Agent 47 is back with a vengeance, although it’s taken him a six year vacation to do that. This silent killing machine has been with us since 2000 and has given us a unique take on stealth game genre. Now, in Hitman: Absolution, he’s looking for a more personal endeavor to underpin his violence. This time around Agent 47 will use both new and old tools to eliminate targets, but do these tools turn Absolution into a grand return for Agent 47, or should our favorite shadowy assassin consider retirement?
Unlike its predecessors, Hitman: Absolution’s plot is one of protection and one of personal deliverance. He won’t be uncovering more of his dark clone-filled past, nor saving his priest mentor, or going through flashbacks. This time Agent 47’s goal is to protect a young girl from his former agency – and along the way lay waste to bodyguards and key individuals to uncover a dark conspiracy. Agent 47 is a shady yet likeable character from the very beginning, but in Absolution you see that he’s willing to sacrifice his very life to protect that of the young girl. While the story in itself isn’t emotional – and sometimes utter nonsense – you do get to see a lighter side of Agent 47. A side that is completely unlike him.
Gameplay wise this one hits it out of the park. First off, Absolution has refined the series controls, which after a 6 year long hiatus is very understandable. With a new cover system IO interactive has finally put the stealth back into this stealth game, allowing players to fluidly sneak around their environment, taking cover around corners, behind counters and even behind a stack of vegetable crates as they patiently wait to pull an unsuspecting victim to their demise while remaining undetected. Also among agent 47’s newly acquired skills is the all new Instincts mode, which allows players to reveal enemy patrol routes, hints to hidden items and possible costumes to don as a disguise. But, my favorite improvement in absolution is the ability to mark multiple targets for execution while in Instincts mode and then watch as he eliminates his targets in spectacular action packed cinematic fashion.
But what makes this game a champion in its own rights is its incredible soundscapes that brings these virtual environments, to life. Hear the echo of your footsteps walking down the empty hospital hallway, hear the city traffic and mandarin speaking patrons while strolling through Chinatown and listen closely as you go to the club for the muffled wub wub of the bass heavy music playing behind the closed doors outside the club then hear the sound swell as you open the doors. In all, Hitman: Absolution goes above and beyond expectations and has been well worth the 6 year wait.
A TAKE WITH JAKE 