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After 9 years of deadly new Hitman updates, the hardest part about designing new Elusive Targets like James Bond villain Le Chiffre is "actually keeping the target alive"
Hitman has been getting new Elusive Targets for players to take down thanks to content updates for over nine years now, and as World of Assassination gets its latest in the form of James Bond villain Le Chiffre, one senior level designer tells us the hardest part about making them is "actually keeping the target alive."
In the same interview, we asked how IO Interactive approaches designing a level like this when players have so many different ways to tackle it and complete the mission. Ansdal agrees that this is certainly a challenge "after all the updates" that have been added, including "the banana peel," which can be used to make people slip over in true slapstick fashion. "So that's something we now have to consider," he says.
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Beyond that, though, "the hardest part is actually keeping the target alive, because the player has so many ways" to take them out. Ansdal points to the antics of speedrunners and "some of the stuff they do." He explains: "Le Chiffre took like five months to make, and some guy will surely do it in like a second or something."
Are any brave speedrunners going to take that on as a challenge? I hope so. When it comes to solutions to the latest level, Ansdal mentions he's "definitely seen some banana peel shenanigans," as well as "something that required a very special solution," although he didn't reveal what, teasing that players could "try to figure out the thing" instead.
I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.
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