Hitman: Absolution

[ProjectPat2280]

Yea thats curious. Very curious.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Hitman: Absolution. Agent 47 and Accessibility.


Interesting read. Im sure some will yell over some of the changes, but as an individual who understands where the series needs to go better than most, i think some of these will really help to capture the skill of Mr. 47.

How do you feel when I tell you that one word Hitman: Absolution embodies is "accessibility?" Are you offended? Does your innate gamer rage come out and spur you to a message board, where you can properly lament the day games were challenging and worth playing?

If it does, you're wrong. Really wrong. Hitman: Absolution is accessible, yes, but in all the ways that result from understanding a franchises strengths and failings. Agent 47's adventures haven't been neutered and you aren't going to be coddled by the developers so you can get that coveted "Silent Assassin" rating without breaking a sweat. Absolution looks like a refinement; it's the result of developer experience and a desire to make players feel more empowered than ever as they embody the world's deadliest person.

The key to being an amazing assassin is being able to adapt, improvise, and overcome. Agent 47 has been doing this since the original Hitman in 2000 and longtime fans are likely familiar with his arsenal. He still garrotes enemies, or can execute them with a quick neck snap or deadly pistol shot, but he can also grab random objects in the environment and put them to use. He might come across a statue and use it to bash in a skull, or pick up a cross and bring some righteous fury to the temple of a would-be opponent.

Agent 47's many gameplay options intimidate. I felt it when I jumped in to the series with Hitman: Blood Money (late to the party, I know), so I can only imagine how much of a slog it must feel to people who don't play games every day. Sure, Hitman: Blood Money's user interface told you if you were able to use an object in close proximity to you, but you didn't know you could use it until you were inches away. I can't tell you how many times I found myself slapping my forehead after realizing I could have used something like a rag or weight to kill my mark in a really cool way. I recognize that part of the fun is figuring things out for yourself -- that you're taking on a situation the way you choose to -- but there's a big difference between having options that I'm aware of and only picking the path I did because I couldn't figure anything else out.


To address this and make Absolution more accessible, the developers have made prompts appear more readily and put them in places that contextually make sense. In Blood Money any options you had appeared in the upper left corner, while in Absolution they appear where they make the most sense. For example if Agent 47 can drag a body the body will have a prompt on it that tells you which button to press or hold. Or if there is an impromptu weapon it'll have a prompt on the object and maybe even two more prompts on an enemy to tell you all the ways you can take him down. Just like the fans want, Absolution gives you a ton of options, only now it makes sure you're aware of them without having to scour the world like a bumbling fool.

I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the Instinct mechanic when I first saw it. Instinct is a finite resource that allows 47 to see enemies through walls, predict the paths they'll walk, and see places he can interact with the environment. Essentially Io Interactive's take on Batman: Arkham Asylum's Detective Vision, I felt like it made avoiding enemies a bit too easy. But then I thought about it and realized it makes a lot more sense than the way you planned out you path in the past.

In Blood Money you could bring up a map on which enemies were represented as wandering circles. Agent 47 still had magical premonition that allowed him to see through walls, it was just done in an archaic fashion and completely removed you from the action. Now all you have to do is tap a button and enemies glow, as do ledges you can pull yourself up on. No more hunting for places you can climb or walking up to objects wondering if you can use them. Instinct makes the entire experience look a lot more fluid, and Agent 47 a lot more of the badass he's supposed to be.

I know for many hardcore, long-time Hitman players out there that Instinct seems like it's making Absolution too easy. Well, if you really feel that way you can always turn it off in the options. If that's not enough, you can play on what's currently called Purist mode. Here the entire user interface goes out the window, along with any other assists, in what Io hopes will satiate the sadists in the audience.

Even sadists should be happier with the less omnipotent AI in Absolution. In Blood Money I can remember more than a few times where I'd end up shooting my gun or get caught killing someone and have every last guard alerted to my presence. Well in Absolution some levels come divided into different sections wherein you can take out the section's guards in whatever manner you'd like -- so long as you keep them from alerting the rest. For instance I watched 47 roll up with an axe, bludgeoning one guard before quickly running down another before he could run for help. It seems like Io is making a game that makes logical sense the crash of gunfire doesn't carry forever, after all), and looks a lot more forgivable and fun for it.


