[h1]Welcome, 47. Today you’ll be reading a game review of Hitman Absolution written by an amateur game reviewer, MILKSHEIKH. Stay focused and Good Luck.[/h1]
[h3]On a less dramatic note, welcome to my review of Hitman Absolution![/h3]
To begin briefly about this version of the game, it is the 5th game release of the Hitman series; all of the previous which I’ve played and mostly enjoyed. While some of the older ones were somewhat lacking in some quality-of-life functionality, Absolution solves almost all of those issues and presents an experience, that is surely going to awe the player at least every few missions. Do you need to play all or any of the previous games in this series to understand Absolution? Absolutely not! There are no story-connections to the former releases.
Walk, sneak or run from a garden area of your first target to transition to mansions, penthouses, a church, the friggin desert, a carnival, to a prison, then to an office-space, inside a lucha libre wrestling ring as a luchador; be on the run from [i]‘good’[/i] and bad guys, explore the country-side, break into a high-security building, discover an in-door weed farm and so much more! This game is not just a digital product that you enter in and take out targets, but an experience-rich animation of creativity that is only limited to the imagination of the gamer, you. I’m not trying to be cheezy here, because that’s what [b]IOI[/b] delivered. You have a play-style that is unconventional? You probably have that flexibility here, albeit in some cases, you’ll have to gather extra wit to arrange all that’s necessary to appease your very unique way to get to your target, but you can do it. Want to subdue each and every NPC in the level before completing any objectives? You can do that too! Although, that’s a very time consuming grind and each time you slowly sneak behind an NPC for the subdue, you will hear 47’s breathing gets a little louder and his heart beat faster; yeah! I was pleasantly surprised hearing this fine addition to the gameplay wearing my headphones!
I’ve completed this in the Hard difficulty and so, some of my descriptions will be based on this difficulty level. And in order to take in the environment clearly, I disabled music. I found it totally unnecessary and in fact, add more noise to the thought process.
The game starts you off in a secluded area and ironically, Diana’s voice guides you throughout the mission commencement. Ironic, because she’s not your handler for the mission. Her voice will also guide you about actions that you can perform to subdue/kiII enemy NPCs, hide bodies, take cover, aim, shoot, what happens if you’re detected [i](and trust me, in Hard, it is quick!)[/i].
Loved how the developers transitioned some of the cutscenes into active gameplay by blending the cutscene video with the gameplay without a screen-cut-change. Not sure if I could explain it properly, but it is best understood while experiencing it. Some of the cut-scenes are visually stunning! And more so for a game released back in 2012. The voice acting is top-draw, during the game and in cut-scenes and provides an experience beyond gaming, that flirts with cinema.
The game provides a menu-like interface if you press the associated button [i](on PC it’s the F1 key by default)[/i] in which you can check your mission progress, objective, score, challenges, inventory. While the game is not super direct in this menu, it displays your objective at the very beginning of each level. The challenges are not a must, but some of them grant an idea on how to [i]take care of enemies[/i]. All of this is not super important but for the casual gamers who take things slowly, the objectives section provides an Agent 47 narration of where the story stands as of that mission from a macro context. It does not however provide specific micro instructions regarding how to approach the objectives, because the freedom to do so is in your hands.
Speaking of picking up where it was left off, the game does not have a quick save, nor a manual save [i](like it did back from Silent Assassin till Blood Money)[/i] but a level-based save and additional checkpoints mid-level if playing in any difficulty other than Purist. No quick saves means repeating kiII-attempts using different methods takes longer, something which core-hitman players can relate to, but some missions are short enough for this to not feel too frustrating. One mission might have multiple levels [i](locations)[/i] within it, which is great if you complete one big area out of two areas in one mission, then you can log off for the day, continue into the second level of that mission from the main menu level select section, with the same inventory, outfit from where you left off previously.
Seguing to outfits, ever wanted to play dress-up but never let your inner fashion-model come out? Well, this could be just the game for you! Be an electrician, barber, security guard, plumber, police officer, janitor, or did your parents ever dream of you becoming something more? A heavy-trooper, special-ops? Daddy dreamed of you becoming a judge? Well, then be, just that! Or did you just want a calm life as a trucker? or as a gardener? Did you ever want to bring happiness to people and hand them like an ice-cream truck driver does? Store clerk? Or are you one of those tin foil hate guys with the most ludicrous of conspiracies? Then trust me, you can be that too! Or do you just wanna hang in there like a scarecrow, stationary, acting dead? Trust me, if you wanna dress up like someone, it’s probably there!
Ever wanted to commit the most mysterious crimes? Well, this is the game for it. Pick a screwdriver, lob it from a distant-corner, and the deed is done. Wanna dress up as the rich target’s own body-guard and then make a new hole in his neck with a screwdriver and then carry away the murder weapon while everyone else remains confused as to how it happened? Or maybe you should dress up as the target’s trusted drug peddler and kiII him with the poisonous drugs he’s about to pay millions to acquire? Or do you want the headlines to read, “Notorious drug lord, found dead with a pair of scissors through his skull”? Pick a baseball bat and silently assassinate the target and hitting a home run of in-game mission score in hard difficulty. Or pick the fillet knife and personally serve the target a plate of ‘hot death’ instead of his favourite dish. The POWER, I mean…! The choice is YOURS!
To add a little bit more to my already long review, the game introduced much more entertaining, interesting and close-to-life NPC to NPC conversations, some of which hit home. Don’t feel surprised if you want to stand and listen to their dialogues. And there are others that are hilarious. Be careful not to run around them or sneak around them in any uniform, otherwise their dialogues might cancel. Sure, you can reload the checkpoint and listen again, but that takes more time.
[b][u]Graphics and Optimization[/u]:[/b]
Runs great with even with Rx 590 at 1080p. Never crashed. All key-settings can be changed to what you prefer. [i](see the first comment)(ran out of character count; detailed over there)[/i]
[u][b]Conclusion[/b][/u]:
Should you buy it? Have you even read my review properly!? Haha just kidding.
Have you ever completed a hitman game before? If so, then yes, you should.
Never played hitman? Then I suggest watching some active gameplay on youtube to decide [i](that’s what I do before I buy if I don’t have an idea about a game)[/i]. The contracts portion of this game is officially dead, the base-story of Absolution and all the places the game takes you is enough to drop the dime on it. Game’s old, but boy of boy does it deliver or what. Massive thumb’s up.
[i]P.S. I’ve also written a [b][url= https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3786374869]mini-tips-guide[/url][/b] to smoothen your gameplay. Consider checking that one too.[/i]
