For some reason I didn’t really keep track of Hitman: Absolution that much. I saw it a couple of times at preview events, and it seemed like it could be a great game both times, but it never really sunk its hooks into me. However, enough of you cared about the game to vote for it for this week’s WeView, so here we go.
Released at the tail end of last year, Absolution once again follows the adventures of Agent 47 and his attempts to keep a little girl safe by killing a lot of people. Some of the new mechanics, such as the game’s Instinct system, are quite interesting, and feel like they make the game more accessible for novice players, such as myself.
Unfortunately we never got around to reviewing the game, so it’s one of those weeks where we’ll have to reach out to the rest of the gaming media. Metacritic rates the game reasonably highly, with a 79 on PC and Xbox 360, and an 83 on PS3.
Console Monster were amongst those rating the game highly, praising the game’s leaderboards and contract mode for giving you a reason to play through the title multiple times. They also highlighted the game’s voice acting for the way that it helped you to connect with the game’s great characters, picking out David Bateson’s performance as Agent 47 as being particularly good.
OPM joined in with that praise, calling the game “A dark and witty tale of murder and retribution that can be whatever you want,” although felt that the gameplay was perhaps a little bit familiar. However, despite that they still found the gameplay enjoyable, praising the variety of options and flexibility the game gives you when it comes to taking out a target.
At the other end of the scale was VideoGamer, who were less impressed by the game. One of their core complaints was the frequency with which control was taken away from you during an assassination, often leading to you failing to take out your target.
They actually went as far as saying “it’s not really a Hitman game,” and found that it was more like Splinter Cell Conviction. Although I haven’t played through the full version of the game, this is a vibe that came across when I previewed the game. However, I always felt like it had a strong Hitman feeling to it, that it never really lost its core essence. VideoGamer also felt that the game’s story “would be offensive if it wasn’t so preposterous,” which is pretty damning.
Now, though, we come to the most important question; what do you think? Did you take VideoGamer’s stance that the game had lost its way, or were you more in line with Console Monster and OPM? Of course it’s perfectly possible that you disagreed with all three, an equally valid opinion. It doesn’t matter what you felt about the game though, we simply want to hear your thoughts.
All you need to do to share your view is to drop a comment below and a verdict from the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It, Avoid It scale. As always, if you want to see your verdict in Monday’s Verdict then you’ll need to get your comment in by Sunday afternoon.
Mithrandir
Not having played the game yet, I recently checked the prices of this game, and at current price level of less than 20 Euros, I would say it’s already in the Bargain Bins.
I heard great things about this game, so I will most definitely ‘Bargain bin’ it soon!
kjkg
To begin with I found it quite hard to get in to, and at odds to what hitman is all about. The mission structure with the challenges just seemed wrong. When I hit the Chinese square level, replaying it for a different outcome, that’s when the game just made sense.
I do believe it has gone in the perfect direction for the game, keeping things from feeling stale or just a “this gen” Hitman.
The one thing that I was surprised about was that all the previews showed what I felt to be the weakest level in the game, the Library. The game is much more than dark rooms with AI on tracks.
BUY IT.
kjkg
Ironic that I actually never bought it and borrowed off a pal. Wouldn’t have regretted a full purchase however.
jimmy-google
i rented it but wouldn’t have regretted buying it as well.
Youles
It was something silly like £16.99 on the PSN Store leading up to Christmas when it was still a fairly new title – I’d say it’s unmissable at that price.
I possibly had a better experience than some since I hadn’t played the previous games, therefore it was very much like a new IP to me, and I wouldn’t have be aware if it was just a simple polished repeat of the older games. The characters are rather cheesey (but then it’s Square Enix) but the game is brilliant! The levels were varied, in design, location and length which always keeps it interesting, and the amount of NPCs in some locations was very impressive. The environments were also very detailed. The controls and weapons are good. Sometimes the checkpoints could be frustrating and more levels could have done with more variation of deaths to the level that Chinatown had. (SPOLIER: Posing as the dealer in Chinatown was very clever and took a several stages to execute – no pun intended).
The online contracts mode was also a pretty neat idea.
Buy It!
psychobudgie
Fantastic game. Simply buy it. Only thing that let it down was some kill shots were switched for movie events rather than user control which did actually annoy me somewhat as those kills were mine.
jimmy-google
Having never played a Hitman game I didn’t really know what to expect but was more than pleasantly surprised. Alongside Max Payne 3 this is easily one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played over the last couple of years. I don’t really play online at all so a good single player element is really important to me and this completely delivers.
There wasn’t really anything I can remember finding fault with. There’s a decent variety of locations and a feeling you can tackle most areas which ever way you want. Any sequel will be very high on my most wanted list. Definitely a buy it game.
Motalla
See my answer a few post down…then read this on the studio that developed Max Payne:
“Remedy was founded in 1995 by demoscene members from groups such as Future Crew.”
I am starting to see a pattern.
Taylor Made
Master piece! Buy it. Better than the ps2!
Eldave0
Probably my least favourite of the series thanks to its cack-handed checkpoint system and constant focus on the terrible narrative. That said, the game is still a lot of fun and the “play it your way” style of gameplay is great as always. BARGAIN BIN IT
Motalla
I picked this title up during the christmas sale on PSN, it is my first hitman game. I bought it a second time for the PC in order to have something to punish my CPU and GPU. So far I have only done some testloops on the pc and raised the temparature in the room by a few degrees in the winter cold. The first impressions are realy good, especially on the PC.
So far I have only played a little, since I am a bit too occupied with a game which was reviewed on this site yesterday (PS3 version). So this game has to wait on my pile of shame, together with other games which The Sixthaxis has spoken fondly of, like (take note Kris) “Cities in Motion”, Journey, Anti-Chamber etc.
The studio that made the game was founded by people that used to be active in the(there is this word again) “Demoscene”. This means that they really KNOW how to code, how to max out the your (PC) hardware, dripped in a saus of amazing graphical effects.
So for what my opinion is worth: “BUY”, but buying it twice like I did, is overdoing it most probably for most people.
aerobes
I enjoyed so much, I platinumed it. Hugely enjoyable game, quiet and considered and a game I could take my time with and soak up as opposed to the frantic nature of many modern games. Apparently not a game for everybody however as two other members of my house tried it and failed to complete the most basic task of finishing the story.
I’d happily buy it and play it again but I’d also be a fool to suggest anyone buys it. I guess that leaves me with the option of rental.
eye8have9you3
Got this to test out my new PC when it came out and it looks amazing. Some of the missions are just brilliant, everyone’s mentioned chinatown, but I think Streets of Hope was better. I liked the challenges and thought they did a good job of towing the right line between challenging and fustrating. However towards the end of the game they seem to screw it right up, it got way too hard and pretty much imposible on the ‘expert’ difficulty or higher. Had to drop the difficulty down to have any chance of finishing it. Also the missions are really hit and miss, with some being great fun to play over and over again, others just dragged on. I reckon less than half the missions actually involved assasinations, not what I expected from a hitman game. It seemed like alot of effort had gone into the story, but the characters were all weak and two dimensional. I’d say bargain bin it, the story’s too long for a rental, and the good missions are too few to justify a full price purchase.