The fifth entry into the Hitman franchise, Absolution, landed on our shores last week, bringing with it a divided critical and fan reception given how much it appears to have steered away from its roots towards appealing to more casual players. Indeed, the latest Hitman game might boast shiny new graphics and a more cinematic style, but it’s also far and away from what the hardcore fans were hoping for, a more accessible title that has upset purists and appealed more to the, dare I say, Call of Duty crowd.
Though it’s easy to see why the uninitiated might get a kick out of it, here’s 10 reasons why, if you’re a long-time fan, Hitman: Absolution just doesn’t cut it.
10. Disguises
In the previous Hitman games, disguises were a vital part of getting about the open world, allowing you to sneak past the NPCs with the utmost ease to assassinate your target. In Absolution, however, disguises have basically been rendered transparent, and therefore rather pointless. Basically, if someone wearing the same uniform sees you, the uniform doesn’t work, and you’ll be outed in seconds, even if you slam on the instinct button to try and hide your face. This is apparently to promote the player frequently changing disguises, but it mostly makes for a frustrating experience that means assuming someone else’s identity really isn’t that fun anymore.
Also, some disguise mechanics just plain don’t make sense; you can be wearing a mask and the NPCs will still realise that you’re an imposter, which of course, is completely dumb. Still, the Hitman mod community has already started releasing patches that means the NPCs don’t look at you so meticulously, which feels more in line with classic Hitman.
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98 Comments
While I agree with almost all the points made, I do not believe they are as bad as you make them out to be. I still find Hitman: Absolution to be an incredibly satisfying game with endless possibilities and phenomenal replay value – especially with the introduction of Contracts.
Perhaps my only complete agreement is the fact that the game is so short. There are not nearly enough levels.
U people dont know to enjoy the game!!!
actualy its not very bad but it could be much better
if you wanna to have a great expreience in shooter game you most playing : tome clancy rambow six vegas 2 or future soldier they are very hard and those are very perfect for everyone’s like to has important reality feeling
I can’t agree. Everything that was good about the Hitman series was gone. It progressed into a linear game, in fact it’s nearly all linear now.
But the biggest thing is the developers obviously force difficulty in some places by limiting normal gameplay. As a developer myself I have to say that’s pretty lazy. You never limit gameplay unless there’s a very real specific reason for it, like say your leg gets shot and you have to limp. A horrible example is specifically the bar scene of the game. You can’t use any disguise, the bouncers see you anyways no matter what. On a side point there’s too many bouncers too, there must be like 30 bouncers in this stupid cheap country club. Really? But anyways you find a huge switch in the bathroom that simply shuts up the music in the waiting room. Why is there a switch in the bathroom to shut off the music? It instantly lets off this huge roadhouse style brawl. Why? I don’t know why. People just start fighting. It’s then that you realize the developer forced you to not use disguises. They didn’t want you to use disguises so they made it nearly impossible to use them here. You HAVE to start the fight. THEN you have to walk to the bartender fighting nearly every single freaking bouncer in there with a dumb quicktime event fight. I got to the bartender pretty fast, but I couldn’t talk to him because there were like 10 bouncers waiting in a line for their quicktime event. That’s so bad.
Finally I talk to the bartender, all I do is ask where Lenny is. Really I was forced to start a brawl, forced to kick the ass of everyone there, and all I was going to do was ask where Lenny was.
That was a horribly designed level.
I find the points made in the above article very true and a throughly agree with them. The one thing that made this game disappointing for me was the fact that it is much easier to go guns-a-blazing and kill everyone rather than attempting to be the silent assassin from the previous games.
this has to be one of the worst articles i’ve read on WhatCulture..seriously. Most of the points this guy makes are really stupid, i only thought maybe 2 of them were sort of right- The checkpoints and the lighting bloom overuse. But Square Enix said that the current gen consoles limited Absolution, so you can say you can’t blame them, they cant fit one whole massive level in one section. They’re gonna have to divide it, but absolution is indeed one a amazing game, a 9.0/10.0 from me. IT’s exactly what i gave hitman 2 and blood money.
All of the valid critcisms you’re bitching about, and one of the only ones you agree with is the one about the LIGHTING?! Moron.
“But Square Enix said that the current gen consoles limited Absolution, so you can say you can’t blame them, they cant fit one whole massive level in one section. They’re gonna have to divide it”
So, what you’re saying is, you’re dumb enough to believe this flagrant lie because you’ve never played a next-gen game.
I can’t believe that someone that played Blood Money would say Absolution is a good game. All the points the author made are valid, they broke everything what made Hitman a great game. Normally I would buy this game, but am glad that I rented it first. Waste of money otherwise, IO should be ashamed.
I never played blood money, but the game still sort of sucks. The disguises being useless is the worst part. And if you walk into the wrong place (like down some alley) and you’re technically trespassing for a second, then turn around and leave, guards still try to arrest you and there’s no way to avoid a full out gunfight, just because you stepped in the wrong place. And maybe it’s just me, but the combat system sucks.
How is the disguise mechanic bad? Aside from masked disguises it makes sense that people in the same crew would recognize their coworkers. As for trespassing, if you turn around they ignore you, no fire-fight needed. All of these gripes are nitpicking, and a few of them are additions that improve the game. This game rocks!!
I think the disguises are spot on… You are in an area where the staff know each other. In real life you go into a bar, change into a staff uniform and try walking behind the bar you will soon be spotted and told to get lost or have security escort you out.
A feature I greatly miss is being able to select your loadout for a mission, it has always been a staple in the Hitman games.
I’m also against the point system. I’ve played all of the console versions of Hitman and have always enjoyed the challenge of getting SA, which simply required for you to take out the target and not leave any trace. Well if I don’t do it significantly enough now, I don’t earn enough points for SA.
I will say that the game feels longer than Hitman 2 and Contracts, the replayability will determine if it’s longer than Blood Money. (Which I never grew tired of playing)
OMG did anyone else see that in the last picture 47 looked like Slenderman (it would explain why everyone was running :P)
You’re such a hypocrite, you say it’s unrealistic to have bins all over the place (and they’e usually in places they would already be like in Shaving Lenny) and then you complain that a guard will recognize that you’re not a co worker.
