Hitman: Absolution's vivid world and enjoyable stealth-action gameplay overshadow its few notable inconsistencies.
An instinct meter governs when you can perform your stylish slo-mo point shots, and how much time you have to designate your targets. On medium difficulty, you gradually gain instinct as you play, though higher difficulties adjust the specifics--or eliminate the mechanic entirely. Instinct also allows you to scan your surroundings and pinpoint enemy locations, interactive objects, and points of interest. What with point shots, instinct, and tepid AI, Hitman: Absolution isn't as challenging as its predecessors on standard difficulty. If you're a series veteran, you should try the more challenging difficulty levels straight away, as they provide substantially more rewarding victories for hardened assassins.
47 can get even more personal with his victims, clobbering them in a quick-time button event that aims for some of the time-bending style of point shots. Melee combat with your strongest enemies can take long enough to play out that you'll want to be out of earshot of nearby guards, lest they start shooting while you're otherwise engaged. The button prompts during these events are occasional problems, because prompts are located on the victim's body rather than on the center of the screen. Integrating the button icons into the action this way was a smart idea, but prompts can sometimes be out of camera view, or hidden by an interface element. Fortunately, such scuffles are easily won, so this issue is only a minor nuisance.
What a vivid world it is that these characters are constantly soiling. A visit to a druggies' haven bursts with psychedelic colors; beaded doors flutter as you walk through them, and a bathroom's deep blue lights and sparkled walls usher you into the New Age. Here, you slink through a crop of shoulder-high marijuana plants during a police raid. In another instance, you step through huge throngs of fight fans as you seek a way to annihilate the hulking combatant in the ring. But even the more pedestrian environments--mine shafts, a train platform, a vehicle repair shop--are strikingly detailed. Lighting of different hues shines across surfaces and on people's faces, which creates a rich and heightened reality.
The shallow cell phone conversations and offhand comments you overhear are believable, making it easy to lose yourself in the world. But Hitman: Absolution's excellent sound design digs even deeper than those eavesdropped details. The voice cast has not a sour note in the bunch; every obscenity is hurled with enough contemptuous force to match the vibrant sleaziness of the visuals. Great voice acting is backed by great sound effects, highlighted by the various whooshes and hums that communicate your enemies' state of awareness. The whirs and whines of point shooting are also noteworthy, amplifying the tension of the depleting instinct meter.
These environments are host to Hitman: Absolution's best missions, which give you the greatest leeway to proceed as you wish. But they also house some of the game's head-scratching design choices, which abandon the element of choice and force you into a single solution. Several key assassinations remove your freedom and arbitrarily usher you into slow-motion point shooting. These are short and disappointing moments, requiring no skill and providing no tension--and thus diminishing any sense of payoff. A few other levels have you escaping from a burning building and avoiding helicopter fire. These scenes have the cinematic style of so many modern big-budget games, but they shine the spotlight on the game's ledge-walking and cover-to-cover tumbling, which function fine but don't have the fluidity of similar mechanics in games such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction.
You could get through Hitman: Absolution's campaign in ten hours, more or less, depending on how you play, and various challenges, unlocks, and assassination methods invite return visits. But there's another way to play these missions: through player-created contracts. In this mode, you can compete with other players for high scores by seeing who can finish missions most efficiently and stylishly. To create a contract, you simply play a mission, designating up to three targets and then assassinating them in whichever way you wish, and in whichever disguise you prefer. Once the contract is created, other players can show off their skills--which in turn might inspire you to create more difficult, more intricate contracts. Creating a contract is simple, and it's a neat way to make old missions feel fresh.
Even if you have no interest in contracts, however, Hitman: Absolution's campaign is fulfilling on its own. There are some stumbles here and there--in the AI, in the mission design, and elsewhere. The story, too, hobbles a bit at the end, leaving some narrative gaps that needed filling in. But one thing's for sure: it's good to have Agent 47 back, and he was clearly needed. The greasy world he inhabits was in sore need of cleansing, and it's a pleasure to have so many ways of scraping the human grime off its surface and discarding it like the trash it is.
