
Worse are the scripted moments, including shootouts and slow-mo gunfights. The design lacks the imagination shown in the earlier stages, and feels out of place in a Hitman game. They’ll outright ignore you subduing a nearby guard, or when you throw a book right past their head. Rooms become one-dimensional, and while there’s still plenty of visual splendour and immersive moments, it’s killed by idiotic A.I. IO attempts to broaden Absolution’s appeal, and suddenly the initially impressive design is replaced by rather linear pathways. Needless to say, between its great stealth gameplay, excellent freedom and immersive environment, Chinatown will leave a huge grin on your face.īut as with the story, things start to deteriorate from there. It’s a stunning showcase of the technical power, as the frame rate and detail never lets up. And there is no sacrifice on detail, as hundreds of NPCs carry out shopping, gossiping and more. And, of course, you can just go guns blazing and massacre everything in sight. Taking place in a spacious, yet positively bustling Chinatown, there are a dozen ways to take out the target, including pushing him down a manhole, disguising 47 as the target’s dealer or poisoning his coffee. While the tutorial is a nice refresh on the basic elements of Hitman, as you learn about disguises, hiding bodies and more, the second level is dazzling, both technically and from a design standpoint. That being said, Absolution starts really strong. The dialogue is corny, and the acting is worse. One level has you avoiding nun assassins, for example, and it never quite gels into a cohesive story. Absolution suffers from an inconsistent tone, as dark and graphic moments contrast hugely with over the top, ridiculous scenarios. He is forced to execute Diana after a brief tutorial teaching the basics, but he too goes on the run in an attempt to protect a girl called Victoria, who has more to her background than meets the eye. Continuing the narrative on from Blood Money, Agent 47 is forced to kill his long-time handler Diana after she goes rogue from The Agency.

The story, for starters, plays a much larger role in Absolution. And while IO deserve credit for attempting to change it up, it’s clear that some things are best left alone. While it contains many elements of old, there are a surprising number of changes to the time-tested gameplay.
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But with the collapse of Eidos, the series remained in lull for six long years before resurfacing, under the guide of Square Enix, as Absolution. After being a PC-exclusive, it became one of the sixth gen’s stealth highlights, and seemed destined for greatness on the seventh with the excellent Blood Money. The Hitman series has enjoyed a good deal of success since its modest, flawed beginnings in 2000.
