E3 2011: Hitman Absolution (Impressions)

by: Sean - posted: 6/11/2011 2:39:00 PM

Game: Hitman Absolution
Developer: IO Interactive
Release window/date: 2012
What's Polished: The visuals look great, and the controls looked fluid.
What Needs Polish: Aside from the voice-acting, the sound was the only aspect that didn't seem well-executed.

Hitman Absolution marks the fifth time that Agent 47 has murdered his way into our hearts; what’s changed this time? In the demo I watched, 47 competently and stealthily dispatched police officers in order to escape a decrepit library.
The game looked great, with textures and lighting that did more than illuminate and, ah, texturize; they really added to the mood, with the police officers’ flashlights slowing breaking the protective cocoon of 47’s shadows as he made his way around the room.

He definitely made his way around the room in a smooth fashion. I haven’t played a Hitman title since the sequel, and I was particularly struck by how fluid the movement was whenever 47 darted from cover to cover.HA is the first in the series to feature the “instinct” system, allowing the player to see an illuminated pathway that area guards follow on patrol. No more waiting and watching patrol patterns for what, for me, seemed like an eternity.

HA was great just to watch, with a well-constructed, threatening kind of ambience, and creative touches like shooting a chandelier to have it come crashing down on a group of your pursuers. I can’t wait to see how it plays sometime in 2012.