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
I literally just beat the game. Overall I thought it was a decent stealth/action game but certainly not the best Hitman game IMO. I thought some of the assassinations sequences were pretty nifty, but otherwise it felt pretty linear. Unlike what others said below I thought the graphics were excellent and it was pretty cool hiding in massive crowds. I would've given this game at least an 8.
here is the problem with van Ord reviews: he speaks well and eloquently, but it never matches the final score he gives. He seemed very positive in his review, and then gives it a 7.5, whereas I just watched his Metro Last Light review where he summarizes and glosses over many of the positives, and gives it a 9.0
I purchased this game earlier this week on steam for cheap, and being a long time fan of the series, i have been thoroughly enjoying it. Yes, it feels a lot like Max Payne 3 if you want to go guns blazing. Yes, it probably isn't worth a retail price of $60, but few games are. If you enjoy Americana style, or actually rewarding stealth, then get this game.
1 Like Hitman : Absolushit. The best Hitman was the second game for me, this one is just like door-to-door and Max Payne 3 rip off to me. AI is complete bullshit. I still don't get how they realize i'm an enemy even in complete disguised suit (for example gas masked soldier). Graphics are ok, sound effects are ok. Gameplay is avarage, didn't like the cover system and there's no blind fire. When you try to do blind fire, your body is complete visible, not just your arms or hands. Facial expressions are crap. When you're in cover and they shot, agent 47 has a poker face. Even Spec Ops : The Line has better facial expressions and reactions during combat scenes. If you have 23.4 gb. for an unnecessary Hitman disaster (compared to previous hitman games), you can install the game.
Just picked this up today, my first Hitman since Silent Assassin, it'll be interesting to see what I think of it without having any expectations based on prior games.
3 Like I give this game a solid 6 and thats being generous, it should have been called "Doorman" cause that's all you end up doing in the game, trying to get from door "a" to door "b", very disapointing. Very linear and not being able to save progress during long winded sequences makes the game frustrating and annoying. Blood Money is still the best Hitman. This game is a steaming pile of....
2 Like So many saying this game "is not Hitman" and it's "linear." That is completely not true! There are SOME linear parts, yes... but they're very short and just serve to help tie the story together. On almost all of the levels, you can handle the situations in many, many, many different ways. It's all up to you.
Yes being docked points for killing somebody who was in your way is a bit stupid, but why would you really care? Nobody plays Hitman to see a high points number. This isn't Super Mario Bros. Just ignore the points and play it how you see fit. It doesn't matter. Just enjoy the action.
IMO, this is probably the best Hitman ever. It has a few cons compared to the older ones that can be nitpicked, but SO MANY pros that make that irrelevant! Best game of 2012 without a doubt if you ask me.
I've already played through the damn thing at least 5 times in varying difficulty settings. I'm trying to get through it on purist right now. I'm getting there, but damn it's tough. Just finished the Skurky's Law level on purist.
I have so much fun replaying the levels over and over again, exploring the environments more to see what new ways I can find to beat the missions.
Finished yesterday and wow luved it.i got blood money off steam aswell gunna give that a try.whats the snipper download like3.99 on ebay ?
2 Like Great game! Excellent flow of the plot. The challenges were mind-blowing. Needs to improve the sequence of the game though. The graphics requires more stability and refining. The gameplay keeps you thinking, and it serves well for gamers as it keeps things interesting.
Great work: 8.5/10
1 Like I liked all the Hitman games, but I HATED that I felt punished so often for doing something fun or for what I consider covert behaviour. Im a stealth person so I go with a sneaky intuition, Im not being anti-hitman. But If someone sees me and I kill them straight away, nothing bad should happen. Running gets you caught almost instantly, killing people (who would gladly kill you) gets a worse rating at the end. And also going a million ways around a mission to get nowhere without getting random alerts that shouldnt exist before you find the ONE way that works perfectly. If this one isnt so punishing I think I might prefer it.
