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Hitman Absolution
The first thing you need to know about
Hitman Absolution is it’s not for kids. This is an Adults Only game, and
by that I mean there’s vice and violence o’ plenty. If you don’t want
your little ones plotting the murder of an notorious rapist inside a
crowded strip club, or avenging a hospital nun massacre with a fire axe,
then keep well away from this game. However if you are over 15 there’s a
good chance you’ll find plenty to enjoy in Hitman Absolution.
Developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix, Absolution is
the fifth title in the Hitman series. Like a growing number of sequels
these days, it does help if you’ve played the earlier incarnations,
because right off the bat there are references to characters and story
arcs that a Hit-fan is supposed to know. Being new to the series, I was
immediately lost. However what I did glean was that my name is 47, I
wear a smart suit, I look like a pissed off Lex Luthor, and I kill
people for ‘The Agency.’
Apparently my ex-boss, Diana, double-crossed The Agency and drained all
its accounts. Thus my first mission is to find her and kill her. 47 and
Diana have a complex relationship, and even though I’ve never played the
other Hitman titles, I felt a tad wrong for being asked to kill her to
please this nefarious Agency. But a gig’s a gig, so I crept my way
through her beach house and shot her in the gut. As she lay dying, she
told me I had to protect a girl called Victoria. Why this is I’m yet to
learn, but so far I’ve discovered all sorts of criminal types want to
get their hands on Victoria, and I’ve been protecting her, much like
Jean Reno in Luc Besson’s The Professional.
Indeed, Hitman Absolution is a very cinematic game, and it feels much
like a big-budget crime thriller. The story is complex and gritty with a
superb script. You really do have to pay attention to understand the
game’s flow, and you’ll find yourself getting truly immersed in the
story. The cutscenes are well acted with motion-capture playing heavily,
and the villains are so genuinely repulsive, I’m looking forward to
killing all of them.
The
meat of the game is action-stealth based; 47 is inserted into each
mission with a target to assassinate. It could be Chinatown, a rooftop,
a strip club, a hotel, wherever. The basic idea is to creep around the
level and remain as unnoticed as possible until your radar leads to you
your mark, then you do the deed. The fun part about Hitman is all the
ways to kill available to you; 47 has a wide array of weaponry, and
there are plenty of in-level accessories from baseball bats to syringes
to rat poison to gasoline, and you’ll get extra-points for being
creative.
In
fact wasting scumbags is so much fun in Hitman the great frustration is
in the stealth itself. Many a time I wanted to cut loose and just blast
my way through guards to my target, but killing ‘innocents’ will lose
you points. The game wants you to sneak past them or knock them out,
then disguise yourself and hide their body. This is fun for a little
while, but with so many ways to die, why do so many get to live?
Hopefully as the game progresses my blood-lust will be stated, but as of
a quarter way through the game, I’m tired of being penalised for
garrotting drug-dealers.
The
graphics of Hitman Absolution are moody and slick, with a great
attention to detail. Lighting too is impressive, with a cool seediness
that makes you feel you’re truly in a movie. The crowd scenes are where
the game shines; 47 will weave his way through a busy train platform or
crowded club tailing his mark while eluding the cops. It’s great stuff,
and the atmospheric sound palette and edge-of-your-seat soundtrack once
again adds to cinematic effect. Look for the orchestra to swell as you
ominously draw near to your target and move in for the kill.
You’ll
find a multi-player mode in Hitman which involves to you creating
missions for your friends and challenging them head-to-head, but this
feels somewhat tacked on. The story mode is the real game, and if you
want to know what Hitman plays like, just imagine Batman Arkham City
with no Batman. More than once when 47’s cover was blown or he was
spotted by a cop, I instinctively tried to fire my bat-grapple into the
rafters. However there are some things Bats can’t do: like flush a
hippie down the toilet, or drop a giant disco ball on a pimp’s head.
There is definitely a different kind of fun to be had in Hitman, and
it’s one I highly recommend. |
