Author Topic: Hitman: Absolution  (Read 7224 times)

Offline Xessive

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Hitman: Absolution
« on: Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 10:46:36 PM »
Hitman: Absolution announced!

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Titled Hitman Absolution (or HITMAN ABSOLUTION, according to the very loud press release), the game sees everyone's favorite tastefully tattooed assassin taking on “his most dangerous contract to date.” Which is a relief, as it'd be a bit harder to get excited about “a contract of middling danger” or “tea with a somewhat grouchy family member.”

Beyond that, this is pretty much all IO Interactive is saying for now: “Betrayed by those he once trusted — and now hunted by the police — he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world.” Pretty vague, right? We're still not ruling out the possibility of tea.   

The game's also running a brand new engine, which you can not-see in action in this CG teaser trailer. But look, a glove! And a snake with a gun! Perhaps that's the “dangerous contract”? We can think of few foes more formidable. At any rate, the game's shooting for a 2012 release date, which is sort of like opening a present only to find another box. Oh well. Better late than never.

CG teaser trailer

Offline iPPi

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #1 on: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 12:38:37 AM »
Hitman has been one of my favourite game series, so I'll be getting this for sure when it comes out.  But it's still a long ways out.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #2 on: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 05:01:23 AM »
I thought the first Hitman was one of the most innovative games I have ever played. It introduced challenges that required new ways of thinking in a game. It was also the first game I recall noticing ragdoll physics!

They tightened up the gameplay mechanics in Hitman 2 but I still think the original was the better game overall.

Hitman: Contracts (3rd game in the series) was a flashback frenzy, basically a remix of missions from Hitman 1 and 2, and IO seem to blatantly deny its existence by not providing it in any Hitman game pack or even individually via digital distribution at all.

Hitman: Blood Money was awesome! Grat visuals coupled with the varied environments and missions really gave it an edge over its predecessors. I might consider playing through it again some time soon.. I'm kinda itching for a technical 3rd-person shooter.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #3 on: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 01:52:37 PM »
All I can say: about damn time.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #4 on: Monday, October 10, 2011, 11:55:38 AM »
Destructoid -> Teaser Trailer.
Youtube -> Approx. 17 mins of gameplay.

EDIT:
I don't see 47 hiding bodies...
This looks like a cross b/t Batman: AA [X-Ray system];
SC: Conviction [where's the body hiding of previous installments?];
Tomb Raider [47 can climb and drop down some walls and stuff];
Hitman games [you can take other's clothes and dress as them, still];
and any shooter that has a cover system.

« Last Edit: Monday, October 10, 2011, 12:23:48 PM by MysterD »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #5 on: Monday, October 10, 2011, 12:18:19 PM »
Hitman: Contracts (3rd game in the series) was a flashback frenzy, basically a remix of missions from Hitman 1 and 2, and IO seem to blatantly deny its existence by not providing it in any Hitman game pack or even individually via digital distribution at all.
There's a copyright issue w/ one of the songs "Immortal" by Clutch that was used in the game and it couldn't get renewed when it was going to get re-released on digital platforms [like Steam].
I don't know why they just don't remove the bloody song or replace it w/ something else.

Offline iPPi

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #6 on: Monday, October 10, 2011, 01:47:27 PM »
I'm not sure I like what I see in that 17 minute gameplay video.  It seems like a radical departure from its predecessors.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 06:29:57 PM »
PC Gamer -> Hitman: Absolution PC will use Steamworks and have DX10/11 Support.

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Here’s a round-up of the features Hitman: Absolution will be getting on PC, including Eyefinity and HD3D support.

PC only features:
    Increased texture resolution,
    Increased gesture resolution
    Higher shadow Map resolution.
    Full mouse and key support
    Optimised PC user interface
    Optimised for low and high end PCs
    Steam works integration including steam cloud saves which is a massive win
 
Dx 11 only features:
    Global illumination
    Bokeh
    Tesselation
    Eyefinity support
    HD3D support

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #8 on: Sunday, November 04, 2012, 11:31:06 AM »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #9 on: Monday, November 12, 2012, 07:16:23 PM »
GameRanx -> PC Gamer's Tom Francis in their new mag scores Hitman: Absolution PC a 62 (out of 100) & calls it a "mess".

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The Christmas 2012 issue of PC Gamer contains a review by Tom Francis who did a number on Hitman: Absolution with some very unflattering things to say about it. The fact that the review's sub-header reads "Hitman: Absolution is a mess. The police do not expect Blood Money is involved" should say everything.

IO Interactive and Square Enix may have very little to be proud of as every portion of the game is said to be bad. The review pans the game for its art style and overuse of bloom, poor story, small levels, pointless objectives (e.g. open a door), no saves, bad AI.

The review also points out that the game actively encourages you to kill guards and sentries unlike previous Hitman games, which emphasized stealth over all else. Not that it matters—as many of the assassinations you perform are pre-determined cutscenes in which Agent 47 fails to kill his target, rendering all of your work pointless.

Finally, the review notes that the PC port of the game was done so poorly that the game even tells you to "gently" press your mouse button, as if it were the same as an X360 controller. In addition, the performance of the game was sub-par on PC Gamer's machines, running at a sluggish 15~ FPS.

