Agent 47 has been out of action since 2006, but it seems like the years have only sharpened his abilities. He can silently skulk around without being seen, but he can also hide in plain sight - borrowing a costume from someone nearby who's been quietly convinced that it's cool to be unconscious.
Stay away from those likely to notice you're a fake, and you can move around freely to close in for the kill. Fiber wire is usually the least messy, and lets you immediately drag the body off to hide it in a cupboard nearby. If everything goes as planned, no-one will have even noticed you were there. If things go south, you've always got options.
Everything in Absolution looks superb, but it never feels overdone like so many big-budget titles. As unlikely as it sounds of a project this heavily-produced Absolution feels like a game made by people. There's a faint quirkiness running right through its core, manifesting itself in repeated in-jokes like garden gnomes and rubber ducks. It never entirely breaks the fourth wall, but that doesn't stop it from winking at the camera.
Absolution's best locations have an amazing sense of place, but they never feel real - for all the right reasons. Each level is designed to revolve around you, ensuring that you never feel like a tourist. It's a world full of situations engineered to entertain, nudging at the darkest corners of your brain. Two office guards debate the sensibility of using live proximity mines in the lobby's glass cabinets. A useless IT support guy tells someone down the phone to "turn it off and on again" while standing too close to an open window. Homicide has never felt so cathartic.
Accidents happen
Despite the regular opportunities for chaos, you're never forced to play the game in a way you don't want to. Purists can work their way through without being seen - making every death look like an unfortunate accident - but there's no sense that this is the 'right' thing to do.
The game constantly offers up a wide range of options, most of which count towards completing a challenge. These usually revolve around killing your target with specific criteria, adding subtle clues to give you direction if you find yourself stuck. The best thing about unlocking challenges is that you don't lose progress when you restart the mission, encouraging you to go off the rails and have a bit of fun when things go pear-shaped. If the stealthy attempt doesn't go as planned, you might as well snag that C4 challenge.
Groundhog death
Each of these segments also resets your score to zero, leaving any prior mistakes behind. Stepping through a locked door and having your slate wiped clean doesn't feel very realistic, but we're willing to overlook that for the freedom it brings. Nippy loading times make it easy to restart whenever things go astray, but this dividing of levels into smaller chunks makes it far more enjoyable to embrace your mistakes. Getting caught in Blood Money was often frustrating, but this time it's just an excuse for a different kind of fun. Our solemn slaphead has always been ice-cool, but he's never felt this powerful before.
14 comments so far...
Clanger67 on 18 Nov '12 said:
Great stuff,good score.From what i knew thought it was gonna be pretty decent.Pity i can't afford it straight away because of FC 3.Will def. be getting it a some point though.
Metalratex on 18 Nov '12 said:
Certainly on my list.
S1XXGOD on 18 Nov '12 said:
I've held my copy in my hands but I'm not allowed it until Tuesday they won't sell it early
GHOSTY05 on 18 Nov '12 said:
My favourite game of all time this.
Mines been posted, hopefully arrive tomoro.
KernowDevil23 on 18 Nov '12 said:
How can this be your "favourite game of all time" if you haven't got it yet?........
Ooooohhhhh I see what you meant....
Bezza89 on 18 Nov '12 said:
Sounds good, though the aids do sound like the series pandering to all the babies. I will be turning all aids and checkpoints off as much as I can as I am a bit of a purist admittedly. Checkpoints that reset the levels? Give me strength. What happened to manual saves and dealing with consequences and then redoing the level again - old school gaming.
Looking forward to this more than a fat kid looks forward to not being a fat kid.
Richie LFC W on 18 Nov '12 said:
Been looking forward to this game for a long time and I'm really pleased that it wasn't a let down, Hitman is definately one of my favourite series.
What I'd like to know that isn't mentioned in the review is whether there are any iconic levels in the game that stand out and will be talked about and remembered in a few years time? Blood Money was full of them, from the opera house to the suburban mobster home, the Mississippi boat ride to Mardi Gras, pretty much all the levels were memorable for different reasons. Are there many of them in this game or they more forgetable?
BlackhawkTenan on 19 Nov '12 said:
I have to wait till christmas......not fair! Never played a Hitman game so hope it lives upto high expectations I have
GHOSTY05 on 19 Nov '12 said:
Been playing all day, game is fantastic.
Brilliant game on every level!!
adl95 on 21 Nov '12 said:
By sheer fluke i managed to get this today from lovefilm.com and i've got the day off tomorrow, GOODBYE WEDNESDAY!
OXM JamSponge on 21 Nov '12 said:
Sorry for the late reply on this!
There aren't as many iconic levels, in the same way, but there are plenty of iconic moments. Won't want to spoil any of them, but there's something you can do involving a cake that's genuinely brilliant.
Captain_Chao5 on 22 Nov '12 said:
Somehow I've missed the Hitman series. After speaking to a mate about how good Dishonored was - he suggested this might be up my street. Just watched the vids on the website and ordered without delay! The Wife will kill me as I'm banned from buying games before xmas...but as this wasnt on my list I'm pleading ignorance.
fracturedrich on 7 Dec '12 said:
This is mindblowing ,i hope contracts is nearly as good as the game the detail is the best ive seen,ive silent assassin nearly every level of every game since the first and this is the best one so far.
adityasaini on 14 Dec '12 said:
Yes I totally agree with the review it is a nice game and we all love and will be loving it.I wrote about it when it was in Action http://www.connectingbharat.com/2012/10/hitman-absolution-to-come-on-november-20.html