Hitman: Absolution

Hi Joab,

I agree you have a right to an opinion, but I disagree with most arguments in this review. I thought they were a bit unfounded in many areas (not all), and I'll point them out below.

First I'd say I quite enjoyed the game. It does of course have faults and I don't think it's the best game ever. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that I liked Blood Money a bit more, but not by much.

In terms of your arguments, you were off from the very first paragraph. The video game story doesn't involve being in an orphanage, as I believe this is a reference to the movie. The movie actually had a different background story, but as you aren't interested in the story, I think this isn't that much of a crime.

Several of the hits are indeed cut scenes, but these are necessary to the story. In terms of how the story plays out, there wasn't a lot of choice in allowing every single hit to be a sprawling sand box. Yes, their intent was to shift to better story telling and that came with the sacrifice of requiring some storytelling elements, removing player's choice from several sections of the game.

The suit purchasing level was a story telling choice that might come back in the future. It gives you a slight insight into how 47 lives his life: he's chosen a tailor that's blind. For unknown reasons that tailor recognizes 47 and, maybe more importantly, already has a suit tailored and ready for him. There's also the tailor is the only NPC in the game that you cannot kill, the relevance of which is unknown.


The next few sections revolve around playing on Normal, which is designed for you to be able to play through without much (or any) challenge. AI reaction is slow, you take little damage in gun fights, and you're less easily spotted. You also get hints and Instinct is plentiful.

This is the default difficulty not because it provides the best experience, but because it's the most likely one that people will be able to complete without getting frustrated. The harder difficulties are exponentially more difficult, even more so when compared to Blood Money missions.

The argument that the game has no consequences for killing anyone leads me to this: what consequences would you have liked to see? Sure you can run through the missions on Easy or Normal and kill everyone, and in higher difficulties can get through certain sections with gun play. This is certainly one way to play the game. It's worth noting that this is only an option (choice) to the player, and on harder difficulties not a good option at that.

It's also worth noting that Hitman on the harder difficulties doesn't allow you to complete missions without killing or knocking out targets. This is why bonus points from hiding bodies negates the act of offing them (as long as they aren't a civilian).

Cover sticking is nothing new and you can leave cover by moving the left stick opposite of cover (e.g. pointing down on the joystick). I do agree that "move to cover" option could have been better in some places but for the most part, once you've used it, it's pretty easy to pick up on.

For picking up items/weapons, you can hold down Y (Xbox) or triangle (PS3) to interact with items and tap Y/triangle to interact with the environment. Holding Y picks up a weapon or item, tapping it dumps a body. The same works for B/Circle for picking up bodies / taking cover, tapping to take cover and holding down to pick up a body.

As for the AI, the first point to be made is that they have slower reaction in Normal and Easy. That being said, your particular case of the Chipmunk suit is mostly likely explained by the fact that you killed the witnesses. Typically if you get Disguise Blown you don't get the "I see you" meter, they just run after you when you're spotted. If you kill the witnesses, it's up to the AI to get suspicious and discover you're out of place again (this being a lot less likely on Normal difficulty).


Overall I think your review is a bit unfounded and mostly based on the fact you played the game on Normal (your complaints being the game is too easy). The remaining complaints revolve around taste, and while you slam the game for the linear sections you never give props for the sprawling open-ended missions.

To be blunt, after Blood money I did expect more from IO interactive. Don't get me wrong, I love that we finally have a agent 47 that is presented to us in remarkable AAA graphics and that actually feels more like a super assassin rather then a clunky robo-cop. However where this game really falls short is that key fundamental game play features that we have learnt playing the hitman in previous titles are completely removed from agent 47's newest installment.

My biggest grip with the game is that if you wish to carry a sniper rifle or a two handed weapon, traditionally in the series you would have to conceal said weaponry in a rifle case to evade suspicion. However, in the case of Hitman Absolution, IO has seen fit to allow carried items, especially those which have previously defined as "non-concealable weapons" to simply vanish from your hands, and miraculously appear into your initiatory without the courtesy of even a slight animation of agent 47 reaching under his jacket. likewise can be said for retrieving items from your stored inventory.

Congratulations IO interactive. you have successfully transformed one of the greatest gaming franchises from a stealth action strategy sandbox, to an arcade adventure shooter. Hitman absolution is on par with the Hitman movie.

