Preview: Hitman Absolution

Still from Hitman: Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Square Enix

IO Interactive

PS3/Xbox 360/PC

(Rs 2799)

It’s been around half a decade since the last Hitman game. A lot has changed since then. We got guys who look like girls croon tunes that ladies love, girls who look anything like girls making music for James Bond movies and well, boy bands.

On second thought, not much has changed. Or has it? What does this have to do with the latest installment to the Hitman franchise? Well quite possibly, everything. You see 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money was a glorified greatest hits compilation of everyone’s favorite bald, suited assassin, Agent 47’s exploits. A homage to the last three games, making it an easy entry point for newcomers to the series to get a gist of the plot, premise and characters with minimal fuss.

And now you have Absolution which follows the same idea of making the franchise appealing to the non-Hitman hardcore. The first thing that hits you is an insanely fun-first mission that doubles up as a tutorial. It does a great job of introducing you to the game’s mechanics. From stealthily strangling guards to donning disguises, it’s brilliantly done. Before you know it you’re creeping behind your foes and dumping bodies in dumpsters like it was 2006 all over again.

Except this time around, there are more than a few not-so-subtle changes to make the adventure a lot more fluid. The earlier games would drop you in a scenario, like for example, an estate of a drug lord and more or less leave you to your own devices to meet your goal (ie. killing the said drug lord). This time around you’re guided by a nifty feature called Instinct. Think of it as an amalgamation of Arkham City‘s Detective Mode and Assassin’s Creed‘s Eagle Vision- turning the game world monochrome with possible hints such as targets, air vents and disguises lit up. However, unlike those two games, you’ll never end up using Instinct as a crutch as you can’t have it on indefinitely and the game itself makes it relatively easy to spot most clues without resorting to it.

But it does come in handy because the world of Absolution is densely detailed. From crowded marketplaces in Chinatown to seedy motels, every location pulses with a life force of its own, making most film mise-en-scene pieces seem like college dioramas in comparison. Yes, thanks to the custom Glacier 2 engine each locale is dripping with atmosphere so much so that it could be considered as important as Agent 47’s trademark suit.

Beneath all this, the gameplay runs like a well-oiled machine. Whether you’re indulging in fisticuffs with policemen or gunning down thugs, the controls are responsive and easy to get used to. You’d do well to avoid any confrontation as the AI is brutal. Even at the lowest difficulty setting. Simply because as an instrument of death, your focus is to take out your target and avoid any collateral damage. What this means is that the game trains you to be methodical in your approach. Going in guns blazing will only result in you dying very fast.  Certain segments of the game let you finish off a bunch of opponents in droves, thanks to a skill similar to Splinter Cell: Conviction‘s Mark and Execute and Max Payne‘s Bullet time. The difference here is that if you don’t aim for your opponent’s head, you’ll end up having to expend more bullets than you should.

Even if you do manage to kill your target and everyone else who isn’t your target, the game penalizes you for doing so. Each level is replete with a ton of extras to be found and to be unlocked. The former depends on how OCD you are about scanning every single inch of the environment and the latter is a result of how well you play. Alert enemies or kill unnecessarily stunts your score and ranking. Yes, the game has a rank and score for each mission that you get to see in glorious detail along with the loot you managed to pick up along the way. Needless to say, there’s a lot of incentive to replay missions for that perfect score and to grab more stuff simply because there’s so much of it with around 20 weapons and items to get per mission.

Aside from this, there’s a great story to boot. Without spoiling much it involves Agent 47 going rogue, assassinating his handler and well, trying to put together the pieces of a sinister conspiracy. There’s a distinct sense of film noir about the way things progress. Throw in some Hollywood quality voice acting and a stunning background score and you have aural production values that match the game’s stellar graphics.

Overall, Absolution is shaping up to be a rather strong entry in the franchise that has something for everyone. Things don’t change that much, but they changed just enough to make a difference. Much like the guys who look like girls croon tunes that ladies love, girls who look anything like girls making music for James Bond movies and well, boy bands. Though this time, it’s for the better.

A preview event for ‘Hitman: Absolution’ will be held on October 6th 2012 at Bonobo, Bandra, Mumbai. The game will be in stores from November 6th.