14 DAY TRIAL // Hitman Absolution was confirmed a few months ago, and IO Interactive, its developer, has now talked about the story of the title, and how it's the biggest project ever done by the Scandinavian company.
IO Interactive's Hitman series was critically acclaimed for its unique narrative, intriguing gameplay and emphasis on stealth mechanics.
With Absolution, the series is adding a few more action sequences, as seen in the screenshots and video revealed during E3 2011.
According to its lead producer, Hakan Abrak, the team at IO Interactive is putting the finishing touches on the core mechanics of the game, and heading into pre-Alpha stage.
"That's a very, very important milestone - where the compelling part of your gameplay and the big questions I believe are answered," he said to CVG. "Now it's about delivering an intense experience. We really believe that... We've got all all the features, the platforms, the memory, the performance already set - everything you're out to achieve. We're home free with those things. We can now soundly produce the rest of the assets."
While IO Interactive was lauded for its story skills, the two most recent games, which were part of the Kane and Lynch series, didn't exactly highlight this, with short single-player campaigns that were filled with clichés.
This won't be the case with Absolution, as Abrak emphasizes that the new Hitman game is the biggest project in the studio's history.
"You can definitely expect a meaty campaign. I can't say at this point how long it is, but if you know the old installments in the series, it's a pretty big, comprehensive campaign we have. I think it's safe to say this is the most ambitious, biggest project we've ever done in IO and we're very, very proud of it. We're confident we're going to deliver quality throughout. The length of the campaign won't be a problem, I can assure you."
Hitman Absolution is set to be published by Square Enix for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year.