Hitman Absolution Has New AI, Fresh Combat Options

Hitman Absolution, the new title from IO Interactive and Square Enix, has an array of special options, from the all-new Glacier 2 engine to an overhauled AI or an enhanced cover system.

The Hitman series has always stood out because of its polished stealth mechanics and customized artificial intelligence, which make the non-playable characters act in unique ways depending on the actions of the player.

With Hitman Absolution, the next installment in the series, IO Interactive wants to upgrade every last feature of the franchise, at least according to the studio's Christian Elverdam, gameplay director at the Scandinavian studio, who talked with CVG.

First up, the executive addressed the long wait between Absolution and the last installment in the series, Blood Money, which appeared back in 2006.

"Well, as you know, we've been building brand new technology. We call it the Glacier 2 engine. We actually got to build that from scratch, so we had a chance to look at all of the previous titles and basically ask ourselves what the important areas to Hitman were, and how we could improve them."

The AI system is where the studio also made great strides to improve on the previous titles, with Elverdam highlighting a scene where Agent 47, the protagonist, needs to enter an apartment inhabited by hippies.

The assassin can dress as a cop, but won't get much of a reaction from the hippies, or can stay in his trademark suit, and try to persuade the inhabitants to let him in. Police encounters won't always result in firefights, as the officers won't attack Agent 47 unless he has been doing something illegal.

"This is the kind of stuff we really wanted to go full circle on. We wanted to go from the more black and white AI of the earlier games to something that's more shades of gray."

In terms of actual gameplay, IO Interactive also put more thought into the aiming and shooting mechanics, while a new cover system has been added.

"We also knew we'd have to be busy working on the feel of the aiming and shooting, and that's very much a part of the new game. There's now a cover system, which is obviously useful for combat. But we also worked hard to make sure it was useful for stealth, providing the player with fast avoidance situations. When enemies are in alerted states it can escalate to combat, but it can also go back to a hunting situation if you disengage from them. And that's really what we wanted: this living, breathing AI."

Hitman Absolution is currently scheduled to appear for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year.