The quest for accessibility, for opening up the game to a wider audience, also looks like it will come in the form Absolution's pacing. You know why people who don't play many games, or don't play games at all, love the Uncharted series? Because it's like an interactive film where they can participate in lots of action-packed scenes, but also sometimes just sit back and enjoy the spectacle of a very directed sequence. Absolution has a bit of both, it seems. The earlier demo Io showed at E3 had a portion with a chopper gunner shooting at 47 that felt super scripted, while the level I saw in an orphanage was more akin to the older levels of the Hitman franchise; less about watching what was happening and more being an actor in the moment and determining the course of events. I think a wide audience of people will be better suited by alternating pacing. Blood Money was fun with its sandbox style levels, but the missions didn't have the same moments of stress and tension Arthur pointed out in his E3 preview of Absolution .

Not that Absolution won't have sandbox style levels. Io hasn't shown anything quite like what I expected as a fan, but I'm told there will be missions that put 47 in an environment with a bunch of objectives and leave you to figure out the way you want to do them. So far the levels I've seen seem much more linear, with rooms that let you do it your way rather than stages in their entirety. As a fan I want to be upset about it not being more akin to previous games, but I'm going to give Io a chance to prove to me that the story they want to tell justifies the more linear parts of Absolution. The development team has already sold me on their work to open it up for a wider audience, proving that the word "accessible" doesn't have to be a dirty one.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Sounds totally diluted of what made hitman good in the first place.
Another victim of dumbing down.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Video interview

 

[Master Chief]

Not liking linear levels but I'm happy there's an option to turn off all that stupid accessibility s**t.

 

[Benstamania]

Wait.. I'm confused. Being able to hit someone in the head with a statue is "dumbing" things down? It still seems like you can play how you want to play... You don't have to use the accessibility stuff... I mean, if anyone wants to pick up a game and be able to play it they should be able too... No?



Man, todays "old school" gamer is the equivalent of the "get off my lawn" old man neighbor.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

t still seems like you can play how you want to play... You don't have to use the accessibility stuff... I mean, if anyone wants to pick up a game and be able to play it they should be able too... No?.

Hitman took place in basically a small sandbox enviroment in which you could tackle multiple objectives in any order with multiple methodes of doing them. Firefights were detered, you could die easily. it made the game tense with an attitude of going against run and gun. Limited saves as opposed to getting checkpoints every 2 seconds also hightend tension as the game would punish you for failure. You could also miss events happending and fail. It made a good risk/reward game, with lots of tension compared to other games and a pretty organic feel and a fairly good replay value. That was the games main strength in my opinion. I couldn't care less about other people or sales, only the quility of the game and what is specifically offers for me. Regardless of IGN's bais article attemping to promote casual gaming, it still comes across as extreamly negative.

 

[Coca Cola Duracell Franklin.]

Levels being made more linear, with rooms becoming multi-solution puzzles leads me to believe that this will be more of an adventure game akin to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. While not necessarily a bad thing, it's disheartening to see an iconic game design alter itself to fit what the mainstream idea of a game should be.

After Batman: Arkham Asylum and Deus Ex: Human Revolution I was hoping Eidos had turned over a new leaf and was going to support games with exciting new concepts, rather than take existing properties and shoehorn them into different genres. The final game isn't out yet, so things remain to be seen, but from the information we're being fed so far, this streamlined Hitman experience will be innately unsatisfactory.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Hitman took place in basically a small sandbox enviroment in which you could tackle multiple objectives in any order with multiple methodes of doing them. Firefights were detered, you could die easily. it made the game tense with an attitude of going against run and gun. Limited saves as opposed to getting checkpoints every 2 seconds also hightend tension as the game would punish you for failure. You could also miss events happending and fail. It made a good risk/reward game, with lots of tension compared to other games and a pretty organic feel and a fairly good replay value. That was the games main strength in my opinion. I couldn't care less about other people or sales, only the quility of the game and what is specifically offers for me. Regardless of IGN's bais article attemping to promote casual gaming, it still comes across as extreamly negative.

