14 DAY TRIAL // Io Interactive, the developer, has announced that it will aim to make its recently announced Hitman: Absolution video game both accessible to a wider gaming audience and hardcore enough to satisfy the expectations of long-term fans of the franchise.
Tore Blystad, who is the game director working on Hitman: Absolution has told Digital Trends as part of an interview that, “The Hitman games of the past have been very hardcore. Even though the fantasy of the Hitman universe has a very universal appeal, the games have been so difficult to play, that it’s been more of an acquired taste.”
He added, “The biggest challenge that we had with this game was to make it much broader in every sense, so that it was easier to play and more accessible, but still retain a very strong, hardcore side as well. We don’t want to alienate any of our fans who have been extremely loyal for so many years.”
Traditionally, the Hitman series has been very unforgiving, pushing players for the smallest mistake they made while preparing or executing a mission, which has been a turn-off for a number of potential players.
Hitman: Absolution will be powered by a whole new game engine, called Glacier 2, and the development team working on the game says that one of the biggest changes included in it is a whole new Artificial Intelligence that will aim to act as close to real life as possible, meaning that all types of gamers will be able to watch the characters and determine how they need to approach a situation.
The game will still focus on close quarters combat and on stealth movement, but more open world elements will also be included.
Hitman: Absolution is set to be launched on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PC with the release date somewhere during 2012.