- Thaw Hitman Developers have discussed how the team chose some of the locations featured in the franchise
- Each location will “typically have an event that is special”
- The developers also wanted to mirror different types of spy fantasy
In a recent interview with TechRadar Gaming, two Hitman developers discussed how they chose some of the global locations that have appeared as levels in the series.
“It always starts with ‘wouldn’t it be cool if 47 went somewhere?’ If you take a step back and look at the different places and what’s going on, […] we typically have an event that’s special to that location,” explained Jacob Mikkelsen, legend level designer at series developer IO Interactive.
He went on to name the first major level of the 2016s Hitman as an example. “In the case of Paris, the writer Michael had this setup where we have this Russian oligarch who owns a fashion company and then his partner in crime sells these spy secrets off at a secret auction that happens at the same time under cover of the fashion show.”
“I was talking to Martin, the art director at the time, about where it was going to take place and he said, ‘I think it should be a palace in Paris’ and I said, ‘okay, cool, but they’re a bit big, aren’t they?’ and it was like, ‘I need a patio for the fashion show,’ so I went location scouting in Paris on Google Maps,” he continued.
“I found the different palaces they have in Paris and I ended up on the Palais de Luxembourg and I chose [to base the map on] that because of the shape of the building you allow for ledges around it, so that would actually work really well for flexibility around the building on the outside.”
According to Christian Elverdam, chief creative officer and director of multiple Hitman titles, the central question is always “what is the most complex social event we could imagine at the time?”
The next question then is “how can 47 have a disguise that makes him part of it? You know, be on stage.” Then of course it’s “what’s the biggest chandelier you crash on someone?”
Jack of all trades
Elverdam also explained that great care was taken to fulfill different types of spy fantasy with each level.
“In Paris, Diana has been contacted by MI6 to secure an NOC list of agents and stop this auction of secrets. It’s basically what James Bond would do if he was in the universe,” he said.
“We were flirting with agent fantasy. We then wanted Sapienza to feel a little more like a Mission Impossible plot with this DNA-specific virus. I will say it’s funny that it was later plotted into No Time to Die […] but it was actually something we felt could be in a Mission Impossible movie. We wanted Marrakesh to have some of the newer vibes, like Jason Bourne.”
These ideas paired with the various locations the developers wanted to include as “a marriage,” he argued. “It’s pretty organic.”
Hitman: World of Assassinationa compilation of all three recent ones Hitman game, is available now for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One and PC, or as Hitman World of Assassination – Signature Edition for Nintendo Switch 2.
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