May I ask if you read it? Because it pretty clearly states that you can restart so long as you haven’t either died or completed an objective (killed the target). When you start an elusive target a pop up comes up that tells you the rules for elusive targets and asking if you want to begin or not.

But as someone who really loved this game, I just needed to vent about how it completely ruined itself to me. I'm not subscribed to this sub and I'm certain the sentiment will be to 'get over it' or similar.

I've played through both the Hitman and Hitman 2 campaigns before trying the mission and I don't even want to play the Patient Zero content or any of the other Elusive Targets simply because of the disgusting taste the Elusive Target just left behind. Over the last several days, I've been singing the praises of this game to everyone who'd sit still long enough and now I don't even want to think about the game. I cannot express how much this single mission just ruined this game for me. But completely block the content when the player could have missed any number of options or scenarios? I simply cannot fathom how that decision gets made. How does a developer even justify the decision to do that? Add special rewards only for those who can complete it first try, sure. And the most important part no way to retry the mission. No breadcrumbs inside the mission except for a single NPC who I didn't even have enough time to interact with before I found an appropriate disguise. But what I felt was the rug being pulled out from under me.

I see the appeal of not being able to save-scum a mission and having to be 'perfect' in one go. Sure, the game warned me not to fail, but actually playing through the mission is a completely different approach than the entirety of the rest of the game. That is, until I tried the Elusive Target (the Sean Bean one). The mission stories are a perfect way to give options for completing objectives, and the delicate balance of silly and serious is handled excellently. For backstory, I've been a fan of Hitman since Blood Money, but haven't played Hitman (2016) or Hitman 2 (2018) until the past week.

Hitman 2 elusive target