This is the only good review I've read of this game, and even then I still feel it's too lenient. I've bounced between aggravated, infuriated and bored on every level of this game. Not once have I felt challenged or intelligent. If I failed, it was because I deviated from the very set goals the game wants you to complete. The real nail in the coffin for me was not the fact that it has little or nothing to do with a Hitman game, not the fact that the story turned the living ghost into a braindead incompetent, not event he fact that the AI is almost broken. No, what broke it for me was playing level after level where all you had to do was walk to a door. That's it. Just walk to a door. Out of the 15 levels I've played so far, I've had to assassinate people on maybe half of them, if I was lucky. Even then, it's usually more "kill" someone, than actually carefully plan their assassinations. A 3 is way too much for this game. Had it not had the Hitman name attached to it, then maybe it would be worth a 3, or maybe a 4 as it is a half-decent 3rd person stealth shooter. But as a Hitman game it deserves a 1/10 at the most. There is no fun or creativity to be found here. Just play Blood Money.

I find it quite funny the people who give this game 10 stars are the people who come to reviews like this and bash the reviewer. This was an honest to goodness good and unbiased review.

I was pretty disappointed myself and bored checkpoint after checkpoint going through each map playing the same linear routine over and over. The game failed to deliver the true hitman experiance that the rest of the series contained: a sandbox. Instead we are left with a plot that makes hitman stand out as a wimp, some duck and covering gameplay that is as similiar but worse than the splinter cell series and a point system that takes away points for killing people. seriously?

along with the other problems this game has like being forced to use "instinct" in order to use a disguise; it has become more of a frustration to play seeing as how simple and efficient blood money was when it came out.

"... he turned around and walked away. He was hunting for a man in a giant chipmunk outfit, he could see one hiding behind a vehicle and he decided it must have been a different giant chipmunk. "

I found this to be comical but true. The a.i. are horrible in this game.

@Skillet - My review is 2200 words, Bennett's is 1200. The only thing less essay like about my review is that I attached a number to it. Bennett is a great reviewer though.

@Rugal I didn't accuse anyone of being a potential liar, the discussion degenerated when you decided it was easier to troll than to actually make counter-arguments.

I rate this game a 9/10. I signed up to this site after reading the review and then going into the forums to see some comments on it from joab. After reading an amusing thread where joab defended his score against criticism I signed up and posted what I believed to be my issues with the review. Criticisms of the game are based around it being different to previous hitman games and a number of bugs that the reviewer had with the game that he claimed 'broke' it and resulted in the score.

I commented on his review and pointed out where his assessments of the review where most likely based on either not playing the game properly (such as issues with the cover system, complaints about linearity that upon inspection are unfounded, the sight meter and detection ststem, and a dislike for the game because it varies slightly from the original hitman open-world style of gameplay), and that he had problems with the game crashing . I queried joab on why he didn't discuss the crashes with the devs of the game to get an understanding if it was a systemic bug with the game or the fault of a disc and/or his console. The discussion degenerated on his part to abuse of my opinion and me, as well as labelling the devs in Australia as potential liars who can't be trusted to give him an honest answer on the issues he had with the code (which I might add, no one else is apparently having).

So to sum up, I like the game and as a hitman fan I can understand the ciritcisms some people have of the changed level structure and introduction of new elements to the disguise system and mods to the sight meter. However, I still rate it as a very enjoyable game that was well worth my time. I'm still having fun with contracts and am pushing through the story mode on the harder levels where the enemies are more numerous in number and are much harder to get past (either by stealth or brute force).

Below, an example of an objectively carried out review. Providing the good points and the bad. While your opinion as a reviewer is obviously important, a more essay type approach to your reviews might make less people "annoyed" by them.

http://games.on.net/2012/11/hitman-absolution-pc-reviewed-less-sandbox-more-splinter-cell/

Too much storytelling\movie shiz, it's ment 2 be Hitman not Uncharted

@Rapidshifter - So you encountered at least one of the bugs I did - one that requires the player to reset their game - and yet you dismiss it and claim that I'm somehow at fault for the other bugs?

It's a bit weird the way my review of the PS3 version doesn't mention how the PC version is different, I'll admit that, but I guess there's not much I can do there.

Let's face it, you liked the game so you forgive it for any issues it had. You actively did this when you said the vocal bug was a non-issue. I didn't forgive it for being broken for me, probably because I am a reviewer and not some raving fanboy.

