Hitman: Absolution

[SirRobin]

No megathread for this game yet? Really? Thought for sure I saw one the other day. Search isn't turning up any megathreads... Well I might as well make an intro page then.

WEBSITE
http://hitman.com/
YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/hitman
STEAM
http://store.steampowered.com/app/203140/
Pre-purchasing includes Codename 47, Silent Assassin, and Blood Money.

INTRODUCTIONS













PLAYTHROUGHS





Hitman: Absolution -- Highlights from the First 5 Chapters

For as much as we’ve seen of IO Interactive and Square Enix’s long awaited Hitman: Absolution over the past year or so, it always seems to surprise us whenever we get a new look at it. We’ve played through the first five chapters of the game (included as part of the final pre-release preview code) at least 3,459 times, and delightfully unexpected stuff just keeps cropping up. So to get you primed for the game’s launch in a couple weeks, we thought we’d give you a little taste of some of the highlights--some humorous, some horrendously violent, some just because they pleased our senses--from our time with Hitman: Absolution's opening levels.

Chapter 1 -- Chicago

The first level in the game is your standard tutorial setup. No real challenges to overcome, just a series of encounters designed to familiarize yourself with Agent 47’s sneaky-death-dealing-in-disguise ways that culminates with you taking out your former employer, Diana Burnwood. The level takes place in a sprawling compound inhabited by security guards, yard workers, and even personal chefs. The highlight for us though came during the ledge-walking training sequence where you have to sneak to and enter through a window that looks out onto a cliff.

But before you can climb through, you are treated to an inspiring phone conversation between a guard and his doctor who informs him that he doesn’t have prostate cancer. In his elated state, he blurts out, “Whew! No one can piss on this day!” which is unfortunate because this also happens to be the scenario that teaches you how to pull people out of windows. We were super happy for the guy for about half a second, and then we remembered why we were on that ledge in the first place and did what had to be done.

Chapter 2 -- King of Chinatown

We have seen this level a number of times before now, but there are still tons of details to seek out and enjoy. Your primary task is to take out the titular “King” as he makes his way around the crowded streets of Chinatown. There are dozens of ways to go about doing this, but my favorite couldn’t have been simpler, but it was the abruptness of it that made it so memorable.

After taking out a fry cook and swapping outfits, I took my place behind the grill facing out towards the counter where the King stopped by to grab a bite to eat. Following a brief exchange about how it would really help our relationship if the vendor paid his bills on time, I ducked down behind the grill as if to tie my shoelaces, pulled out my silenced pistol, popped up, and buried a slug right between the King’s eyes. In the ensuing panic, I managed to slip into the screaming crowd just as security guards arrived to investigate. I ended up finding a perfect hiding spot between a pillar and a stack of crates and waited until the heat died down before slipping out and finding the exit to finish the level. Sometimes the simplest things are the most enjoyable.

Chapter 3 -- Terminus

In this level, you have to make your maneuver through the lobby of a baddie-filled hotel to reach an elevator so you can access the upper floors and meet the game’s primary villain for the first time. For as many great moments as there are in this level, the opening sequence is my favorite. When the scene opens, 47 is standing in the scummiest, grimiest alleyway you can imagine as rain pours down around him. At the far end of the alley, red neon letters spell out “Terminus” on a building (aka your destination). Not only does the scene showcase the game’s stellar lighting design, but when combined with the rain effects--especially the way the neon and other light sources look glimmering in rippling puddles along the street--it’s as if you are actually standing in that dank, damp alley yourself being verbally assaulted by an equally damp and dank homeless man. So much of Absolution’s design is about mood, and this scene is literally dripping with it.

Chapter 4 -- Run for Your Life

At the end of Terminus, the hotel erupts into a towering inferno, and this is where you start the next chapter. There are some great cinematic moments during this level, but the standout for me comes at the very end of the level as you find yourself having to weave your way through a super crowded train platform, avoiding the scores of police officers searching the area for you. What makes it especially intense is that all the cops use flashlights to scan the crowd, so not only do you have to make sure to avoid getting too close to them, but you have to dodge their lights as well. It gets even more heart-pounding at the end when you have to wait for the train to arrive so you can board it and escape. If you ever wanted to know how long 45 seconds really is, this is the sequence for you.