Levels being made more linear, with rooms becoming multi-solution puzzles leads me to believe that this will be more of an adventure game akin to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. While not necessarily a bad thing, it's disheartening to see an iconic game design alter itself to fit what the mainstream idea of a game should be.

After Batman: Arkham Asylum and Deus Ex: Human Revolution I was hoping Eidos had turned over a new leaf and was going to support games with exciting new concepts, rather than take existing properties and shoehorn them into different genres. The final game isn't out yet, so things remain to be seen, but from the information we're being fed so far, this streamlined Hitman experience will be innately unsatisfactory.

The devs state that the game will still offer the large, sandbox style levels that previous games offered. Objectives can still be completed the way you want. Silent Assassin or guns blazing, the same thing that was offered to you in previous games although in previous games 47's skill with fire arms wasn't executed properly at all. Instinct mode is NO different than the map from the last game. Hell id wager instinct mode is more hardcore than the map as instinct mode has limited uses, the map you could use all the time. You'll also be able to turn the instinct off completely.

As a Hitman fan, the only change that anyone should really be against is the removal of David Bateson as he was a key element in the development of 47. Everything else they are adding were needed changes to a series that was starting to show its age.

Had they of come out and said all the levels would be linear, you only have one way to complete objectives or things like instinct mode would be mandatory, then people would have a reason to complain. However they didn't say that, they said the exact opposite.

So far everything(minus the exclusion of Bateson, which is a disaster) sounds pretty good.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I'm not completely writing it off, however, you see it happen and again and again, to the point, you pretty much expect it. I think you are trying to be optimistic about it. I read the article. It's media spin. It happens all the time. Just yesterday reading gameinformers article on Xcom, the near enough the exact same spin was used. If you tell a bullcrap enough times people believe it.

 

[Nathan]

Hitman: Absolution Rips Off Red Dead Redemption in the Coolest Way

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I'm not completely writing it off, however, you see it happen and again and again, to the point, you pretty much expect it. I think you are trying to be optimistic about it. I read the article. It's media spin. It happens all the time. Just yesterday reading gameinformers article on Xcom, the near enough the exact same spin was used. If you tell a bullcrap enough times people believe it.

Well to be honest, I'm not sure I really care how much they change the gameplay. I care more about the character of 47 than the game he inhabits. As long as they capture 47 the way the past games did, I'll be happy. Altho the lack of Bateson already has them at the bottom of the hill(I mean don't get me wrong I LOVED the previous games) I still think the game is going to capture the feel of the last games. People just want to whine about something. There really hasn't been anything said to even get remotely concerned about, sans lack of David Bateson.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Hitman: Absolution Rips Off Red Dead Redemption in the Coolest Way

Awesome. That was the biggest feature that needed implementing. I remember in Blood Money how tough it was to walk up to a few thugs and shoot em before they started putting rounds into you. 47 should be able to drop 5 guys before they even think of pulling. That was almost impossible to do in the last games.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Ugh.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Yeah...not a fan of the dead eye mechanic. And the ability to "see through walls"? WTF?

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Yeah...not a fan of the dead eye mechanic. And the ability to "see through walls"? WTF?

Then dont use the mechanic.

I also find it funny how people complain about the instinct vision. I mean lets see, it lets you see your enemies through walls so you know where they are going. Hmm, why does that sound familiar? Well there was this special mode in the previous Hitman games that would allow you to see EVERYONE on any given level at any given time. It would even show you which individuals were the targets you were supposed to kill. Man, why were they dumbing down those games!? Sorry, complaining about instinct vision is complaining for the hell of it. Instinct mode has been in every Hitman game to date in the form of the map.

And again, dont like instinct mode, dont use it. The devs have already stated there will be a "hardcore" mode that removes that feature and all in game prompts. Even your ammo counter(which I'm stoked about).