The grasping at straws bit is delicious irony though.

Here's a question though, just think this through. Does my not liking this game hurt your liking the game? If it does, maybe you don't like the game as much as you think.

Well this review is a disgrace. You're the only person I've read that's talked about technical issues, and hate to break it but when one reviewer has technical issues and another doesn't (Nerd Cubed Sleeping Dogs to TB's Sleeping Dogs) then they admit that and don't take it into account for the score that it's very likely their fault.

Blaming the game for having no kills, so WHY DIDN'T YOU PLAY CONTRACTS? Absolution mode is about the story, not about killing people.

The game has to reset midlevel because it is incredibly hard now? Did you ever play other Hitman games besides Blood Money Joaby or are you used to the easiest game in the series?

Then you're whining about a guard not seeing you over a piece of cover, and somehow attributing it to a bug. Really?

As for the Vocal bug, I have had that as well but *gasp* a restart fixed that, whoda thunk it?

I swear some people wanted to hate the game from the start so they review it as poor because it's different from the one game in the series they played: Blood Money.

By the way, the PC version doesn't have the same button limitation for a gamepad as dump body and pickup weapon are 2 separate buttons. But you forgot to mention this.

I can forgive giving halo 4 an average in a poorly written review, but this? This is just a joke and now I remember why I stopped browsing GA. I don't care if it gets a bad review for the right reasons, but to just grasp at straws is a new low.

Absolutely atrocious game, in every respect.

Ahh yes, because I don't enjoy a QTE heavy, poorly written interactive movie, a regressive FPS or a broken stealth action game I'm not allowed to enjoy a FPS. Great insight JRoss.

@ Flurgence - My current PS3 is less than 10 months old, so another one is broken I'm going to be quite upset. I don't have any problems in any other games though, so it seems particular to Hitman Absolution.

I've been playing the game on PS3, no patch, it seems to work fine. In fact I've heard nothing about crashes from anyone. Maybe your machine's a bit old?

HALO 4: 5.5
HITMAN: 3.0
HEAVY RAIN: 4.5
...

CoD Black Ops 2: 8.5

Is this what 'journalism' has come to? I only really started coming here to look at the reviews, but some of them are just a joke. Simply terrible mate. Disappointing.

I wasn't having a go with the hearts and souls comment. The game had to have a 3/10 because it literally wasn't working for me. Once a game crashes or stops working as it should I can't give it a higher score because it's not an accurate reflection of my experience. Just out of interest - when you put the game in the first time, did you get a 1.01 patch or anything to download?

Sorry if my knee-jerk defensiveness came off as rude, I've been copping a fair bit of stick for a review of a game which didn't work properly for me.

Hey man many thanks for the reply. Sorry about dribble, in the moment that was maybe a tad harsh haha. I respect your work as a reviewer I just think you missed the mark here... I don't expect you to take in the hearts and souls (that is ridiculous), but simply at least acknowledge the great points in this game and if you can truly say there were none then I don't know what game you were playing. A 3/10 says to me something that is literally unplayable and past the bad strory and checkpoints most of the issues you raise I'm simply not seeing. Example: The triangle to pick up weapon or dump body is simply a case of tapping or holding said button. And the default setting is normal (I think) which is the second level of difficulty out of 6 and even tells you in the description that its on the easy side... I think the fact you don't touch on the harder settings is a mistake in itself. But each to their own I guess. Thanks again for the review and reply.

I have the game on Xbox so maybe that will change the review a little.

The game is more story focused then older hitman games. There is no contracts and goes for the man with a gun can save the day story line. It doesn't really fit the game and the story is out right stupid in many places but it kept me interested in what is a fairly long SP experience by today's standards.

I also had Joaby's issue with try to dump bodies, till I figured out I was doing it wrong. A quick tap of a button will stash a body, holding down the button will pick up an object on the ground. It feels back to front but once you get use to it you can quickly dump a body without continually picking up a brick on the ground next to a dumpster.

The Achievement system is a rather good addition to the game it adds replay value to the game and helps point you in directions you probably wouldn't of thought of and you can use them to challenge yourself. Finish the mission in only your suit, never be spotted or even become a darn scarecrow and haunt a corn field.

The difficulty settings really have to be mentioned as well, on easier modes the AI is stupider. You can often dash past them in full view without setting off alarms. In fact the game rewards you for going gun happy by giving you intuition for every headshot you get along with allowing you to use checkpoints.

