Hitman: Absolution

Hitman Absolution is the newest point in the Hitman series. It continues in the series with having fun stealth mechanics and improvements on the genre as a whole. The story is also one of the most ridiculous and funny stories out there too. That does not mean that the game is without it's own faults. It becomes obvious that if IO Interactive just made some small changes to some of the games most glaring problems that it would be a much better game to play through.

In Absolution, you play as Agent 47. He starts off on a mission for "The Agency" to kill his former boss, Diana Burnwood. She makes a dying request for you to watch after a younger girl name Victoria. There is something about Victoria that makes her special, she was trained and programmed at birth to take the place as the next great Hitman. Diana wants you to give her the chance that Agent 47 never had, to be human. From this point on, Agent 47 stops working for the Agency and makes it his mission to protect Victoria at all costs. The story starts off on a serious note but from there it only gets crazier.

You find out that a rich cowboy named Blake Dexter wants to kidnap Victoria in order to sell her back to the Agency to make even more money. He is a really ridiculous character who is introduced by finding 47 and seeing that he is a hitman after him. Instead of turning 47 in or even capturing him, Dexter kills a maid, puts the knife next to the knocked out 47 so he takes the blame, then lights the room on fire leaving 47 to escape a burning 5-star hotel. Dexter's craziness only increases from here making him a menacing and great antagonist.

Almost every character you meet has something funny to say. Whether it is a chef arguing to a guard about why salt is for barbarians or a group of patrolling guards talk about why they are not going to make it to Carl's birthday party because they have to stand guard, there are many times that I would laugh out loud at these conversations that the characters are having. It gives you a great incentive to stick around in a spot to listen to a 30 second conversation before moving on from that point.

The gameplay of Absolution is up to you how to play it, but there is an emphasis on playing the game sneaking around. You can shoot your way through levels, however this is not that satisfying and the real way that Hitman is meant to be played is being stealthy and finding new and cool ways to finish each level. The majority of the levels requires you to assassinate a target, and there are several ways to do this. The obvious way would be just to pull out your gun or make a big scene to kill your target, but the most satisfying ways are the times you can do it without anyone knowing that you did anything and this is when the gameplay is at it's best. There are always several ways to plan out each scenario and it is almost a puzzle to figure it out. Whether it is putting poison in his coffee, or setting off a car alarm and putting explosives right by the car, it is always awesome to see this domino effect take place while knowing that there are several different ways in which you can accomplish it. This also works great with the games challenges which gives you clues onto how to do some of the assassinations.

Many of the ways you sneak around the level requires you to get a disguise. If you stay in Agent 47's suit you will be spotted, making it difficult to play stealthy. So to blend in, you take the disguise of the people there. Usually looking like a guard or a scientist or chef depending on the level. This helps you walk around but you can still be spotted. If you get to close or are facing another person with the same costume as you, they will start to be suspicious. This leds me to some of the problems I had with the game. It makes sense on a balance side to have them start to notice you but the only way you will know if you are going to be spotted is by an icon which points to the direction you are being spotted in. And once you are seen, there is little you can do to get out of being in trouble. Plus, there is no quick save/quick load feature. You can only checkpoint in certain spots of a level where there is a little area, but when you load back into a checkpoint, everyone comes back to life except for your targets that you have killed already. This has made me play through a same long sequence several times trying to figure out the best way to accomplish it but even if you get caught at the end, you still have to play the whole level again or start from wherever the checkpoint is. And they are not that short either, playing for 5 minutes of a sequence only to be caught at the end and then to repeat all of that multiple times is not a fun way to play. It would of been much better if you can manually save your spot so you can try something without a huge consequence.

There is also a Contracts mode which is Absolutions version of multiplayer. You play in smaller levels from the single player, but you have to follow how the creator play each level. As the creator, you are dropped into a level of the game and can go around and kill anyone you want. You then get to put that Contract online and have other people play it. There are some rules they have to follow if you do enforce them, like wearing a specific disguise or using a certain weapon or hiding the bodies or not being seen. This adds to the game allowing you to experiment even more in fairly stress-free scenarios.

With the negatives aside, Hitman Absolution is still a great game. The stealth part is a fun puzzle, leaving you to figure out how things work and what the best way to kill your target is. Plus, the story and characters are very hilarious. Just watching the cutscenes and dialogue between characters was enough of an incentive to keep playing through so I can see the story through. There is great replay to it to with the challenges and Contracts mode so even if you do finish the game, you can go right back in there.

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