If I thought the heat was too much in Sapienza then I’ve really stuck myself in it now. At least in Italy there was some moisture in the air. Here in Marrakesh I feel it sear me like I’ve become some kind of walking tenderloin steak. I know I told the ICA I was in my prime but this is ridiculous! Doesn’t help that the streets are packed with the people. The target had caused quite a stir stealing all that public money. The contract had come from some building firm worried about a potential coup by the military, explains why they slapped in Zaydan in the end, I charge extra for Generals though and I intend for them to know it. As much as I hate the people I must admit, getting around this dust bowl would be a lot harder without them…
So here we are guys, the half way mark, the hump day of the series, the mid way point to glory! After my adventures in Sapienza which you can read here if you haven’t already 😊 I started to get more and more into this series. The episodic nature really put me off at first and to a degree I still don’t like it for this series but its more workable than I previously thought. This new episode must be my favourite to date though for its kills. Oh, sweet baby Jesus I did enjoy the assassinations in this very much which is the cornerstone of a great hitman experience. No point going through the motions if you can’t even enjoy the prize at the end of it all!
As this is the mid-way point and some people may have not read the previous pieces or tried the action for themselves so I’ll quickly recap where we are at here. We are the magnificent and world-famous assassin known only as agent 47, we have recently joined the international contract association known as the ICA. Previous adventures include the killing of a world-famous fashion house leader and his wife spy ring master of IAGO in Paris. We then proceeded to Italy, to the home Silvio Caruso the genius scientist and renowned geneticist Francesco de Santis! For which we gave Silvio a most explosive improvement to his swing and Francesco got a little more lab help than she really needed. Both jobs orchestrated by a mystery man behind the scenes and totally unbeknownst to 47 that he’s being led on. And now? Now we have ventured across the Mediterranean Sea to Morocco and the city of Marrakesh! It seems that the locals are involved in a full-blown outcry regarding the target Claus Strondberg. Seems he’s been a bit of a naughty boy and misappropriated 7 billion dollars in public money. Marrakesh actually has two targets though which are explained as always in the intro brief for missions and the other is the local army general who seems to be pulling the back-stage strings of this whole mess. Diana explains that the general is trying to overthrow the govt and is using the situation with Strondberg to depose the ‘weak and unreliable’ govt from power where he of course steps in. Unfortunately for general Zaydan there are outside parties who would rather he didn’t rise to power. The client for this mission is an outside building firm who foresee it getting too pricey to operate in the region should the general get to play dictator (I spent the whole mission pretending this guy was Sacha Baron Cohen in the Dictator and it adds a whole other level to things 😊) and have decide that the upstart must be dealt with in the only way the ICA knows how to, assassination.
Yet again like Sapienza this episode has more to offer in the gameplay department than prior instalments. To start with the map is slightly bigger but unlike previous maps it doesn’t have a huge deal of verticality in its various buildings and areas. It has a larger play area than last time and much more in it in terms of people. Because of the rioting and protesting 47 can enjoy relative comfort moving in between the crowds of people, which is great because to go with the increase in civilians you also have a vast increase in threats to you. Unsurprisingly because there is riots and the army is trying to take control soldiers will be EVERYWHERE in Marrakesh and they are armed accordingly with assault weapons and rarely travel solo so you will need to watch out for those guys! The two targets in this unlike Sapienza where it paid off to take out Silvio first you can really go for either this time around and it won’t really affect how the mission goes difficulty wise. For ease and to save what I thought (and was correct in thinking) the best for last in the form of the general although this does not mean that Hugo is not an enjoyable kill. To kill Hugo I used an opportunity to sneak into the embassy as a freelance cameraman. No this is a little bit annoying at the start as there is a camera hidden on the left had side of the embassy lobby so when you enter the building go to the right-hand side of the reception area and when you leave use the same side or you’ll get bogged down looking for the security room to wipe footage and it’s just tedious really. The BEST way I found to kill this target was using the giant Moose above his head during the interview (wild animals are dangerous for your health Hugo didn’t you know ;D ?) so once you’re in the interview you can go upstairs to fix a spotlight and once the interview starts you can have the dear target crushed by the Moose. Now it will go into searching for a whole of three seconds while you do this but so long as you avoid the guards with white dots who are few in number you can basically walk out of the building and you’re done here.
The general on the other hand. Getting to him is not as simple. There are several ways to do it that include sneaking, killing, and disguising your way in. I found the easiest way was to disguise yourself as a member of the printing crew in town and that will get you right into the school that Zaydan is using as his field headquarters. Once inside the headquarters though the real fun begins. I manual saved here because after about 20 seconds I had spotted some half a dozen inventive ways to kill the man and endeared myself to try them all. Firstly, I went for the kill using the opportunity that had gotten me there, the printing crew. Now I must admit this is the best one to date and in this mission. After subduing the only printer crew man in the room and turning off the press the good general will come to investigate why his hard spent money isn’t being put to good work… only it will be his last order as when he goes to inspect the machine you are going to throw his ass right in there. Its like that scene from who killed roger rabbit. Other kills for the good general include using the second floor to crush him, accidents with a truck and even dropping a toilet on the man while he inspects his troops. Not quite throne he was after but it’s a good prize for trying Zaydan. Points for effort
The end scene for this mission was the best yet for me though, gave me soooo many questions but also drove me to play the next episode even more. I need those answers. Whose names did they steal? Was it the mystery man that did this or somebody else? Where was the mystery man this time around?
I really enjoyed this episode but less for the setting and more for the actual assassinations, throwing Zaydan into a printing press was so not what I expected to be doing and its ridiculously rewarding to see it happen after all the setup that went into getting to that point. The heavier focus on disguises and removing guards and hell even avoiding cameras in this (that Embassy camera is a real pain the first time you run this mission) the insane amount of ways that you can kill Zaydan is cool but the ways to kill Strondberg just feel a bit lacklustre as a result. The sniper kill feels unrewarding. The environment is gorgeous but that’s turning out to be a standard for the episodes. Little more of a replayable feel to this mission than the last two though. Who are Providence? What are they up to? Why is the mystery man hunting them?! So many questions that need answering! Overall, it’s my favourite to date but seeing as any of the next three could also be that case you’ll need to take this with a pinch of salt. Stay tuned for more from 47 though as I brace the streets of Bangkok in episode 4! As always let me know how you feel about this one? What did you like or loathe about Marrakesh!
The Ginger Englishman 
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