The Road to E3 2012: Hitman: Absolution
Just a week before E3 IO Interactive have released the teaser trailer for Hitman: Absolution, hoping to ride the wave of chatter generated by it into the convention. I think they just may. As you can see, this trailer looks just as good or even better than some Hollywood movie trailers that I’ve seen. It really shows how powerful Agent 47 can be, with him killing several assassin’s that are presumably sent to kill him.
The assassin’s themselves are seen to bear the mark of The International Contract Agency in the form of a tattoo seen on one of their arms. The Agency is the organization that created Agent 47 and the one in which employed him in all the past games. If you go back to the events at the end of 2006′s Hitman: Blood Money, you’ll remember that the game had ended with The Agency being all dwindled down to himself and 47′s handler, Diana Burnwood. After faking his death and him slipping into anonymity Diana was able to rebuild The Agency and it appears that this titles plot will focus on The Agency turning against Agent 47 and him becoming the contract. It has also been confirmed by IO that very early on in the game you will kill Diana.This is an interested twist in the series plot, as every other game has had you dutifully performing assassinations for the group. What is unclear is whether or not it will be an actual assassination or a fake kill, such as Diana provided for 47.
During this video, we see that Hitman: Absolution turns to focus more on action and gun play rather than the stealth heavy assassin simulation of the past titles. For me, this is kind of a disappointment. The fact that you were heavily encouraged to be sneaky in the other games was what really drew me into them. Sure, you were given the option of going in guns blazing, but that often had more negatives than positives. It’s good that you are given the option to do either in Absolution, so that it appeals to a wider crowd and is more commercially accepted, but I hope it doesn’t detract from the classic mechanics of the series. Now, the shear number of way that you are given to kill and the how graphic the cinematics for them are breathtaking. Just in the video above I saw at least 30 different kill tactics. This reminds me a lot of Manhunt just because of the freedom and depth of available ways to kill.
Also shown off in the second video is IO’s new engine, Glacier 2. The video was created using only in game footage and, I have to say, it looks amazing. The series has never suffered from any real graphics issues such as texture pop or lag, so I hope the new engine mets the bar that’s been set by the previous Hitman titles.
Other than the two videos above and the few things I have went over, not much has been revealed about Absolution. And, other than a playable demo, I don’t expect much to be revealed at the expo. I am curious to see how well balanced the the use of stealth and gunplay is in the game since it is shifting focus to a more action oriented mechanic, so the demo should do just that.
Also, for preordering Absolution through GameStop you are given access to the standalone downloadable title Hitman: Sniper Challenge. While it is only a single mission and you are given 15 minutes to kill your target, it still serves as a type of demo for the upcoming game. And, whatever upgrades you earn while playing Sniper Challenge actually carry over to Absolution when it releases. SquareEniz will be hosting different challenges leading up to the release date and prizes are to be awarded to the snipers with the top scores. This is not only a great way to raise a little more awareness and excitement for the game, but also give the fans a different take on a preorder bonus. I like it!
After reading the article do you have any concerns regarding Hitman: Absolution? If so, tell us in the comments section!
Hitman: Absolution is set to release on 11/20/12 on Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows PC.
