Crowds of people, bright lights piercing the darkness, techno bouncing against cavernous industrial concrete – oddly the game Hitman 3 is a refuge for people who miss clubbing.
Heh, even the early morning open-air birdsong is familiar.
Daniel D has made a loving tour of the place. It’s uncanny valley clubbing therapy for anyone experiencing withdrawal:
The designers of AAA gaming installment Hitman 3 have built a pretty convincing amalgamation of various Berlin nightclubs – with a lot of imaginative elements thrown in. In fact, if you were expecting something a bit overly slavish, it’s somehow more real than if it was too close to any original.
So there are some cues clearly borrowed from Berghain (and the concrete pillars of Kraftwerk – the main hall is more that space than Berghain), the open-air spaces of Sysiphos and Griessmühle, shades of about blank. There are the smokestacks of Vattenfall from behind Tresor. It’s clear that Kraftwerk and Sysiphos were the places they most modeled. Someone can go through and watch this a few times and identify item for item, though it’s a bit like going back to those spaces in a dream. They also did a terrific job – interestingly – of getting the lighting cues with the music.
Maybe they even did a better job of blending various Berlin nightclubs than … actual nightclubs that have tried to do the same in other cities. (Some bits also remind me of recent Amsterdam club makeovers.)
Well, the one element that is really off is the “greetings, sir” and “you’re looking good, sir” everyone barks as you wear around a stolen official club jacket, which is the least Berlin club staff behavior imaginable. Also – black armbands, eesh.
Oh and – it’s all a live set. Completely unrealistic, but I’m in love with this booth. Into like… an Avid Venue console or something. Let’s do this. I think if I exercise for the rest of lockdown I can fit into a white jumpsuit.
The techno is real, too – Niels Bye Nielsen composed the techno for the club, as he did the score for the game. And it sounds the business. Correction: I incorrectly stated the music was licensed. Guess it fit too well. I regret the error. Also, while Jesper Kyd has worked on past scores – new composer.
Hitman is from Copenhagen-based developer IO Interactive. So… see you on the dancefloor, I suspect. The new game is out on Switch, PC, PS4 + PS5, Stadia (ha), and Xbox One/X/S.