This changes on the harder modes as the AI becomes "smarter" to some extent, intuition no longer recharges, checkpoints are disabled even the GUI is switched off on the hardest setting. As the game tells you on the selection screen this is really only for people who have played through at least once as the lack of a map can make finding objects or the correct way to go a little difficult without intuition.

The checkpoint system is broken and can often bug out the AI by using them. This was my biggest gripe with the game. Nothing worse than setting up a bunch of assassinations only to reload and have them all reset on you.

I didn't have a single crash or game breaking bug on the xbox in the one and a bit times I have played through it (man I need sleep) which for a hitman game is amazing. While normally a PC gamer I can remember the launch of nearly every hitman game as a buggy mess so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to sit down and play the game from start to end with only a few minor issues.

If you are the type of person that likes to run and gun his way through a game then Hitman isn't really for you. The game is all about finishing a mission while leaving as little a impact on the surrounding area as possible. This means not knocking out/killing/throwing fire axes into every person you come across creating a lot of sneaking and observing waiting for that one perfect shot on your target. While it gives you other options to complete the mission this is the way hitman games are meant to be played and the way the game feels happiest with.

If you liked the old games then you will like Absolution. If you only liked the old games because you could run through china town mowing everyone down then this probably isn't your game and you should probably wait till next year when GTA 5 comes out.

Hi Reijii. I'm not sure what you want me to say/do. I didn't make up my technical issues and I have multiple witnesses who saw the game crash on me/exhibit numerous other flaws - so I'm not really certain how I'm supposed to do anything about that? I mean, I can't review the game as if it didn't crash on me multiple times. That's not really how this works. I review my experience with the game, not an imaginary experience I had where nothing went wrong.

Let's see... I played the game on the default difficulty setting because that is the setting the devs intend for it to be played on. Usually the default setting is the setting where the dev team has tweaked the gameplay and AI to present the best experience. Maybe this isn't the case in Absolution. I'm pretty sure I acknowledge this is a possibility in the review.

Instinct and Point Shooting I described as 'mostly decent'. The highlight of the game for me was Contracts, a mode where the player gets to actually hunt a target and perform a hit.

I didn't miss the score system, I specifically reference it at one point. It's just a poor motivation because the player can negate the penalities by hiding the bodies. Sure you can't hide every body, but you don't have to kill everyone. Just the three or four who come by when you shoot one of their friends.

It's not my place to think about the hearts and souls of the people who worked on it. That's ridiculous. I don't relish saying the product they made is bad, but in my opinion it isn't good and it would be dishonest of me to describe it any other way. Do you feel bad because you told me my review is dribble? I worked pretty hard on it.

Of course you don't.

This review is utter dribble. While I agree with SOME points (especially the checkpoint system being broken and the story being weak as hell) for the most part I haven't encountered any of the technical issues described. The stick to cover actually feels right to me, the game has ran PERFECTLY on my ps3 and I'm atleast 10 hours in, the AI has been (for the most part) exactly what one would expect from a AAA title on this generation of systems (maybe that's because I jumped straight in on hard? I would expect the AI on lower settings to be a bit 'dumbed down', naturally). And the highlights for this guy were instinct and point shooting? Things which have been added to make the game more accessible to people unfamiliar with the series, things which - in my opinion - detract from the true hitman experience. It sounds like he put the game on easy/normal and shot his way through every level as fast as he could... The reason not to kill people in levels is a point/rating system that the review seems to have totally missed. I agree with everyone saying 'it's all different opinions yada yada' but when the person trusted to give the opinion (in an unbiased fashion), the opinion that most people will see, slaps together half a page worth of flaming and merely scratches the games surface because most of it is spent on a couple of farcical issues (that he seems to think have broken the entire product) it's hardly fair to the people who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and 4 years of their life creating for YOUR entertainment (which seems so precious might I add). Just so you can come along and take a **** all over it, making it out to sound like a 0.99 cent game you would purchase in the itunes store for an apple device. But then again... thats just my opinion. Love

Despite it's flaws, the game is decent and consumes time without me hating myself for parting with $30. At least for time:price ratio, the game does well I think. 3.0 is a bit heavy... There are much more terrible games out there that have higher ratings.

And while I get it's your opinion, your opinion tends to go to the masses. I'm glad I bought this game before i read this, otherwise I would've missed out on it.

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