For all their efforts, the game receives a score of 62 out of 100 with a verdict that reads "A passable stealth game, but one that betrays almost everything that, until now, has made Hitman great."

Offline MysterD

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« Last Edit: Friday, November 16, 2012, 04:53:14 PM by MysterD »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #11 on: Friday, November 16, 2012, 07:07:06 PM »
Hitman: Absolution's Contracts Mode will be FREE for everyone.

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As you’ll probably be aware, we’re very excited about the launch of Hitman: Absolution next week. Hopefully you are too… and one of the best bits of the games - CONTRACTS mode, where you get to create your own customised hits and challenge your friends to beat them - is going to be free for everybody who plays the game.

Here’s the official statement about it below.

"We’re so excited that Hitman: Absolution is launching next week! In particular, we’re looking forward to all of the amazing ways players can challenge each other in the innovative CONTRACTS mode – where you get to call the shots.

We’d actually planned to have this mode accessible via a code in the game’s box, but we really want to make it available to anybody that plays the game – so we want to take a new approach.
If you’re in North America you’ll see the mode automatically appear in the game menu. If you’re elsewhere, you can redeem the code inside the box, or you can simply select the BUY CONTRACTS PASS option. From there, head to the store where CONTRACTS will be free to access.
The only thing you need to worry about then is just how challenging your CONTRACT will be. See you online!"

Offline MysterD

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« Last Edit: Sunday, November 25, 2012, 08:05:04 AM by MysterD »

Offline iPPi

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #13 on: Sunday, November 18, 2012, 11:58:29 AM »
That's a fairly wide spectrum of scores; this reminds me of the rest of the franchise though, which has received also fairly divided scores from the press.  Based on the first video I saw of the game I wasn't so sure about it.  But further gameplay videos sold me.  I will definitely be picking this up in the near future.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #14 on: Thursday, November 22, 2012, 07:38:06 PM »
GameSpot -> Square Enix Montreal will develop the next Hitman game.

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Hitman: Absolution developer IO Interactive has confirmed that the next installment in the franchise will not be made in-house.

Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine, Absolution director Tore Blystad said that Agent 47's next outing will be developed by Square Enix Montreal.

"It's like with Treyarch and Infinity Ward," Blystad told the publication. "You have an IP that has been developed. They will feed off each other, as well as some things that stand out. I think with these big franchises, it takes a long time to develop just one game. If you can, work a little bit in parallel at least, and help each other out."

According to Blystad, the new game will be a chance for a fresh perspective on the franchise. While it will be entirely in the hands of Square Enix Montreal, IO will reportedly monitor its development along the way.

"We've been talking about these similarities to some of the big movie franchises, like Aliens, where everyone's doing it their own way. Every time someone gets their hands on a franchise, they do something different."

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #15 on: Sunday, December 30, 2012, 07:49:12 AM »
Well, I got 6 hours or so racked-up onto Hitman: Absolution just last night alone.
I have NOT touched Contracts mode, but I'll speak a bit on the Story Mode (Campaign), from my first impressions of those hours.

If you've played previous Hitman games (namely say Hitman 2: Silent Assassin; Hitman: Contracts; Blood Money - since I've actually played all of those), Absolution is definitely a DIFFERENT kind of Hitman game. Some things are similar; while some things are just NOT.

Mission objectives...might differ. They are NOT always "Go kill specific enemies" like most missions in the older Hitman games. This ones tries to mix it up a bit more. Some missions are basically "Get the hell out of the area", "Evade the cops" or "get to the next floor." So, sometimes, this game comes off w/ levels being smaller in size and even more linear - b/c there's a bunch of these kinds of levels.

Sometimes, then it's the opposite - feels like something out of the older Hitman games. You'll get these big sand-boxy open-levels (I'm thinking like say the Chinatown King level) where you've got tons of ways to actually finishing off your mission's kill(s) and/or exiting the level.
{If I recall, when the game's actually teaching you to play - they mentioned you could finish the Chinatown King at least 12 different ways!}
I expect in levels especially like these - replay value is definitely through the roof. If you look at Challenges list (F1 key) while in a level, you're going to see TONS & TONS of Challenges. Oh, and the game has 47 (ha!) Achievements listed.

Things worth noting - there's a cover system in here. 47 can vault over cover; shoot/attack while in cover; move from cover-to-cover; and all of that kind of stuff. Seems appropriate to have, since he's an assassin and trying to hide in the shadows and kill silently and all of that. If you walk-up to an enemy and want to engage in hand-to-hand combat w/ enemies - these are now QTE's, more or less (i.e. think like Witcher 2's boxing/fist-fights).

