange play, designed to look like sky - toss a body overboard and chuckle darkly to yourself as they hit the blue painted concrete and lay there, staring upwards, glassy eyed. I mean, they're stuntmen, so I've not really killed anyone, have I?

Agent 47's ease with collateral damage - the widespread murder of innocents to clean up his mess - seems to have been scaled back somewhat now that there's a non-lethal option. Garotting someone is still spectacularly brutal, but if you feel like being kinder you can hit anyone with a blunt object to take them out of the fight gently.

Click to enlarge

The amount of AI supported in the levels has been scaled up, so there are now up to 300 AI's operating at full capacity, walking around the place and having conversations. These will have routines you can learn and exploit. Then there's a host of extras who just have the most basic of reactions: screaming in terror and running away, or witnessing a crime and running off to find the closest person with a gun to come and resolve it.

It's the screams of terror that have always unnerved me the most. After finding an Assault Rifle and taking down every security guard on The Sparrow's boat in an ambush on the gangway, I had to board the boat to find my target. What I was faced with was around 50 unarmed guests, cowering at one end.

"No witnesses" I muttered, ready to execute the lot of them, but I couldn't do it.

Hitman is a spectacularly violent game, but not in a flashy way - it's the cold brutality of the thing. The way you execute a guard smoking a cigarette with a single round to the back of the head, or take out a witness by burying a knife in their guts. This relationship with violence is a little jarring in tone. I think this is actually a good thing, because you find yourself having to justify a kill to yourself before you pull the trigger on an unarmed piece of code.

As a game, it impressed. The systems underpinning your murderous machinations are robust with there being plenty of different approaches you can take, both loud and quiet.

Click to enlarge

Toda a review:
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2016/02/18/hitman-beta/1

**Jorge-Vieira** · 19-02-16, 15:49

Hitman is getting real-time, live content, and here's how it works

IO Interactive is making Hitman a more interactive experience, adding in a "live" component to the mix that makes the game more true to live than any game has ever attempted in the past.

But just how are they going to incorporate live events into a video game that isn't a persistent MMO? One way is the addition of what they're calling "Elusive Targets" which are contracts for custom-made characters that are only in an existing location for a limited time, and in real-time. So you only have one chance to complete the contract, and if you don't, then you'll never have another chance.

Each Elusive Target will have a custom briefing video, a backstory and a unique reason for being in that location. When you're actually playing in the location, the Elusive Target will not appear on the map and will not appear in Instinct. Meaning you've got to use actual skill to find and eliminate the target. There's no help here. And the save game mechanism will be turned off, so you won't have any second chances. It's all or nothing. There'll be exclusive prizes and rewards for completing these most difficult contracts.

Another live component they're adding in is called the Escalation Mode. This is where challenges will be pushed to your missions as you play them by the IO Interactive staff. You might have to take out a target a certain way, and when you do that correctly you'll have to kill the same target while wearing a certain costume. The levels become more and more difficult, and likely ridiculous as well.

Contracts mode is also making a return from Hitman: Absolution, where you can create your own custom missions based on in-game assets. You'll be able to share them and IOI will compile the best of those to feature for the community.

Something in the pipeline that they want to incorporate are "live challenges" where your skills will be put to the test with some amusing, elaborate and creative ways to complete missions and dispatch your enemies. This part isn't quite implemented yet, but they did notice the reaction to some of the ways in which people in the beta were going about the missions, and want to incorporate a community aspect to this.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50532/...rks/index.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 20-02-16, 14:59

HITMAN Producer: Co-Op Is Very Appealing, But We Need the Right Idea To Make It Work

HITMAN, or at least its Intro Pack, is scheduled for release on March 11 for PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Metro GameCentral managed to interview Studio Head and Executive Producer Hannes Seifert about the game, and one particular highlight is that IO Interactive did have an internal discussion about adding a co-op mode to HITMAN. This time it won’t be featured, but that’s not to say it will never be as Seifert described the concept as very appealing.

Trust me, we’ve had this discussion. [laughs]
Yes, it’s very appealing but we need the right idea to work. Like the Hitman Go on tablets, it needs to fit the actual gameplay.
I don’t think every game has to be the same. It gives you the opportunity to stand out. We shouldn’t do a player versus player mode just because it’s fashionable. I think we’d rather like to set trends rather than follow them. And I think with our triple-A episodic release, with this strong live focus, I hope that we set a trend. And let’s see how many follow.

It’s definitely good that they have this approach, as far too many games nowadays just follow trends without even adding anything meaningful to them.
HITMAN is described as a “truly episodic game experience with a major live component”. The developer explained today what exactly this live component is.

Elusive Targets
The Contracts that are available for a limited-time are what we call Elusive Targets. An Elusive Target is the closest thing to the Hitman fantasy that we’ve ever created. These targets will be custom-created characters that are added to existing locations and are only there for a limited time in real-time. You’ll only have one chance to take them down. If they escape, they are gone for good. If you kill them, that’s the way that you killed them. There are no do-overs and no second chances. When an Elusive Target leaves the game world (one way or another) they never return.
Each Elusive Target will have a custom briefing video, a backstory and a unique reason for being in that location. When you’re actually playing in the location, the Elusive Target will not appear on the map and will not appear in Instinct. In order to find them, you’ll need to use clues from the briefing video and a photograph that you will be able to review. You’ll need to explore, find your target, learn their patterns and come up with a plan to eliminate them – all whilst playing. The pressure will be on when you’ve got the target in your sights. If you miss the shot and chaos breaks loose, you will need to have a plan B, because the save-game is disabled during an Elusive Target. If you kill the wrong person or die when trying to exfiltrate, that’s it. Game over, the target escapes.
As the season unfolds, you’ll earn in-game rewards for completing multiple Elusive Target contracts. The rewards are signature suits from previous Hitman games and versions of those suits with gloves. There’s also a version of the signature suit from the new HITMAN with gloves.
We know that Elusive Targets are not going to be easy, they were designed that way.