And maybe the checkpoint thing was designed for gamers who aren’t that good and need help, if it makes the game too easy for you don’t use them.
As far as I know health does not regenerate all the way, unless you’re just playing easy mode.
And the level design part seems to forget to mention the actual level designs! Tell me you didn’t enjoy Terminus and the following mission. Those were great level designs, especially the stripper level.
And the artificial difficulty complaint is just ridiculous.
At least state things that actually suck, like no weapon loadout before missions, no fiber wire tightening animation and other things like that.
I’m with Cris on this one, very good point bro, may just say that I’m currently playing Absolution and I hardly use the instinct mode when doing things like tailing a Target or anticipating an NPC gaurd or Officers path at my own choic,only at times when it’s to blend in of which is a change of pace fo the franchise nd yes I have played all the Hitman games from Codename 47 all the way to Blood Money and this 5th one has way more pros then cons, seriously author Shaun make it as if will have no choice but to make it more easier for ourselfs and just hide bodys or use checkpoints, like Cris said don’t use them if you don’t want to not like the checkpoint i going to automatically activate itself you are still given the option to activate it and you are hardly lucky enough to find them unless you look around the level if you got the time to do so or else feel the hardship of choosing to restart to the begining or checkpoint of which you could choose so just try to make it as challenging for yourself as you possibly can and not to make IO always do it for you.
this game was poor. simple as that. no where near as good as the other hitman games.
As sad as it is the article is completely true. :-((
- On one of the levels (Hotel Terminus) I was standing in a street and tried to approach the building from the side. THERE WAS AN INVISIBLE WALL that wouldn’t let me go to far… not a fence, a car, or anything.
- The level design is a disaster, many levels feel linear and discourages exploring because of the design and the instinct-disguise system.
- There are a few open levels but the lack of save system makes sure you don’t want to experiment a lot.
- You cannot choose your gear before you start a mission and on certain levels you even start without a silenced pistol thus taking away another option from you!
- The FOW is quite narrow, again addig to the linear experience.
- Cinematic cutscenes contradicts the character and abilities of agent 47.
- Quick Time Events.. enough is said.
- Bloom is a disaster, sometimes I literaly cannot see much because of it. Of course I cannot be turned off.
Main point: less freedom, less “simulation”, more story-driven linear arcade-like gaming (regenerating health, checkpoints, narrow level designs)
Its a good game, but it’s not a good Hitman game, it’s something new, which is quite sad.
Yes, this game isn’t hitman. It should be called Metal Gear Absolution with all the stupid drama, stealth and gene talk. Agent 47 already had went through the “i don’t wanna be a killer” phase in hitman 2!! He ACCEPTED himself afterwards and in blood money he is the baddest mofo out there. Metal Gear Absolution practicaly has no real contract work. All the targets are lame and part of the stupid save the girl story.
This game is an embarrasement.
finally someone who knows hitman and is talking sense! this game was such a disappointment the developers should hang their heads in shame knowing they have ruined a magnificent series.
It reminds me of when Arnold played the good guy in T2 after being such a bad ass in the Terminator. It’s like once a character gets popular enough, they have to become a good guy. So they did with 47, turning from the most bad ass assassin into a baby sitter.
i agree with this article its such a shame to see a great franchise end up this way before everyone starts defending this game im not saying its a bad game but you can not deny its a s**t hitman game its bearly even a hitman game the olny reason hitman is in the title is because 47 is in it most of what was great about the game has been thrown out for some linear splinter cell trash. To everyone saying they had to make small levels because of the graphics true or not graphics don’t make a good game and i certainly don’t buy hitman games for the graphics i buy for the unique gameplay I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the people defending this game are new to the series or perhaps had a quick play through of an older game in any case 1 thing is agreed on by the real fans the most brutal hit in absolution is the slaying of 47
R.I.P. 47
2000-2012
Considering that Hitman is one of my favorite gaming franchises, I know I’m pre-disposed to like it. So after reading some seriously mixed reviews, and some criticisms (yours included), I’m not entirely sure what to think, but I definitely want to give Absolution a play-though for myself. Unfortunately my money’s kind of tight right now, especially with Christmas coming up—besides that would be breaking my game-buying rule. One of my coworkers at DISH actually suggested the game-buying rule after we talked about being disappointed by Deus Ex: Human Revolution (seriously, I’m still bitter about that ending). Now I don’t buy a game without first play-testing it. So I rent all my games from DISH’s Blockbuster @Home first, and if I don’t like it, I don’t buy it at all. It’s definitely saved me some cash in the past six months, plus when I rent a game that I really don’t like, I don’t even feel like I wasted a few bucks renting it because it’s a pay-by-the-month rental service. I’ll put Hitman: Absolution in my Blockbuster @Home queue now so I’ll get to play soon. I still have to finish Dishonored and Assassin’s Creed 3 too—that’s a lot of stealthy, assassin games, isn’t it?
Hitman has, with this installment, been reduced to a simple stealth-action game. I understand that those who have not played the series might find it to be a good game but the whole concept has nothing whatsoever to do with any of its predecessors. As a huge fan of the franchise this was the biggest let down since Diablo 3 and a clear example of how the gaming industry is changing for the worse. I agreed with every single point made by the author of this post.
I’m a massive fan of the Hitman games, and this article is totally correct; Hitman Absolution really does suck balls. I’m just so disappointed. In addition to the points in the article, one of the things which I find really stupid is you can no longer look through keyholes!! How stupid is that?? I mean Agent 47 can magically see people walking about through solid walls using this intuition crap, but he cant bend down and look through a key hole to see whats on the other side? it just sucks. This game could have been perfect, but instead its disastrous. But there you go, nowadays companies love to take the things we hold dear and piss all over them, so I should have expected as much.
Hitman Ob is a great game most of you just can’t play the game and like call of duty what sucks to me as its like every first shooter game for example kill zone all you do is go around shoot every thing to easy and boring least you have to use your head in hitman on how to get your target if you can’t play a stealth game then don’t play hitman and stick to your easy fist shooter games.
mate, this game is not a stealth game. people sense you very easily then you have to kill them anyway, its ridiculous. The game mechanics are totally flawed.
you can’t even look through key holes into the next room!! its so stupid! why did they take that away??
