These open-ended levels also showcase the game’s dark art style and graphics engine, capable of putting hundreds of characters on-screen at one time. Not only do these dense crowds look realistic, especially when you realize each person is acting and moving independently, but they also provide the perfect cover for hiding. Framerate never suffers, so navigating through these levels feels smooth and really makes the game come alive even amid its dark, almost depressing environments. Absolution’s full presentation, including its graphic cutscenes, and countless lines of offensive and humorous dialogue, easily pull you into its unforgiving world.
Stealth is still a main component in this Hitman game – even during the assignation levels – so you’ll be rewarded by how well you maintain a low profile. Some of the more elaborate killing feel like giant puzzles, so you’ll need to be mindful of your environment and people’s movement patterns to find out where they’ll be going next. You’ll progress through the story by killing targets but also by sneaking past enemies and making your way to the next checkpoint. You can take your time, take cover, and throw things like bottles to diver enemy attention, or you can always get caught and play the game like any over-the-shoulder shooter too. Points are also awarded for headshots, clean kills, and streaks, so even if you decide to forego hiding in the shadows, you’ll never feel like you’re being penalized for doing so.
Killing someone is easy. You can shoot him in the head, stab him with a knife, or push him off a ledge. But if writers didn’t think out of the box and wow audiences with creative displays of bloodshed, movies wouldn’t be so exciting. The same holds true to a video game like Hitman: Absolution that focuses on the straightforward act of killing but gives players the tools to take out their targets to their liking. The end result is a different kind of Hitman game that focuses on choice and yet is the closest players will get to feeling like a true assassin.
Fans of the series should know that Absolution takes place after the events in Blood Money have been resolved. The game’s first mission serves as both a tutorial that introduces players to features new to the series and as a prologue that explains why Agent 47 is now on the run. After meeting an old friend that also happened to be a contract, the stoic protagonist makes a promise to keep a mysterious girl safe, much to the dismay of his agency and a sadistic businessman that wants her for himself. The game essentially follows Agent 47 as he eliminates targets that threaten her safety and hold the answer as to why she’s so valuable. But because he’s also a wanted man, players will also need to sneak past the authorities in more stealth-oriented levels. It may follow a linear progression, but the game lets you play it however you want.
While most enemies can be quickly dispatched by a bullet to the head, what makes Absolution so much fun is that it provides you with plenty of ways to complete your objectives. For instance, in one level you’ll need to kill just one person standing in the middle of a crowded Chinatown square, but what makes this simple task so complex (even slightly overwhelming) is that the game offers you over a dozen different ways to accomplish this. Will you disguise yourself as a food vendor and feed him poisoned food? How about posing as a drug dealer and luring him into a dark alley? The choices seem endless. The more intricate deaths reward you with points that help you unlock passive buffs that make your job a little easier too. But the real reason you’ll want to spend time going back to each level is to improve your score and unlock each level’s mini-achievements that reward you for the more unique assassinations. Your scores are also broadcast to the world, so you’ll always get a feel of how other assassins are completing their missions.
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