Hitman: Absolution Review

Disguise gameplay is punishing and very different relative to its predecessor. You’ll work just as hard in a disguise as you would in stealth or combat. If you take a police disguise, all police in the area are to be avoided. Just by facing their direction, you’ll gain attention from half way across the level. It’s like putting on a shirt that says “I am the bald assassin” on the front and “only joking” on the back. You’d attract less attention by walking around in your underwear. The game wants you to turn away or use instinct to cover your face. If you are spotted for a fake, you can still recover by leading the suspicious guard to an isolated area.

Totally not a threat because I tipped my hat in your direction!

It’s ungainly to shuffle around, facing away from enemies, and watch yellow arrows grow and shrink on your HUD. Your finger is always ready to press the instinct button when the arrows get too large. Enemy AI view range and peripheral vision is too great, especially within civilian crowds. Agent 47’s ear is very recognisable from long distances too. A cook will see through your chef outfit from 30 paces, yet a policeman is oblivious with his flashlight in your face. You can even avoid detection by turning in circles or switching corners as guards surround you. Luckily there is still satisfaction as the disguises bring you through hostile areas; it just requires a lot more effort than before.

Absolution wants you to play as a silent assassin. It wants you to get through unnoticed, kill your target and escape as a shadow. A point system compares your score to friends and the world. You’ll lose points for killing non targets or knocking them out. You can recoup points by placing bodies in specific containers like fridges. Dragging bodies to non trafficked areas should have been worth something. You lose points for passing invisible, unintelligible trespass barriers found only through trial and error. Shooting everybody in a level is an option, but you might end up with negative points for it. The points give you extremely minor, uninteresting, auto assigned upgrades. You will gravitate towards the silent approach but won’t be punished greatly for gratuitous violence.

You can shoot everybody in a level, but there are massive point penalties

Enemy AI is a good component of Absolution. Their vision is tweaked so you have ample time to move between cover at range. They can be lured to an isolated area by making sounds or throwing objects. They react to dead bodies, branching to the far corners of areas when corpses are left lazily in groups. Guards even taunt you if they see you enter a hiding spot. It’s unfortunate that you’ll have to wait for conversations before guards move to their vulnerable positions. More audio clues would have been nice instead of relying so much on the HUD arrows. On the harder modes, extra guards make it extremely difficult to move through areas inconspicuously. The AI proves a worthy adversary for Agent 47 but would benefit from further tweaks.

Odd quirks and glitches limit the potential of the AI or ruin a perfectly good plan. Agent 47 was able to grab an enemy, deep in conversation, and pull her behind a desk. The remaining guard asked, “Where did you go?” and walked away. A remote explosive, placed near a leaking gas stove, killed the civilian in the floor below while leaving the occupant of the room unscathed. After killing several characters with a loud car lift, a policeman stood by and watched as it was raised and lowered ad infinitum. It was quite surprising to hear a dead man complain after he suffered a fatal Katana wound. These types of glitches will certainly turn up if you replay levels and push the boundaries.