They took a lot of stuff away. Nailguns, elevator fiber wire kills, kills generally as I count 5 missions where the mission is to assassinate a target: King of Chinatown, Killing Wade’s Men in Chinatown, Shaving Lenny (and even then you kidnap him rather than kill him, but you do kill his gang members), Death Factory (completely linear), Fight Night (nice level but tiny).
Thanks for the spoilers moron.
Maybe because its the 21st century now and barely and doors have keyholes any more??
They’ve basically just copied Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell etc. to turn Hitman into some stupid stealth game. Hitman was never a stealth game, thats why it was so cool; you never had to crouch down behind dirty dustbins, or sneak from one conveniently placed piece of cover to the next – you just walked in the front door like a boss and blew your target’s head off.
PHKK YEAA!!! I JUST DOWNLOADED HITMAN BLOOD MONEY LAST WEEK AND I WILL NEVER DELETED OFF MY COMPUTER!!!ITS SO AWESOME! ON THE DEATH OF THE CROW LEVEL. WHEN U START ONE OF YOUR TARGETS WILL BE TALKING TO A GUY AT THE COUNTER.I JUST WALKED OVER BEHIND HIM PULLED OUT MY SILLVER BALLERS AND PHKKING KILLED HIM RIGHT THERE!!! IT WAS SO FUNNY AND FUN! BUT ABSOLUTION IS A ABSOLUTE DISASTER!! U GUYS R RIGHT EVEN THOUGH I HAVENT PLAYED ABSOLUTION YET!! I MIGHT STILL PLAY IT JUST BECAUSE ITS HITMAN! BUT ITS NOT HITMAN 47!!
I was looking forward to this game soo much, and it seemed to have all the right ingredients to be the most awesome Hitman game yet, but it wasn’t to be…I’m just so upset right now.
Glad I’m not the only one who felt this way! Absolution is such a huge step down from Blood Money. There are so few levels that actually involve being a hitman, the game would’ve been more accurately titled “Sneak-to-the-Exit: Absolution”. Some of the levels are pretty and should be fun to explore, reminescient of Blood Money, except the lack of actual saves mean that the only time you actually end up exploring is at the very start of the level or just after a checkpoint, because otherwise it’s not worth the risk to veer off course. Plus the disguises are almost useless, as this article explains. I loved Blood Money because it was great finding the perfect disguise for the job and then walking around the level carefree, exploring and finding the best way to assassinate your target. This game has none of that. Booo.
you forgot to mention quicktime barehand fights. Gosh…i waited so long for this game and I am so disappointed..
This game I loved at First out of excitement when I went to Midnight Launch to pick it up. Now a little over a month later, I can say..This game isn’t that Good at all. This article nailed it. The thing I found most frustrating about the Train level is when you get onto the Over Pass and their are 5 Cops, making it almost impossible on Any Professional Difficulty to get past them(Whether Disguise or Suit) because the Over Pass being tight quarters + 5 Cops patrolling + Small Groups of people to hide between=Easily Caught. I have been completely disgusted by Disguises in this game as they are utterly useless on higher difficulties and if I want to complete a challenge & mission flawlessly I have to replay a Checkpoint 30 times just so I can avoid getting spotted at all. Even some of the Sections/Checkpoints in this game give you an almost impossible Scenario of getting through the Checkpoint undetected. Not going to lie, I do enjoy this game & the Higher difficulties make it Highly Replayable (a lot of times Frustratingly Replayable) & Contracts adds to that replayability as well. But they should’ve named this game “Hitman:Shell of it’s old self”. I thank god it still feels & plays like old school Hitman at times but most the time it makes you wish they released a Hitman game with everything about Blood Money Copied & pasted only with a newer story.
I TOTALLY agree with this article. They have added the wrong and removed the right realistic elements.
This game is just a big big mistake.
Just play COD. It has none of the features mentioned here, except for the bad level design.
Blood Money was the Zenith of the Series, perfection, I barely got a chance to play one, but it struck me as an amazing idea…2 was great, but played it fleetingly just after its release, then played it and Contracts after Blood Money , which made them seem a bit… wooden.. but amazing games… Blood Money was one of the best games ever made, I never tired of it, getting Ghost on all levels on the higest difficulty, then, realising there was still 2 or 3 other ways to attain the same rank made it endlessly enojoyable, because once those ways were done, all of them, on that hardest level, you missed being rambo and went back to play it again as if you where a novice. This game basically also FORCES you to take out targets not essential to the game, as a consequence of the poor disguise feature, some levels you are just ‘back in to a corner’ and have ZERO option of backing down if your disguise fails…the authors comments are 100% true. This game has been murdered by Scandinavian BoHo’s who have no understading of what the visceral WASP culturally orientated gamer wants. I am not saying that we should be an example to the world, but they castrated this game, and 47 along with it.
Listen, all the people that complain about Absolution and claim that IO should be ashamed, you are so unbelievable petty and fickle, if you were a true fan of the franchise you wouldn’t have thrown your loyalty away so easily. Come on, it could have been so, so, so much worse, and it may not have lived up to you pedantic personal fantasies, but they’ll make more, and hopefully learn from their mistakes. Its so hypocritical to claim to be an avid fan and then scorn the franchise so harshly. In my opinion, absolution wasn’t all that bad, reminded me of HM 2: Silent assassin, which was actually my favorite of the franchise, and in that one, the enemy’s could see through your disguise, maybe they were taking it old school? Get over your unfair and unjustified complaints and look for the GOOD things about the game, rather than the bad. Whats the point in buying a game if you’re just going to complain about it?…
“Whats the point in buying a game if you’re just going to complain about it?”
That makes no sense.
It Makes absolutely perfect sense. What is it you don’t understand about it? I asked it rhetorically, as if to point out there is no point in buying a game if you’re just going to complain about it.
No, Fred is correct. It makes no sense. NO ONE buys a game in order to complain about it. What on earth are you on about? Who does that? People buy games because they want to enjoy them, have played others in the series or like the look of them. You end up complaining about them after you buy them and play them when they turn out to be bad. People aren’t psychic, they don’t see a game on a shelf and think ‘I’m going to buy this game and then complain about it because I know in advance it’s going to be bad’. What planet are you from where people do this?
