14 DAY TRIAL // I played Hitman: Absolution for about 20 minutes and died probably 10 times during that period; yet, I still had a lot of fun with a game that promises to appeal to both long-term fans of the assassin and those who are more interested in shooting their way out of tight situations than in going stealth.
The E3 2012 demo consists of a crowded market level, in which the target occupied the center of it, while crowds, thugs and police roamed the remainder of the area.
Agent 47 needs to take out his mark and then escape the zone. Although the level isn’t very big, it allows the development team at IO Interactive to show off different ways of killing people.
Long-range assassins can acquire a sniper rifle and then get a good position for a solid one hit kill, but there’s also a way of killing the target by poison or by simply following him around and then take him down the old-fashioned way, via neck snap, when his guards aren’t near him.
After I completed the demo mission of Hitman: Absolution via a quick takedown in a narrow alley, I tried to go in guns blazing and see how that might work out.
The game becomes much tougher in a hurry, as there’s a lot of security around and Agent 47 is pretty fragile if he is caught exposed and fails to find a way of hiding his presence again quickly.
IO Interactive has done a great job with the crowd mechanics for the game and it’s a pleasure to just stand in the middle of a sea of bodies, shoot a gun and then just watch (while becoming a bullet sponge) how the simulated characters try to get to cover and move away from the firefight.
Despite the recent tone-deaf nun-based trailer, Hitman: Absolution is still very much a game for the stealth assassination lover.