Chapter 5 -- Hunter and Hunted

The final previewable level takes place in an especially colorful strip club filled to the pasty-drawers with patrons and scantily clad ladies. Aside from the obvious eye-catching elements, there are so many phenomenal little details to pick out this scene. From the bartender calling out to customers to take their drink orders to the fact that you can drop a disco ball on an unsuspecting person’s head, lots to enjoy. But my favorite was the first option you have for taking out the designated target. After subduing a guard, I used his keycard to access a backroom that just happened to be adjacent to one of the private dance rooms in the back of the club.

The key feature of this particular room is the two-way mirror that connects the two rooms. Once in place, it’s just a matter of waiting for the target and his essentially topless companion to enter the room and take their positions. Assuming you want to avoid simply blowing away both of them, you have to time your shot around the stripper’s gyrations. For as many times as I’ve seen strip clubs in games, this is the first time I’ve killed a dude through a two-way mirror during a strip tease. I don’t know what took so long, but boy was it worth the wait.


As you can tell, Hitman: Absolution is overflowing with little moments and details that will have players comparing notes and sharing stories for months to come. The ones highlighted above don’t even really scratch the surface of what Absolution has to offer. And you better believe we look forward to uncovering all of the game’s hidden gems when it lands on store shelves November 20.

TOP 5 ACCIDENTAL KILLS IN HITMAN: ABSOLUTION

---------- Post added 2012-11-06 at 09:02 AM ----------

I've been torn between Assassin's Creed III and Hitman Absolution for a bit now. I like both series and with both hitting the PC on the 20th? Don't like to buy more than one game per month so I've been pondering this one. I've heard HA has been dumbed down and is pretty much just a console port now but I've heard the same thing about AC3. Still seems to be more stealth in HA though so I'll probably pick it up and wait for AC3. Thoughts?

[Deleted]

Looks quite good imo. Like a mix of Splinter Cell with something else. Hmm,will probably wait for reviews though.

[Deleted]

Pre-ordered and looking forward to it, not expecting it to be mind blowing or game of the year but I'm going to be playing hitman before AC3 (at least for the first day anyway) and pretty sure it's going to be fairly good. I had fun with the sniper-mini-game thing you get when you pre-order too.

There've been a few tough choices this year when good games release on the same date.

[Deleted]

Been a major fan of the earliere Hitman games. pre ordered the day it went on Steam.

[Pr0ev0lution]

Been a major fan of the earliere Hitman games. pre ordered the day it went on Steam.

ditto can't wait for it and i do love the sniper challenge, though kind of shocked with what 2 weeks until release steam hasn't given us the old games for free though with preorders like they did for portal and max payne :P

[Wynnyelle]

This game is gonna be awesome. Looking forward to it after the disappointment that was AC3.

[WarpedAcorn]

I've enjoyed all the other Hitman games, primarily for their replay value. I would missions for days, just redoing them to see different ways of entries and methods to kill. Its the type of "murder sandbox" that I enjoy because the levels aren't too large, but they are big enough and interactive enough that there is no one perfect way to complete them.

Unfortunately there is WAY too much out right now, and unfortunately Hitman is going to be on the backburner probably until next year.

[Ave07]

Looks great, ill probably pick it up when it goes on sale since money is tight for me right now.

[WarpedAcorn]

Looks great, ill probably pick it up when it goes on sale since money is tight for me right now.

Should've saved up some extra blood money. ~_^

[PizzaSHARK]

I'm still not sure where they're going with the plot on this one. Why is 47 after Diana? Did he never figure out that her betrayal was feigned? Why is he protecting someone? He's a hitman, not a fucking bodyguard.

Oh well. If the gameplay is as varied and interesting as Blood Money, it'll be worth picking up.

[Deleted]

I feel this video should be included:

[Deleted]

I feel this video should be included:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfYRfpaBwnc

That was, epic.