@Goddammitj It's true. that would be my only complaint with this game. The fact that it punishes you for killing people that you need to by pass is highly annoying.
To all those who thought this game was a step down in every aspect, it's not. Only two were the real culprits. Well, personally for me, the level design and game direction were responsible. At first glance you'll immediately see the change of scale from big, sprawling, working environments found in previous hitman games into a noticeably smaller, linear one. It definitely turns down any fan of the franchise though playing it the original way - silent assassin-esc brings out that same old fragile, nostalgic fun. What could have been still a great game though was hampered again by the huge change of direction it took game-wise. It was actually overdone by the story itself. Now this made me - a series fan since silent assassin overly reactive. Hitman games should remain for what it was intended to be at the time it was critically recieved. An unpredictable sandbox of complex occurrences. As the story took the game by its neck, the old careful foreseeing before each level, finalizing your inventory then studying the map, was completely disregarded. Environments should both be seamless and intricate both horizontally and vertically. I used to loathe those times it take me hours watching my map studying guard patrols and preparing my getaway route. What we have now is a compressed output of what the previous games. Now I am not saying Absolution is bad, in fact I loved it. What those two aspects ruined was absolutely filled by the others. Controls mostly remained the same though somewhat simplified, yet managed to result in better action executions. The sound is excellent. From the ambient effects to the soundtracks, no note wasted. Overall, Absolution is great. ON ITS OWN that is. Not a major fault could be found in this game and in fact is very polished compared to its previous titles. Though once you corroborate this one to the oldies it certainly gets to the bottom of the list. Blood Money was by far the best for me, followed by Silent Assassin then Contracts.
This Hitman lives up to the standards I set for sequels when playing the original 12 years ago. Read my full review at: http://gameanight.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/hitman-absolution-pc/
2 Like my Ranking of Hitman games
1. Hitman 2 : silent assassin ( 2002) the best one :D
2. Hitman blood money (2006)
3. Hitman : Codename 47 ( 2000)
4. Hitman Contracts ( 2004)
5. Hitman Absolution ( 2012 ) the worst one
@kingcrimson24 Hitman 2. It had segmented levels, stupid story, very very linear kills and not to forget AI that behaved randomly. BTW Hitman Absolution is the closest to Hitman Silenta Assassin. You need to replay hitman 2 again to refresh your memory.
2 Like before i played the game , i came here and i said bad things to rewier , i'm sorry man .now that i played the game i know what you mean .
i'm totally agree with 7.5 , i was a hitman fan since silent assassin , and i think absolution is the worst hitman game . story mode totally sucks and mission design is small and linear and checkpoint system sucks . contracts mode is pretty good but if you don't have a suitable internet you can't enjoy it ( like me ). so , its more enjoyable for me to play the old blood money again .
absolution was the worst hitman for me , actually it wasn't a hitman game at all and ruined the series . old hitman games were simply '' amazing ''. absolution is just '' good '' .thats it .
1 Like @kingcrimson24 But you agree with 7.5,which is actually a good,above average score! If it ruined the series,as you say,wouldn't you give it a 5 or under? Hmmm?
Why is this review not found on the other platform review pages? PC or PS3 don't list this video under review. Only shows "There are no reviews for the PC/PS3 platform. Please check back later!" while there is a review for the game.
hitman absolution is very good,enjoy playing the contracts looking forward to february
dead space 3
I really like this game. People are complaining to much about a couple of liner moments in the game, which honestly are not that often and when you get back to the open ended parts you completely forget. Overall this game is great. I love the Hitman games alot,, and while this is not my favorite one, i still think this is just as good as any of the previous games. 7.5 is good, but really, 8.0 seems a little more appropriate considering the review. .5 might not be that big of a difference but that .5 tells me that this game is worth getting being a fan. Regardless I'm extremely happy with this game. Lets hope they take the criticisms from this game and they make these games even better from here on out.
1 Like It deserves a 7.0. A linear Hitman game is just complete garbage. It's a good action game for anyone who wants such thing ( i don't, when i buy a Hitman game).