“Listen, all the people that complain about Absolution and claim that IO should be ashamed, you are so unbelievable petty and fickle, if you were a true fan of the franchise you wouldn’t have thrown your loyalty away so easily”
people r pissed off because most of us have been fans since 2000 we have all patiently waited for 6 years for a new hitman game and this is what we get the devs have not only ruined this game but lied to all of us telling us that classic hitman is alive and well in this game and seem all to happy to piss on their long time fans to try and make a quick buck are these the kind of people you want to remain loyal to?
mate, this game is not a stealth game. people sense you very easily then you have to kill them anyway, its ridiculous. The game mechanics are totally flawed.
what are you talking about? it is nothing like hm2, because all the game mechanics have been bastardised to transform the game into something totally different. HM absolution is an arcade game, and not a very good one at that. such a shame.
” if you were a true fan of the franchise you wouldn’t have thrown your loyalty away so easily. ”
so if your wife cheats on you, you don’t divorce her?
Come on people be realistic, this game is proper and so much fun.
its the newest hitman ever to come out plus you gave it a nine out of ten beat that.IT is the winner of the 25 E3 awards because it is that GREAT. And like FRED said “whats the point in buying a game if your just going to COMPLAIN and MOAN about it.
STOP YOUR COMPLAINING AND SELL IT.
This particular point here kind of gives the impression this entire list has been made entirely for the sake of bitching about it. The reason I find that to be the case? “not everyone has the time to play through a 30-hour version of the campaign” having previously complained about how short the campaign is. Also the fact that complaints are made frequently so far about how “X makes the game harder” while the whole message of this list is, apparently, how much “easier” the game has been made for “casual gamers” which makes each point invalid. Are you trying to tell us it’s been made too easy? Or too hard?
I wouldnt mind if IO had tried something new with Hitman and failed. But if “something new” just means to make it more Call of Duty/Gears of War-like, it is only annoying and boring and a slap in the face of every Hitmanfan. Like we dont have enough shooter games every year which exactly play the same. Franchise-Fans want something beside that! Gamers who like Hitman Absolution also hate diversion.
I guess I totally agree with the review, lighting effects in the game are glaring enough to give a headache, Idiotic scheme of changing disguises and then getting recognized in next second, No proper save game, only checkpoints, dumping bins everywhere and total inability to navigate(NO MAP, the Radar is too confusing, instinct is too precious)—- BLIND PLAYING, not targeted killing like Hit man Contracts which I totally loved.
The 10 reasons why Hitman Absolution sucks reply.
Disguises, if you take a disguise to wear you also have to fit in with attitude so I feel in some way that they got this right in the game.
Targets dying in cut scene, you are a hitman not an arsonist things have to be don’t like a hitman
No map, you are a hitman not a tourist so you have to figure it out like a hitman.
Doors and switches, this is kind of a problem but there are places to hide.
Artificial difficulty (train station example), you can do this in just a policeman disguise and blend and its practical.
Bins,bins everywhere, yes there are one too many but depending on where you are it still can be difficult to use them.
Level design, its not that bad I’ve dealt with worse.
Regeneration of health, if you get shot then go in to hiding 2 things could happen if you are frantic your blood will pump fast and cause you to bleed out or you can stay calm slowing the blood flow, so in a way its like regeneration of health because you ain’t going to die quick allowing you to do what needs to be done to get health packs.
To much bloom, lights are generally bright it may cause you to be distracted as a player but as a hitman you should be focused at all time.
Checkpoint saviour, if you was a real hitman checkpoints would be on an Xmas wishlist so to have these checkpoints in the game maybe a pain but its something to make it a bit more difficult and more often than not I really helps so it resetting the enemies level of awareness is a small price to pay.
All in all I give the game a 9/10 as there are some imperfections but it is only a game not real life.
I am also fan of the Hitman series since first hitman. And this game is really making me sad. Even though the game is actually good, but as many people say. It is not really a hitman game.
I miss the idea of “here is the contract, go to kill the guy how you want.” Now I have played the game until half a way and I feel that the developers are guiding me all the time. This guy has only real option to be killed in this location etc..
The people are spotting you maybe little too fast. It is okay that the enemy is starting to suspect you after a while, but this is going too much.
I agree on every point with this list, but the graphics i dont really care. I think they made good job with them. In short, the game is good as a stealth game. But not as a hitman series.
I just hope that this is not the end of the series.
Also about for the people who are saying that don’t complain about the game… You should understand how many people loved the original idea and how big change there is.
Well, most of your points are valid. I’ll add:
- When restarting from checkpoints, all NPC players that you have already killed -except targets- come back to life magically.
- “Backup arrived” = spawning new NPCs, sometimes in closed places in the middle of the level. Really IO ?
- In crowded levels such as Chinatown and the train station, the number of civilians is not constant. In case of high alert they disappear when out of sight. When i try to kill everyone, i have to be quick or like 80% of the crowd will vanish after the first shots.
- Linear level design. Actually reminded me of the first Splinter, i was disapointed that “passing unseen in a linear landspace and ocasionnaly showcasing cool gadgets” is their definition of stealth. being already a Hitman 2 fan, i had the right definition of stealth, it was the last splinter cell i played.
- Quick time events
-Instinct mode
-Slow motion mode after killing a person makes for an easier aim
-While there are plenty of them, Accident kills are very obvious easy to discover.
-God! even the ranking system is linear !
It’s sad to see a great frachise like this get dumbed down to that point :( i’m afraid that hitman will go down the same road as Tomb Raider and many others did.
Less freedom, more cut scenes, linear levels, quick time events, wall hack, easier aiming … The perfect recipe for a high selling video game these days :(
Yeah I don’t know why they make bad games these days. I like the game……..
Why do I like the game if it’s bad?
I was looking for my map when I was playing. You are telling me there isn’t a map?!
LoL
Another crap game. They don’t want us playing games over and over. They want us to like it, beat it, hate it and then buy something else.
It’s all about the money…………………
If you have a billionaire friend, you can donate millions of dollars to these gaming companies and they will make a better game. They just want your money and they get it every time you buy a game, Especially single player.