 

[Balthus Dire]

Pat...I know you love Hitman, but come on, now. Instinct Vision is completely different from a map lol. It's one thing to look on a map and see shapes moving around, it's another to be leaning up against a wall and then turn on your magic x-ray vision to see through it.

I think it's great that you can turn the Instinct Vision off, and that's how I'll be playing my game for sure. But, why even bother with it in the first place? Hell, one of the biggest critiques I heard about the SC: Conviction was how stupidly lame the paint-and-shoot mode was; it just takes so much of the challenge away. And in the case of Hitman, it literally doesn't even make sense. Batman gets away with it because of his gadgets, and you could argue the same for Sam Fisher. 47 is a bald guy in a suit. Is he secretly from Krypton?

 

[socool]

Pat...I know you love Hitman, but come on, now. Instinct Vision is completely different from a map lol. It's one thing to look on a map and see shapes moving around, it's another to be leaning up against a wall and then turn on your magic x-ray vision to see through it.

I think it's great that you can turn the Instinct Vision off, and that's how I'll be playing my game for sure. But, why even bother with it in the first place? Hell, one of the biggest critiques I heard about the SC: Conviction was how stupidly lame the paint-and-shoot mode was; it just takes so much of the challenge away. And in the case of Hitman, it literally doesn't even make sense. Batman gets away with it because of his gadgets, and you could argue the same for Sam Fisher. 47 is a bald guy in a suit. Is he secretly from Krypton?

Nah, he's got insane instincts, haha.

 

[Master Chief]

I understand their approach with all these changes. The dude is an elite killer and the gameplay hasn't evolved to showcase his talents. All these new features aren't even relevant to me because they don't fit my play style, but it could be fun to dick around with once in a while. Still, I can get behind a linear intro and epilogue but I'm not liking the sound of their level design. Like in the intro demo footage, it's cool that he picks up a box of donuts to strengthen his disguise... then you realize that's pretty much all there is to it. You have no other options of escape. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Anyways, I'm still not buying this full price. I enjoyed Conviction but if Michael Ironside didn't come back to voice Fisher I wouldn't have liked it nearly as much.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Pat...I know you love Hitman, but come on, now. Instinct Vision is completely different from a map lol. It's one thing to look on a map and see shapes moving around, it's another to be leaning up against a wall and then turn on your magic x-ray vision to see through it.

No, its not. Its different in presentation but not in function. Its the SAME thing. One of the things i would find myself doing in the past games is before id kill an individual id use the map to see how many other targets were in my area. Or to make sure id have enough time to kill my mark then hide the body. Like i said, same function, different presentation. Maybe they could of handled it a different way but its the same thing.

47 is a bald guy in a suit. Is he secretly from Krypton?

Dude, no. He's not just a "bald guy in a suit". Have you played any of the games outside of Blood Money? 47 is a clone, a PERFECT clone. He has DNA from some of the best killers that have ever lived. He is a genetically enhanced, perfect human. He was also the best marksman out of all the other clones. So no, he is in NO way just a bald guy in a suit. He's faster, stronger and more intelligent than any normal human. Like i have said before. He has the ability to drop 3 or 4 marks before they even have a chance to raise their weapons. A gameplay option like 'dead eye' is the best way to show that skill. Either that or a bullet time like feature.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I understand their approach with all these changes. The dude is an elite killer and the gameplay hasn't evolved to showcase his talents. All these new features aren't even relevant to me because they don't fit my play style, but it could be fun to dick around with once in a while. Still, I can get behind a linear intro and epilogue but I'm not liking the sound of their level design. Like in the intro demo footage, it's cool that he picks up a box of donuts to strengthen his disguise... then you realize that's pretty much all there is to it. You have no other options of escape. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

And what about that is different from the last game? In the last game you had your disguise and that was it. If they gained suspicion of you that was it, there was nothing you could do outside of leaving the area to stop that. What other options of escape do you want? Either hide in plain sight, or kill everyone. No different from the last go round.

As for the level design, IO has stated on multiple occasions that the same, sandbox style, choose your path levels exist.

