The recent Hitman trilogy also owes a lot to Absolution’s “instinct” system which, at the time, seemed utterly absurd. Would these developments have occurred if Absolution didn’t take things too far? Probably not. They don’t lean over you gloating, while their creatine-chugging henchman stands on your neck.
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And the villains of the piece? They operate from behind the scenes, emerging only when you’ve flushed them out. 47 is driven not by burning vengeance but a promise he made with an old friend and his attachment to the one person he truly trusts, an easier-to-swallow scenario. Instead, the World of Assassination trilogy takes the ideas introduced in Hitman: Absolution and executes them far more effectively. However, the idea of having persistent villains wasn’t just abandoned, as Travis Barbour, IO’s communications manager, noted in a recent interview. It’s particularly telling that none of the plot threads left dangling at the end of Hitman: Absolution have been picked up by subsequent games. And don’t get me started on the Saints, Absolution’s nun assassins, who could have been ripped from a ‘70s grindhouse flick. So, even with the “correct” motivation, Hitman: Absolution’s attempt to suddenly make him a determined angel of vengeance fell flat. But for years, 47 had been painted as a near emotionless void, primarily so the players could pour themselves into him. It’s clear Kane and Lynch, another IO Interactive title, had some influence on Absolution, to the point where Lynch himself makes a cameo appearance. “The problem with Absolution is that its new custodians from the Kane and Lynch team seem to have fundamentally misunderstood what made Hitman great,” wrote VideoGamer’s Chris Schilling.
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When you do catch up with the other two recurring villains, there’s little satisfaction because control is wrenched out of your hands and their deaths are relegated to cutscenes.
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Why would he do something so ridiculous? Because it’s a grand cinematic moment, ignoring the fact that Hitman players had, for years, been crafting their own dramatic executions.
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There’s an optional scene where 47 gets into a wrestling match with a character best described as Discount Danny Trejo.īefore dispatching Discount Danny, the assassin - who operates based on anonymity - tears off his mask in front of the watching crowd.
#HITMAN ABSOLUTION GAME SERIES#
Hitman: Absolution’s most immediate sin is that it tries to turn series protagonist 47 into an action hero, pitting him against a range of larger-than-life villains whose presence dominates the plot. Some of the changes, though misguided, were a bold attempt at taking the franchise beyond its roots. For all its flaws, it laid the groundwork for IO Interactive’s “World of Assassination” Hitman trilogy, arguably the finest stealth games to date. I recently revisited Hitman: Absolution and gained a greater appreciation for what it tried to accomplish. It barely felt like a Hitman game, and even now, its canon status is highly questionable.īut perhaps it’s time to reappraise this oddball addition to the stealth genre’s standout series. Hitman: Absolution had more than its fair share of sins: chunked and limited levels that barely gave you room to move, cutscenes that robbed you of the right to execute your target, a nuns-with-guns hit squad, enough lens flare to blind a yak, the list goes on. This article contains mild spoilers for IO Interactive’s Hitman “World of Assassination” trilogy.