I like the game though. Worth the money…. Until that last cut-scene =((.. probly won’t even wanna play on a higher difficulty after beating this one. Well see..
=(
Though i’ve never played previous games – from what i’ve read here Absolution is far better than previous installment with only exception of your point number 7. Turning light on and off would be pretty neat. But apart from that – all the points are just moaning. Too much bloom? Come on! The worst case is Max Payne 3 – with countless glitch effects in countless cut scenes (which i actually liked at first, but hated when they were constantly presented). Regenerating health – it’s everywhere and doesn’t seem to go away in near future. What’s the alternative? You feel cheated that you don’t die? – reload the level and start over. So overall i feel that it’s everything but suck.
I played all previous Hitman and i keep not understanding why some people can be excited about this game. There are many games like this, why can someone wish to have another scripted, driven and action game? It is like complaining that, the old swat game, is not a rushing game…..i mean it is meant to be as close as possible to reality not to counterstrike(fantastic game but just different). This game is not that different, it should be meant to be as close as possible to a killer game, not another action stealth game.
There is no tactics but just timing, there is no multiple paths but just a way to do it, there is no killer life but just another survivor story. Some people try to justify the horrific disguise system by telling “It is normal, they used to know each other so if your face is new they would attack you”, well i would rather find much more realistic a disguise that work all the time, at least until spotted, since not every new worker get introduced to all others workers, what would you do in real life call police every time you see a new face?!
This games just sucks, not because it really sucks but because it is not Hitman. If someone used to hate hitman because he was not good at, well just pick another game but don’t wish to hitman became another copy game. If we keep like this someday everything will be just like call of duty except for the texture.
To be honest the more time pass the more interesting a lose on games, there is no more swat, rainbow six, falcon 4, delta force, ecc…. all games are getting linear, fast and easy the important is not how long it last or how random it is (in term of generating new missions), it is all about fancy 4 hour story easy to beat and cash money. Good old days when most game came with editors and in case of falcon 4 a good mission generating engine.
This article surely 90% sucks. Most of them is not true. I think the author of this article didn’t explored the game much
MAJOR THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR REVIEW POINTLESS..!!!
1.Checkpoints
Its not true we can’t start from the check points after exit. Its possible for me(hope developers not specially made that feature for me:P). Also when i think about i want a checkpoint in the situation i used to get to..!!!
2.Too much Bloom
I feel like the color code and lighting in hitman absolution is perfect.
It gives me feeling how much professional is Agent-47 and how much dangerous is his actions. it provides a perfect environments for an assasin game who specialised in stealthy actions. The review doesn’t mention about the backround score (may be because its a positive aspect of game). The colour code and lighting techniques perfectly blends with the music giving us a a feeling of supreme assasin…
3. Regenerating Health.
Health won’t regenerate at all time. Its a poor observation of the reviewer. May be he might be playing in most easiest mode…
4.Level Design
I didn’t feel any fault in level design. You are wrong there is no splitting up of levels. Every split up is a mission. If it was according to your point of view there will be only one mission calle _The absolution”if we avoid splitting up.
5.Bins. Bins Everywhere.
Didn’t felt bins are not in proper places. You feel so because you must be looking only for bins every time you play the game…!!!
6.No Map
I reached every where (where i am supposed to reach)without any difficulty with a map we won’t explore things we just go straight to targets. Without map we wil be forced to explore most of the area. So ur point that “Without proper map we can’t explore things” is just pointless
7.Disguises
This hitman game got the perfect rules for disguises. In real everyone will know their co workers or of workers with same ranks. So the idea of easily get notified with same dressed people is perfect. Also our disguise won’t get blown the moment we get spotted we have chances to escape from them by instict as we can hide our face with hand…In one stage i easily get trough the stage where i am disgusing as a judge. But its true that we still get identified even in masks but its a major glitch in every hitman games.
SOME POINTS THAT I SUPORT IN YOUR REVIEW.
1. Artificial difficulty.
2.Can’t close the doors. and
3. Cut scene Glitches
rubbish mr oi employee, this game is rubbish. period.
While I agree with this article, I think he overreacted all these things. While they are minus sides, this game is still awesome.
You forgot Jesper Kyd! JESPER KYD!!! Without him, its not Hitman anymore, its just a stupid cheese song going “dun dun dun” like hollywood movies, they lost the feel of making you be there..
Seriously, this article is totally right. Hitman Absolution is a very bad game, really disappointed. Such a great franchise turned into a frustrating, boring, repetive, no replay value game
Noooo he did not just see me through the wall again!!! The thing I hate most in the game is that when your target is on the starwell and you decide to go into close quarter combat even if u have an axe or melee weapon. You end up punching him!! You cannot fiber wire people on staircases! Wtf!
This review is awful, it makes you sound like youve never even played ‘Hitman:Absolution’ and you’ve just watched youtube videos about it online. Yes their are a few small problems with the game but if you’ve played it you will realise how great of a game it it. To commenters ‘Hitman:Blood money’ was a good game when it came out but if you compare it to ‘Absolution their is absolutely no contest. There is quite a few problems but are small and every game thats ever been mad has problems but the game definitely doesnt suck.
Excellent article. Ever since the PS3 came out, game developers have been focusing too much on the making games prettier while forgetting about some very basic game play elements. It doesn’t matter how good the game looks or how many bells and whistles are added- if the very basics are scrapped then the game becomes a real chore.
Wow, you suck dude, let me count the ways.
Also you contradict yourself sometimes.
10. So you bitch about lack of reality in 7, and yet you nitpick on something as realistic as co-workers of the guy who you have killed for disguise, recognizing that you are not him? And how is that making the game more “accessible”?
9. Don’t know what the hell are you talking about – you are talking like every kill is by cut-scene, which is total BS. And kills in cut-scenes… hmm… how many, 2-3 through whole game, where you have at least 25? Yeah, sure.
8. Umm… lack of map actually FORCES you to explore all the different ways to sneak unnoticed or possibilities to kill targets. So yeah, pointless.
7. You can turn off the lights. How you ask? IF, and I say IF you played the game, you know. Obvious hint: fuse box. At least I can agree about doors, but this example “You are able to open the door and dump the body in, but there is no option for closing the door to keep the body hidden from any enemies who might walk in” is sad – walk in where? To the room? Like in previous games? You couldn’t lock doors in previous games, and the doors closes after few seconds. So what are you talking about?