Escalation Mode
Escalation Mode is something else completely new for HITMAN and was created as a way to regularly provide a fresh challenge to players. You’ll need to master the location as well as the gameplay mechanics to complete a hit that will escalate in difficulty by adding new elements. As an example, the first stage could be to eliminate your target with a sabre. Then, the second stage could be to eliminate your target with a sabre whilst dressed as a waiter and removing any security camera recordings within two minutes. We are able to change where the security cameras are and also add additional ‘security’ measures to the locations, such as laser trip-wire explosives that you’ll need to avoid.
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Escalation Mode has a strong focus on having fun with the game mechanics and mixing them up – pretty much anything goes in this mode. It’s more about being playful than realistic. For each Escalation Contract, there are five stages and you’re free to replay them as you wish to climb the leaderboards. As with Elusive Targets, the save-game functions are disabled.
All Escalation contracts and Elusive Targets are created by IOI and will be released between the location releases as part of the live content.

Contracts Mode
On top of those new features, we also have Contracts Mode. You’ll know this from Absolution. Play-to-create, mark your own targets, choose how to kill them and compete against your friends. IOI will also pick the best of the bunch and put them in the Featured Contracts list so you’ve got something fresh to play whenever you load up the game.

Live Challenges
Additionally, we have the ambition of adding community-inspired challenges into the game. As you’ll have seen from the recent Beta period, the game is full of challenges you can complete to prove your mastery of a location. We are looking into creating new challenges that we can periodically add to the game. These challenges will be an homage to some of the more elaborate, amusing, difficult or creative feats that we see our players complete. As an example, one of the first ‘live challenges’ we are looking at creating is called “Hammer Time” and was inspired by a ‘2AngryGamers’ livestream[www.twitch.tv] of our PS4 Beta, where they used only a hammer to knock out almost every guard in the ‘Final Test’.
At this stage, Community-inspired challenges (or whatever we actually decide to name them) are just one of the ideas we are working on to keep the game fresh and live as we go through the season. These are not a guaranteed feature but something we’re testing and trying out.

All of those things are part of the live component of HITMAN. We’ll be watching and listening to what you do in our game world and want to shape that world to what you’ve already done in it.

If you pre-ordered the game, you can try the HITMAN PC beta which just went live on Steam (a PS4 test happened last week).

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/hitman-producer-coop-appealing-idea-work/#ixzz40ijVL2l6

HITMAN PC Beta – 4K Screenshots @ Maxed Settings

The HITMAN PC beta has gone live yesterday on Steam and we’ve taken it for a spin. Here’s a bunch of screenshots taken at 4K resolution with maxed settings (with the notable exception of antialiasing, since it isn’t really needed at 3840×2160).

HITMAN looks very nice at 4K, as you can see from the screenshots. Certain reflections on surfaces particularly stand out in the very brief opening scene, though ultimately HITMAN doesn’t quite manage to compete with Rise of the Tomb Raider or Tom Clancy’s The Division from a graphics standpoint; one thing that’s noticeably missing is any HBAO derived Ambient Occlusion technique, with the surpassed SSAO being the only option.

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Unfortunately, with our test configuration (i7 3770, 16GB RAM, 980Ti SLI) the performance is quite disappointing presently. As you can see in the gameplay video below, in crowded areas such as the yacht level the frame rate tanks even below 30FPS, which makes it barely playable.
While this is of course still a beta, HITMAN is due for release in just over two weeks (on March 8). It’s likely that SLI support isn’t optimized yet, especially since this game has been mostly optimized for AMD hardware; a driver release could do wonders, but that’s not the only improvement we might see.
We know that HITMAN is set to feature DirectX 12 support, which will be detailed extensively during a GDC 2016 talk by IO Interactive’s Lead Render Programmer Jonas Meyer, but there is no way to enable DirectX 12 in this beta. Hopefully it will bring a decent performance boost across the board.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/hitman-pc-beta-4...#ixzz40ipoSdsA

**Jorge-Vieira** · 21-02-16, 15:42

Hitman running at 4K looks as good as Crysis did in 2007

Square Enix opened the doors to its closed beta of Hitman on February 19 for the PC, letting gamers go around assassinating a bunch of people before the game goes live.

The Hitman beta throws people into The Prologue, which is set in a "secret ICA training facility". It shows Agent 47's introduction into the ICA, showing off his first meeting with Diana Burnwood, his handler who, in the future, will assign him deadly contracts. Well, some gamers are taking screenshots of the game - thanks to its Glacier engine, it looks pretty damn good. The problem is, if we compare it to games like Crysis (released in 2007) it really doesn't shape up that well at all.

Above, we have a screenshot of the new Hitman, compared to Crysis from 2007 - there's quite the difference there, and it's not in Hitman's favor.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50548/...007/index.html

**Enzo** · 21-02-16, 17:24

Do que eu vejo...o Crysis mostra porque foi o topo dos topos em gráficos, em 2007, e porque ainda é actual.
Só recentemente vi um jogo a superar totalmente o Crysis em gráficos por completo, sem mods, completamente de raiz, que é o novo Tomb Raider. Com mods, é o GTA V e o novo Star Wars.

**jotinha17** · 21-02-16, 17:31

Recomendo a testares este Enzo

**Enzo** · 21-02-16, 17:38

Também me parece muito bom esse.

**SleepyFilipy** · 21-02-16, 17:39

A nível de imagem o Ryse é excelente na minha opinião... Não fosse um hack n slash tão repetitivo e tinha gostado muito mais. Mas mesmo assim deu gosto!