Also, for most missions - you're CONSTANTLY being rewarded points & docked points, based on your actions. If you're playing this game online, you are being compared to the game's USA Leaderboards and World leaderboards; and your Steam Friends list. If you actually do care about your score - you'll probably either be reloading saves A LOT or going to wind-up REPLAYING levels. My first time around w/ this - so, I'm not caring too much. I'm playing on Normal and trying to go through the game level-after-level. I'm...honestly, not playing well compared to the rest of the USA/World/My Steam Friends, hehe. You obviously want to NOT be spotted (that knocks MAJOR points off); clean-up any knock-outs/kill you make (i.e. throw them in a garbage bin, push them off a cliff into a water, throw someone in a mud bath tub, etc) so you can actually get some of your points back; and try NOT to kill civilians (you get docked MAJOR points for killing civilians). I should note - the harder DIFFICULTY you play on, the more BONUS points you get for completing objectives. Once you a finish a chapter, you unlock it - so that if you want, you can select a chapter and then go right into that mission.

There's an Instinct meter - that fills up while you play. Depending on what difficulty you're playing, it might be there (Most Difficulties - but how it can be used and if it recharged might be differently tweaked)...or it just might not be there as an Option at all (i.e. Purist). Instinct lets you do all kinds of stuff. You can see enemies' through walls - a la Batman: Arkham Asylum & City. Also, Instinct can show you pathways of NPC's, as well - again, that depends on Difficulty level, as well. Instinct can also let you do Tag & Execute kills like Sam Fisher could do in Splinter Cell: Conviction, as well.

The game has checkpoints scattered very sparingly throughout levels. Also, depending on difficulty - you might not even have any save checkpoints even allowed (i.e. Purist).

You don't really select your weapons at load-out, either - unlike most Hitman games. You'll find A LOT of different items/weapons/things to use in the game-world, BTW. In Hitman: Blood Money - you earned $$ for each level and could then spend it on buying and upgrading new weapons; in Absolution's STORY Mode, this is just NOT here.

Also, the story in this Absolution seems WAY more focused in some things, compared to other Hitman games. While I ain't played it all the way through, this game seems to have less globe-trotting and now be sticking in the USA more so than ever. So far, I've only been in the USA - though, the areas themselves have been diverse (Estate, Chinatown, Hotel, etc). Also, this game seems WAY more story-focused and story-driven than previous games - and actually have a bunch of reoccurring characters within this one story.

So, there's my thoughts, so far on this one.

Offline iPPi

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #16 on: Sunday, December 30, 2012, 03:39:54 PM »
My playthrough experience (I'm only on mission 12 out of 20) is about the same.  The game is significantly different from the previous Hitmans and in my opinion, I don't think that this is a change for the better.  

For starters, I don't like the focused story and the linear gameplay.  It changes up the entire game and the game no longer plays or feels like its predecessors.  For example, whereas in the previous iterations, each mission was open-ended and you can approach the mission in any way you choose, Absolution is significantly more linear and in many instances, if you are attempting for a Silent Assassin/Shadow playthrough (no KOs, suit only, etc.) there is almost only one path for you to follow.  Furthermore, the guard layout severely restricts where you can move about.

The weapons in this game are also significantly downplayed.  Instead, a lot of 'distraction' items are strewn about the level, such as a wrench or a bottle, which you throw into a corner to distract a guard to sneak past.  It ends up feeling a lot like playing Splinter Cell.

The notoriety system in Blood Money is gone.  Instead, very early on in the game you are
(click to show/hide)
so you are essentially notorious and have to hide wherever you go.  This is somewhat disappointing; in previous Hitman games you could walk about levels without worrying about having your cover blown but this is no longer the case.  In most levels you are forced to sneak around and nearly every location in the game is 'trespassing' or 'hostile'.

The disguise system is also significantly downplayed.  This can be for better or for worse.  As I prefer a Silent Assassin playthrough with no disguises, it doesn't really bother me.  However, if one uses disguises, they will find that the disguise system this time around sucks.  In most instances, individuals in the same disguise will see through your disguise very easily unless you use 'instinct', but on higher difficulty levels instinct is not easy to get and it doesn't regenerate.  In essence, it renders a disguise completely useless.  In previous Hitmans a disguise actually worked; not so in this game anymore.

I kind of like the leaderboard/scoring system though.  It makes a level a more competitive challenge as you attempt to surpass your friends' scores or try and beat the national averages.

I'm also not sold on the story, and how it plays out with the rest of the Hitman series.  While I am not finished the game, the storyline itself just doesn't seem to fit very well into the Contracts/Blood Money storyline (if you recall, the Agency was pretty much wiped out at the end of Blood Money), so the starting point of this game just feels weird.  

Even though it seems like a lot of complaints here, the levels that do have hits (unfortunately not too many though, especially at the start), are incredibly fun.  It's always a blast to try and figure out what's the most effective and best way to eliminate your targets without rousing the suspicions of the guards and passersby.  It's just too bad that so many missions do not actually have a target, especially early on in the game.  As a result, the first few hours of the game are incredibly disappointing.  The good news though is that it does get better if you can tough it out.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #17 on: Tuesday, April 01, 2014, 05:40:11 PM »
This is the current free game on XBL, as of today.  Just a heads up.  Not bad at all so far, for no money.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Hitman: Absolution
« Reply #18 on: Sunday, June 14, 2020, 04:07:42 AM »
Hitman: Absolution is currently FREE on GOG...and DRM-FREE there too.

Go get it.