20 Gaming Moments That Insulted Your Intelligence

14. Instinct Mode - Hitman: Absolution

Hitman Absolution
IO Interactive

You won't find many Hitman fans who don't rank 2012's Hitman: Absolution among the series' very worst offerings to date, and that's in large part because it was perceived to overtly casualise the Hitman experience with its more linear level design and more forgiving gameplay mechanics.

Case in point, Absolution introduced Instinct Mode to the franchise - a mechanic which grants players the ability to see NPCs and important objects through walls, while also allowing them to avoid being recognised while in disguise.

Basically, it was a cynical attempt to make Hitman more accessible to even the most casual of players, but fans largely felt that developer IO Interactive lost the tense, strategic essence of the series in the process.

Thankfully they took the stern feedback onboard, as 2016's Hitman scaled Instinct Mode back so it was no longer a glorified cheat code for slipping out of sticky situations, as has served the franchise well ever since.

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.