6.”Given that you’re likely wearing a cop uniform at this stage” umm… “hardcore fans were hoping for, a more accessible title that has upset purists” so if you are a hardcore fan/purist, you wear cop uniform, instead of doing it with your suit? Because that is what they do actually, if they are die hard, hardcore fans, who want the game to be difficult and challenging as possible. At least I think, I played the game mostly with suit, but you shouldn’t talk for everone. It makes sorta, kinda sense, this “bug” I mean, because you are hunted by police, right? And also this is a list about “10 reasons it sucks”, so it should be, like, I don’t know, in every level? And yet again you nitpick.
5. “Yea, there are too many bins, because in that one level, which I OF COURSE won’t name, are unrealistic and too much, so that’s why the game suxxxx” – to sum up, BS.
4. “The consequence of this is that if you murder everyone in one section, any ramifications of this are erased in the next one; it gives the player far more safety and confidence, diminishing the tension that characterised the previous games and basically just making it too easy to play through.” You could also kill everybody in previous games, and you know what happend? Probably not, because you know the series from name only and not playing, but I will tell you – screws up your rank royally. And the punishment here is the same (except the first game of course). So yet again, you don’t know what the hell are you talking about. It was always about that SA rank, and when you killed everyone, you don’t get SA. Like previous games (except 1).
3. Why that’s an issue? Because I don’t get it. I mean, really, explain. Because it doesn’t make a damn difference in stealth game, where you are trying to get unnoticed and get your SA rank. It’s not like MGS, where you had bosses or something. Oh, and BTW, and it’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, ok?
Actually, 47 health regeneration is since Contracts by headshots, but shhhhh…. nobody can know. So yeah, I just proved that the guy never saw a Hitman game after silent assassin.
2. Again, I don’t know what the hell are you talking about, I never had a problem with that. But that could be your eyesight.
1. Also erase your score.
So yeah, guy never played Absolution (or possibly any other game in the series, only watched youtube or something) and he doesn’t have a slightest clue about what he is actually talking about.
Absolution is not the greatest game ever, but it’s good – it gives you plenty of options to kill the targets, huge maps (with sections, which also makes this game longer than any other and from 20-30 minutes you can take hour to kill all targets or even more. You can count it as “another mission”, it would be the same), the graphics are sometimes mindblowing, but sadly the music is not that great and I’m suprised, because that would seem at somewhat legit point in this crappy top 10. Well, that and 2 really short, crappy missions, witch take you like 2 minutes, because they are about cut-scene, getting to a car or going to the shop for your suit.
But no, you wanted to go edgy, hardcore fan and in the end you made a fool of yourself. Congratulations.
Thank you. Someone who knows what the hell they are talking about.
come on man, hm absolution is rubbish.
dude, the points the guy made were perfectly accurate. this game sucks!! there are a few options to kill the targets which arent very good because they are rammed down your throat, they dont make you feel like you made that decision. the game mechanics are bad. its a bad game. i know you are employed by IO to write on message boards about how great the game is, but you should just let people voice their opinion and chill out. pathetic.
Couldn’t Agree More, This game is Great!
Hitman Absolution simply put is a HUGE LETDOWN, yes lets take away everything that made Hitman Blood Money the best Hitman game ever and see how it works. What were they thinking? The game most of the time felt like I was playing Kane and Lynch, so I wasn’t surprised when I spotted Kane and Lynch cameos, the game was linear most of the time, the level “king of chinatown” was the only level I felt like a Hitman, there were others levels that could offer the same experience but the disguise/instict system is so terrible that the best thing to do is going Rambo, because going stealth behind every crate is a even worse experience (no splinter cell thank you). The first thing I noticed something was wrong with the game was playing levels with sections instead of open world missions, the lack of customizing your weapons was also disappointing, Agent 47 was basically a bum in the run instead of a Hitman, I don’t even care if there is a Silent Assassin rating in the game because this game does not deserve all the trouble to get it, I just wanted to shoot everyone in the game, this is how bad it was.
Just remember the missions in Hitman Blood Money: Death of a Showman, A Vintage Year, Curtains Down, Flatline, A New Life, Murder of the Crows, You Better Watch Out, Death on the Mississippi, Till Death Do Us Part, A House of Cards, A Dance with The Devil, Amendment XXV, Requiem.
Now try to remember the missions in Hitman Absolution and see the difference…
The biggest thing I agree with in this article is the comments which say you are an idiot. Your arguments are ridiculous.
10. If you are in a group of 5 people you work with and one of them comes to work one day in the same uniform but it’s a completely different person, you’re likely going to notice even if it does take several looks to be sure .. even if they are wearing a mask. People move and are shaped differently. The disguises give you significantly more time to explore without using your instinct. Even on purist, instinct is rarely needed.
8. So you go into a building and don’t magically know the layout of the entire place? Wow! That sounds horribly unrealistic. Spend a few minutes exploring most levels and you should be able to figure it out. Put it on easy mode and kill everyone and take all the time you need. Then come back on a higher level if you want.
7. Really? You complain later of having too many places to hide bodies and you complain here that you can’t hide bodies in bathroom stalls? This seems extraordinarily trivial.
6. I enjoyed going through the levels several times each on the easier levels to learn them and get all the challenges done. Then was happy to spend quite a bit more time on some levels (Library) on purist to get through with a max score. Replayability is quite high on this game. I was a little surprised that I couldn’t take the train operator’s uniform as well but if you could, you would just be able to bebop to the train and wait there singing zipadeedooda and nobody would notice. I think you would complain about that as well.
5. I agree that there are probably too many places to hide bodies but nobody is forcing you to use them.
4. You complain that you can’t murder everyone in one section and have them still be dead in another. I will admit I don’t know what level you are talking about here but you then complain that the ‘very essence of Hitman’ is ruined? Don’t see the connection between murdering everyone and the essence of Hitman.
3. The easier levels allow you to take more hits and regenerate health and instinct more quickly while making it less likely for enemies to detect you. Each harder level makes it more difficult until Purist where you can sometimes be taken out in one punch, don’t regenerate any health and very little instinct. What’s the problem?