I never thought i would see the inparcial, indifferent, emotionless, "i don't give a single fuck" 47 clone so actionized, mad and acting like Clint Eastwood in my life.
@TheKrustaceox Agent 47 is rarely mad in this game. In fact, it's hard for me to recall a part where he is genuinely showing any emotion. Only really when he is shooting Diana, which even for 47 is understandable. The rest of the game he is only doing what Diana told him to do, and that's all he cares about.. protecting Victoria. When he shows anger, like to say Wade while he stands over him about to kill him it feels to me like its more about intimidating to get the info he needs to complete his mission than about really being angry.
There are a couple SMALL lienar bits too, yes but they only exist to advance the story, and those parts are very very short. The rest of the time, you are placed in the level, you have a goal, and you can go about achieving that goal in any way you would like to... and there are so many ways. More ways and freedom to do the tasks than in any other Hitman game before.
You're being too harsh, but that's easy to do when you've been a fan of the previous Hitman games already I guess. Just chill out a bit snd enjoy it. It's an amazing game even with it's few minor faults. Gamespot's rating of 7.5 is way too low. 8.0 or 8.5 for sure, if not higher. IMO, it's a 9.0 and the best game of 2012 pretty easily.
4 Like I've noticed that GameSpot has been rating games very low lately juxtaposed with IGN (for example). I think this game is freakin' awesome. I've played the first few levels just to see how many different way I can kill people. Tainted cocaine, electrocutions, death by fireworks, exploding stoves...
I'm just not thrilled that EVERY Chicago police officer (and other NPC factions members) "knows" the face of every NPC in their faction. That seems like a feature that should only be used by NPCs on the professional difficulties. Even on those difficulty levels, Instinct burns almost too quick to not be noticed. Then a shootout ensues and I'm left with -189,000 points! It says "play your way" and yet your score is penalized for not using stealthy actions (granted stealth is the main focus of Hitman, it just feels wrong to give me a negative score for killing douchbags in the game!)
@ppettie U don't get negative points for shooting non civvies if u hide their bodies buddy. A hitman's only a human & can take on only so many. The fact is that his shining bald head is too obvious to dazzle the guards with his disguises, and none of the cop-guard NPCs are bald XD I play at pro difficulty & instinct meter gives JUST enough time to fool 'em for 5 secs.
The game is frickin' awesome & gives great freedom to kill targets in multiple ways, the silent assassin bonus being such a big encouragement to do the contract PERFECTLY. I'd give this game a 8.5 anyday, with its absolutely b'ful visuals, excellent sound & a great stylized story.
5 Like Regardless of the Reviews. If you enjoyed it in the end, then you got your moneys worth. I love how people are influenced by these so called "Reviews"...think for yourselves for a chage people.
1 Like @shatner78 Why are you a member of gamespot then? It's basically one massive review of every game, no?
Check out my awesome Hitman Assassination lol! Lenny never saw it coming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKEo9_omufE
3 Like As long as u put console version and PC version in same basket, descent games like this one gonna have bad score. Of course it is absolutely reviewers mistake because they are generalizing the overall score including the console versions. Also developers have a big part in it, because they are intentionally making the PC versions dumber, just to be as much as they can similar to the console versions.
We all know that PC versions are much much better, just because PC is more powerful reliable and gives much more choices and what is most important, it is meant for real gamer public.
I wish Kevin would give this game the "Extreme Baditude" and "Gratuitous Swearing" emblems, because there isn't 1 scene in the entire game where a character doesn't drop the f word, including the nuns!
@TheEveryMan I think that was a deliberate choice on the writer's part. I don't mind excessive swearing, it's all about how well it's executed.
6 Like lmao played this game without even read any review. then i come expecting a 9.0+ and ... 7.5? ROFL. its ridicoulous. to each their own i guess, this was the most original experience i had in years along with dishonored.
@honestbenjamin your right about the disguises but i gotta say this is probably my favorite hitman game and overall my best xbox game at the moment lol