I agree with you 100% on the voice. Like iv stated before, I'm holding off until i hear a bigger sample, but its still inexcusable that they wouldn't bring Bateson back.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Bro I'm well versed on Hitman's history and I've religiously played every single title. I'm probably about as much of a fan of the franchise as you are. What I meant by "47 is a bald guy in a suit" is that he doesn't have any special x-ray goggles or super powers. Hell, even in Assassin's Creed, the characters have special "eagle vision" but it doesn't give them x-ray vision. If 47 had some kind of robotic clone eyeballs that gave him that ability then maybe I wouldn't have a problem as much, but he doesn't. Like I said...just a bald guy in a suit. I just think the x-ray vision portion and the ability to see guard's paths without even having to watch for them is lazy and too "easy." I'd have less of an issue if the Instinct Mode simply highlighted key objects or even enemies, kind of like Assassin's Creed. That would not only make more sense, but it'd be noob friendly without being overly ridiculous.

As for the "dead eye," I don't think that's nearly as dumb, but still it seems like an unnecessary game mechanic to simply make the game less challenging for noobs. I know people have had problems getting used to Hitman's controls in the past, though, so I can understand why some would embrace that feature.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Yea i see your argument, and for the record I'm not a big fan of the instinct mode as well. I think it could of been handled differently, but iv been using a gameplay feature to watch my enemies through walls and floors since the first game(I personally wanted them to make the map, more, interactive so to speak. When the player would enter the map id like to see 47 pull out some sort of PDA, like it was in Far Cry 2). I see it as the same feature, only now it won't take you out of the game as much. I dont mind it showing a guards path as someone as trained and as experienced as 47 would begin to understand how these individuals operate and he could predict their movements. Much like RDJ's take on Sherlock Holmes.

As for the 'dead eye', i think it makes perfect sense and isn't intended to make the game easier. In previous games it was almost impossible to shoot 3 or 4 guys, clean, in the head, before they started to return fire. That didn't help to show just how skilled 47 is. This is a video game after all and they need to do something that allows us normal humans to control a character that is significantly more talented. His reaction time is far better than what we as players can input, there needs to be some type of mode to show this. Maybe 'dead eye' isn't the right mode, but something needs to be there.

All of this is completely moot any way and not worth complaining about as the developers have stated its not necessary. I personally plan on using the hardcore mode from the onset. No instinct mode, no hud, no item indicators.

Again, the only thing worth complaining about so far is the lack of David Bateson. That is something we ALL will have to live with. Dead eye and instinct mode we can all just not use, but we will all have to listen to an actor play 47 that isn't David Bateson, the ONLY person imo, capable of portraying that character correctly.

 

[Balthus Dire]

You're right: we can just turn the Instinct Mode off, which is great. But I'm still gonna point out what I think is dumb about it.

As for the dead-eye, I personally played every Hitman game on PC except for Blood Money, and it was a lot easier to get consecutive headshots because your aim was controlled by the mouse while the movement was the keyboard. So, you could naturally be more precise. I never had any troubles with aiming in Blood Money, but I know many people complained about clunky controls, so I don't mind the added mechanic as much.

I also would've preferred a useable mini-map to x-ray vision, even if it was a corner-style map like Metal Gear or Deus Ex.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Yea and like i said, i think the mode could of been handled in a different way. Ah well, i just won't use it.

As for the aiming, maybe it was a lot easier on PC but with consoles i dont see how too many ppl could line up multiple headshots before the enemy could fire, alerting the whole level. One level in particular stood out as to why a mechanic like dead eye was needed and that was A House of Cards in Blood Money. I remember walking to one of the hotel rooms and it was guarded by 2 men and i would calmly stroll towards them with my silverballer hid behind my back then i would attempt to quickly put a round in each of their heads. I could do it(in a few trys), but it was much tougher than it should be for someone like 47. Same goes for the training level when you open the door and theres 3 guys sitting at a table. Its tough to get off the 3 headshots before they have a chance to fire. But man things like that are still some of the most bad ass things iv done in a game. Hopefully there will be lots of moments like that in Absolution.