2. I never once thought “there is too much bloom here”. In the picture you have shown, you are standing in front of a police cruiser with its lights in your face. If anything, there is not enough bloom. This would virtually blind you. It’s a good looking game. Perhaps a slight aesthetic flaw shouldn’t be a reason to say it sucks.
1. I don’t understand this comment at all but I think it is as probably as dumb as the rest of them.
This game is different from previous Hitman games but what sense does it make to recreate the same game over and over again. There are several ways to complete many of the missions and some are quite linear. This is no different from any of the previous games in this title.
I never played a Hitman game before, until some weeks ago.
I eventually have played both Absolution and Blood Money on the purist levels and really enjoyed it very much with MANY hours of gameplay.
I played Absolution and was stunned by the graphics and gameplay and recognized alot of elements that are specifically in Splintercell Conviction; least to say looking through walls and ‘see’ enemies on different floors around you is not quite realistic so I am not a regular user of those options at all.
I thought Absolution was quite fun and had a taste to try out another, earlier, Hitman… I choose Bloodmoney because (like Chaos Theory for Splinter Cell) the real fans thought this is the best Hitman in the series.
Boy, was I suprised with a REAL different gameplay, perspective and realism when playing Blood Money and really thought Absolution was a real Hitman but with better graphics; so wrong I was, Blood Money is everything a Hitman game should be all about, nothing more nothing less.
A more open world, more creativity, more suspense, and in disguise you wouldn’t be recognized on-the-fly and even from a mile away but only if you walk around like a headless chicken they will become suspicious of you… just like in real life! In Absolution you are already suspicious if you come too close for the first time and most of the time you can’t come too close because your cover is being blown from further away already… so dumb and really unrealistic and the ‘hiding in plain sight’ principal goes down the toilet with it… it’s a shame.
It would be even better if every level (better: assignment) stands independantly from the rest of the assignments… I mean, there must not exist a main story, just a Hitman who is hired by a government, the mob, some angry housewife, your mother etc etc etc to kill someone or a group of ppl in the most ghostly way possible. This way they can create a game which could theoretically exists of hundreds of different assignments which would be great fun!
This article should be the first site google suggests. I have also played hitman since the beginning and agree that it is not true to its roots. Lets hope IO wakes up and realize the extent of what they have done to their fans.
I may not have played the hitman franchise much but I like the system there are more options for stealth, instinct, cover system, etc and for the disguises if you are a cop and you see an unfamiliar face your gonna be suspicious. The authors nitpicking you can’t change it, live with it or stop playing.
My first hitman game was Silent Assassin.I believe the not open world thing by IO is a lie,even Gta V would be open world and has good graphics.Man I just wish I had the freedom we used to,in the previous hitman games.I agree mostly with what the writer of this article said,The disguises mostly are lame e.g if you are a police officer are you supposed to know all police officers of the city? The Answer is pretty simple.They just screwed up stuff most of the time,the storyline was fun and better than blood moneys though but the gameplay sucks balls.They missed the main theme of previous hitman games… :/
What matters for me in video games is if it is fun and engaging or not at all. Absolution is fun and engaging for me. People who bitch about changes in ANYTHING relating to videogames or entertainment in general because “it isn’t the orginal formula” seem rather Autistic. One of my favorite bands Rush has changed their sound several times, yet still sound awesome and I love them, but I hear “fans” bitch about the 80′s and the use of synthesizers. So? It still sounds good. Absolution still is fun with all the changes it goes with if you aren’t a really Autistic person and can’t accept the changes or the find the fun in it. The game still has flaws, but all the other Hitman games do too. Whoever also gave the reasons this game “sucks” REALLY should find where his mind is
I think No.1 should have been “No weapon/Disguise loadout on second play through” and why only 1 weapon allowed when playing through contracts mode? which is the closest you can get to a redo.. a short crappy version
I agree with some of this, But I still think absolution is a cool game though, not the best hitman game. But if you have played trough hitman 2, you should remember that NPC´s where able to see through your disguises in that game too. And you wheren´t even allowed to use instinct mode to get away. Also, I remember to not being able to save turn of my computer and then keep playing from my last saved checkpoint in blood money either.
Sorry to say it …………… Nah actually im not sorry, all i can see in this article is some moaning little b**ch that cant play the game and spends far too much time locked in his mum basment not having a life
Whilst I don’t agree entirely with all your points, and there are some others I’d actually add in, I did not rate this game. I thought it was average at best. I actually felt disappointed by it at the end. I tried to get into it and everything, as I completed it clearly, but I just didn’t find is satisfying on a number of levels.
Some of your points are pretty valid, I’ll give you that. Some however, are just blaaah.
For instance, when Blood Money came out, I saw countless reviews criticizing how the NPCs are idiots and can’t see through a disguise and simply notice that they do not know this coworker dressed in their own clothes. In Absolution, that’s fixed. If they see you just walking around in their uniform, as NPCs playing roles of humans who actually retain a certain amount of intelligence, they are sure to recognize that they have never seen you around before and/or that you look exactly like their target except in different fabrics. I do agree however that this should not happen when the costume includes a mask.
As for your point of each level being divided into sections and everything you do in previous sections simply being erased in the next one, I have to disagree. The player is not allowed to move to the next section if the guards are still on high alert. I agree that even then this doesn’t make sense, but the problem there lie with the AIs of the NPCs from the previous section and not the transition in between sections. Had you moved on or not, those dumb NPCs would have completely forgotten what happened eventually.
it’s a really fun, and challenging game… but only if you have all day to play it.
i want to beat run for your life with the highest possible score (evidence, suit only, shadow, purist) but i don’t have all day to run through every part of the level and get it perfect. i want to be able to finish a section of the level to have that score saved, and then be able to shut off the game and go do something else, and then be able to go back into the game and start where i left off. but their stupid system doesn’t allow that, which is ridiculous. a level like run for your life which if im not mistaken is made up of 7 parts (at least) it could take 7 hours to beat it, and im not about to keep the game running until i beat it ALL.
this is seriously my only complaint, otherwise i love the game because its actually quite challenging.
