Yes, this title has been released last November, and as you might have well guessed, it has been since then sitting on top of my pile of shame waiting to get the opportunity to be played. As I await that time of year when the big titles hit the shelves, I have a lot of time to spare for these games which have been forgotten in time just like the bits of nachos hidden in my beard. What can I say, it has been a long time since I played with Agent 47 and went on a stealthy murder spree, and since the original PS2 trilogy was exceptionally great fun, you’d expect that with today’s tools the game would be even more awesome-tastic. But with such a great gaming generation power come greater expectations, and so it takes that much more from developers to really blow gamers away.
Audio and Video: First off, the game really looks good, the textures on both the character and the environments are pristine and the lighting effects are great. I have to admit that the only thing I didn’t like visually were some characters’ facial features. Whilst some look really good, others look extremely bad and creepy looking. I also notice that the facial features of Agent 47 could have used better work, because there is something about his face that doesn’t look right. This is just nit-picking, but something which bothered me more than this was the fact that some of the cutscenes were sub HD and looked utterly hideous. Another problem which arises from time to time is that if your last weapon used in gameplay is not a gun, in the in-game cutscene the weapon is not replaced with a pistol, and threated as a gun. This means that sometimes during cut scenes Agent 47 will be pointing garrotte wire at people just as if it was a gun. The sound effects are great, and surround effects are really good. Voice acting is decent, although Agent 47’s voice sounds like rocks being processed in a blender.
Gameplay: Well as a stealth title, Hitman Absolution still sits proudly at the top. The mechanics work really well and gameplay is extremely addictive. You have key figures in the story line which need to be eliminated, and you have endless possibilities of performing the tasks using your surroundings. Each kill you perform flawlessly is rewarded with instinct, which is used to allude enemies when in disguise and also perform point shooting (killing a string of enemies at one go in slow motion). The title started a bit slow in my opinion, but the pacing picked up about 5 hours in. Gunplay feels great and the controls are quite intuitive. One aspect of the game which I found frustrating was the disguise segments. Every time you put on a disguise you run the risk of being spotted by the enemies, and that is granted. What I don’t understand is how enemies can spot me when wearing a full face mask or balaklava. In my opinion they either should have not added masks altogether, or else give the ability not to be recognized whilst wearing one.
Personal Experience: I have to be honest, I was reluctant at first to try this game since I’m a fan of the original series, and I always put this game aside to avoid getting disappointed. Thankfully Hitman Absolution turned out to be just fine, and even though there are some problems with it, there are enough good qualities to the game to ease the frustration. There is a subtle change from the original series, but it is just the developer trying to appeal to a vaster audience.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Written By: Matthew C