[WarpedAcorn]

Its like instead of Being John Malkovich, its Being Agent 47! 0.o

[SirRobin]

I'm still not sure where they're going with the plot on this one. Why is 47 after Diana? Did he never figure out that her betrayal was feigned? Why is he protecting someone? He's a hitman, not a fucking bodyguard.

Oh well. If the gameplay is as varied and interesting as Blood Money, it'll be worth picking up.

This might explain some of it.



So apparently Diana did something she shouldn't have and the agency contracted 47 to take her out. Not sure how the girl comes into it but its probably a safe bet that it has something to do with that "initiative." I would further guess that it has something to do with cloning since 47 chooses to get involved.

By the by... Here are the rest of the ICA files.

[Wilian]

Supposedly someone got their hands on the PC Gamer UK magazine with Hitman stuff and the impressions in that light would be just exactly what did I expect from this game to be.

PC Gamer UK give it 62% and call it a mess. "A passable stealth game but one that betrays almost everything that until now has made Hitman great".

It also has DRM that won't let you play the Contracts mode offline.

Pros
- Nice looking locations
- Contracts mode is good, although not an adequate replacement of a proper Hitman game
- "One very good mission" near the end, but still not as good or as free as Blood Money

Cons
- No saving, checkpoint system is awful - even an AI glitch can lead to you having to restart the level, also doesn't save data such as disguises or items you've left, and guards killed will respawn
- Focus on (embarrassingly bad) story over gameplay
- PC performance was awful, they tried out on 3 different PCs - two can run Skyrim smoothly yet get 15fps in Hitman on minimal settings, with occasional freezes of over a second, and load times of over a minute
- A lot of gameplay involves you getting to a door to trigger a cutscene
- The amount of kills you have control over how they're executed is about 25%, even then it's not as expansive as Blood Money
- Equipment system - can't choose weapons in main missions, or carry weapons over between missions
- Guard AI is strange, they will sometimes detect you walking where commando rolling wouldn't get you detected
- "Sneak by covering your face" idea is laughable
- DRM on Contracts mode - can't play any contracts, even your own, offline

Disaster is a strong word, which is good because we need one. Absolution is a disaster. It's almost the polar opposite of Blood Money: instead of sidelining the story to focus on big, open-ended assassination missions, it sidelines assassination to focus on telling a long, linear and embarrassingly bad story. In game terms, that means most of its levels task you with reaching and opening a particular door.

In this light, I can only feel smug after telling how much it will suck based on the information that the company itself had passed on the "streamlined" and more "AWESOME" approach while the naysayers were all about "Haters gonna hate, it will be the most epic game ever in the serie" "You can still play it like original hitmans!" and other assorted bullshit.

[PizzaSHARK]

Not at all surprised, honestly. Not even a bit. I'm a firm believer in that the more hype a game has, the worse it will be. I mean, they even had commercials for Absolution during fucking previews at the movie theater!

Focusing on the plot was probably the stupidest thing I've heard of since it's always been an excuse plot. It's almost like a Resident Evil game trying to play up the plot instead of the gameplay.

[SirRobin]

In this light, I can only feel smug after telling how much it will suck based on the information that the company itself had passed on the "streamlined" and more "AWESOME" approach while the naysayers were all about "Haters gonna hate, it will be the most epic game ever in the serie" "You can still play it like original hitmans!" and other assorted bullshit.

Ouch... Well we'll find out soon enough.

[SirRobin]

While Hitman might end up completely sucking...

Here is the last "introduction" vid and another "ica file" vid.

[SirRobin]

Not sure what the uk mag was on about. Having a blast so far.

[Deleted]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...an-absolution/


sums up some of my criticisms so far, its a fairly decent stealth game, not really a hitman game, where are the free levels, i spent 20 minute on the sandbox style China town mission only next to be pushed through a linear escap a couple of hours ago.

I appeeciate that they are trying to integrate story more, but i couldn't even remember the story to Blood Money yet i played the hell out of it.

There were no levels like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY5Kzn4JX7g

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpowi8mKkc

Still i have more to play so im hoping it changes up a little, its all very slick and steathy, but its just moved away from being a assassination sandbox game to being a bit of a linear steath game imo.