Its just not as fun.. I played the games on the higher difficulty, so Im not used to saving checkpoints or regen health. But they took away to ability to explore a level, to decide how you would best like to take out your target. 90 percent of the time youre in a restricted area.. In previous games, even in your suit you could wander around a bit and get a feel for the level. Now, not only can you pretty much go nowhere in your suit, but even when in a disguise you cant explore anything simply because of the new disguise system. I dont care about realism. If they want realism then you shouldnt be able to wear ANY disguise.. everyone knows what 47 looks like, yet because Im wearing maintenance dude’s getup (who always happens to be my exact fit) I can stroll right past police officers?
It has turned into way too much sneaking, and not enough exploring. The points system is ridiculous.. you LOSE points for accidentally walking into an alleyway or room that you would have no way of knowing is off limits. Sure you can walk away unscathed.. but youve been ‘spotted’ and cant get a perfect score. I dont know.. maybe its because I dont have the patience for sneaking games.. but hitman was always fun. I didnt have to sneak 99 percent of the time to stay ‘invisible’.. I could walk in plain sight and do what I have to do.
The Chinatown level, and the level in that small town where you gotta take out the 3 rednecks were more what Hitman was always all about.
And not having loadouts sucked (I Know it wouldnt have made sense for the storyline.. which is why the storyline also sucked)
If you want to assassinate someone from long range as a sniper.. just go to wherever the sniper rifle is conveniently sitting for you to take that perfect shot. No more deciding where that perfect shot would be. Nice and linear, without having to think
THE ONLY THINK THAT GAME SUCKS IS BECAUSE (ON PC BUT WITH XBOX CONTROLLER) IT SHOWS YOU WHAT BUTTON TO PRESS TO KILL YOU ENEMY OR TO OPEN THE BIN OR TO TAKE A BOTTLE OR TO INTERACT WITH THE ENVIROMENT (LIKE CUTTING WIRES FOR ELECTROCUTION OR TURN ON THE GAS)
IT SEEMS TO BE GIVING YOU AWAY THE METHOD
FOR EXAMPLE WHEN YOU KILL SOMEONE AND YOU DRUG HIM TO THE BIN IT WRITES ”YUM” HALLO THA COMMON SENSE! OR WHEN YOU GET NEAR TO THE PIZZA IT SAYS TO THROW SLEEPING PEELS IN AND. WHY???? LET US STRUGGLE A BIT
though i agree with mostly all ur points…i completely dont agree with #2
the one which you say “Too Much Bloom” that is just ridiculous…if u cant play with any type of graphics…how do u call urself a gamer…(i dont know if you actually do…im just making a point) im completely fine with the bloom…and for #1 i agree with it 50-50…
you just seem like a whiny bitch imo
Author, i’m sure that u never tried the purist difficulty and get some challenges (suit only, collect evidences, not spotted, no kills except targets, no knockouts, etc..), and everytime u will wich to reach the checkpoints :D
Absolution was made to be a realistic stealth game, for example, I don’t like to take a guard’s disguise and run in the whole map, killing everyone, watching the map to see target moving because like that it will be not a sneaking game.
The new disguise system killed it for me. Not only is it beyond frustrating, tedious, and unrealistic, but it’s glitchy. I lost count of how many times a NPC “spotted” me when I was out of his line of sight.
You’re right, I agree entirely with you, this limitations killed the gameplay …
Honestly have never took the time to write a comment, but had to when reading this. This game is amazing. It gives players the opportunity to go ninja and stealth or guns a blazing, str8 up killing everybody!! I have played the others and have to say yes it is a little different but it really is more practical. GREAT GAME!! (Do the challenges and this game is insane as to how much scenarios there is) Definitely worth the cash IMO!!
Hitman Absolution was the biggest disappointment in gaming history (And i’ve been gaming since 1984) I have never been so disappointed or angry over a game like i was with Hitman Absolution. While playing through i was like “Ohhhh my god, i can’t believe they thought this was a good idea, what were they thinking!!!!!” Terrible, just terrible. This also 100% confirms that games developers pay for good reviews, this game was so bad there was NO WAY it deserved high scores. Funny how mainstream gaming media scored it high, less known gaming media and 90% of the fans scored it real low.
The disguise is indeed the worst of the changes. I will admit that in previous games, mostly Blood Money, I often thought that it would be more realistic if the crew you were blending into actually notices you weren’t one of their gang eventually. This, however, would make the most sense while up close to them so they can see your face. It wouldn’t, couldn’t, nor shouldn’t work if you are standing across the room, down the street, with a mask on, or with your back turned. So my take on that is they went from one extreme to the other, all the while missing the mark in the middle.
As for the game as a whole, as someone said in an earlier comment, it really is a good game, but it’s a really bad Hitman game. I can appreciate the game for what it is, but I’m much more disappointed over what it’s not – a true Hitman game.
But overall, I’d say 47 is far from “neutered” or a “babysitter” in Absolution. He has always had a skewed moral code; a line he forever walked without straying. It’s not a shock to me, nor a problem for me, that 47 took the girl to protect her. Especially after having to kill Diana.
Maybe in another five or six years we’ll get a real Hitman game…
The article did not mention the abysmal AI.
Examples: When you are spotted you might simply walk into another room or step around a corner and the AI will get into a search pattern in the opposite direction. (I play the game on highest difficulty which perhaps equates to highest stupidity in AI terms.)
Also using fake surrender works every time. You can use it even if the floor around you is littered with your victims. The AI will still go for it.
The behavior of the AI is so immersion destroying that I simply could not finish the game.
Another few irritations:
Why can’t I choose my weapons?
Why are my silenced weapons taken away from me and am I given a noisy revolver in certain levels. Where did my silenced weapon go?
Why do people in Chinatown leave all kinds of weapons and explosives lying around?
Why are sniper rifles unrealistically placed at convenient locations in the world to snipe your target. Who is doing this? Does 47 have an invisible associate who takes care of this in miraculous ways? Is the god of assassins taking care of this?
Another gripe:
The lack of animations when closing or opening doors and bins. Or when picking up an item or weapon. The animations are crude and unrealistic or even completely lacking.
This game is an atrocity.
It is a bad Hitman game.
But it is also bad in general.
This is not how games should be made.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about attorney blog.
Regards