The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'Hitman: Absolution'.
47 is back! 'Wait, who?' you could be forgiven for asking, given that it's been six years since the last game in the Hitman series was released. 47 is the star of the Hitman series, a genetically engineered assassin who excels at his art, despite having a very conspicuous barcode tattoo on the back of his head. His targets have, to date, generally had it coming since they've nearly all been bad guys - drug dealers, illegal arms dealers etc. Although the game's never explained whether The Agency - the organisation that 47 works for - only gives him these contracts, or if 47 only chooses to kill bad guys himself. That's possibly for the best since it allows you, as 47, to play the game in a manner of your own choosing without breaking character. Grand Theft Auto 4, on the other hand, got a bit odd in that you could play a character who was looking to start a new trouble free life and run around dealing drugs and mowing down pedestrians at will.
Hitman: Absolution doesn't really explain what happened between Hitman: Blood Money - the last game in the series - and this title, though there's apparently a book out that does fill the gap a little. Instead, the game charges you, as 47, with the task of killing Diana, 47's agency handler who has gone rogue. The first level serves as a tutorial of sorts, after which you're thrown into the game proper, and the game takes things up a notch. It turns out that Diana left the Agency to safeguard a young girl, Victoria, who is apparently worth a lot of money to both them and an unscrupulous arms dealer, Blake Dexter. It's up to you to keep her out of the hands of either party, which is no easy feat. What this means is that we finally have a Hitman game with a decent storyline. No, I'm not being harsh - while the previous Hitman games were a lot of fun, the storyline was pretty sparse, serving only to frame the missions. Like those old Amicus anthology movies starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Peter Lom and whoever else was popular at the time.
However, this isn't the only change IO Interactive have made, and there's been some consternation amongst Hitman fans that the game has become 'dumbed down'. As a fan of the series myself, I was fully prepared for this latest entry to be complete cobblers but thankfully it's not. The levels aren't as open as they were in previous games, but you still have plenty of ways to tackle each level. Like jumping up and hanging from the ceiling and waiting for your opponent to pass below, right? Not quite. Because while Hitman Absolution is a stealth game, it's not in the same mould as Splinter Cell. Some of the time you'll be hiding behind objects to avoid the gaze of the guards and other characters, but you also spend time hiding in plain sight. Which basically means knocking someone out and taking their clothes, then wandering around incognito. You can also go in guns blazing if that's what you really want, but the game penalizes you for doing that, so stealth is really the order of the day.
47 is as bad-ass as ever, voiced once again by David Bateson, although Diana herself is voiced by a different actress. He has the good sense to cover up and/or remove his barcode in this game, not least because he ends up on the run for part of the game. Yes, the police finally get wind of 47's activities, in a plot twist which seems to borrow from the Hitman movie somewhat. You get to explore twenty or so levels, six or seven of which are as open as the levels in Hitman Blood Money were. My personal favourite has to be the Cornfield level because it lets you roam around in a scarecrow disguise, hiding out on a scarecrow stand and having your enemies wander past before dispatching them. Not unlike Jeepers Creepers in fact. Very, very cool.
Equally awesome is the game's multiplayer Contracts mode. This allows you to choose targets from the single player levels and execute them in a variety of amusing ways. You then challenge other players to follow your lead. Or if you're not feeling quite so creative you can just download contracts online and have a go yourself. For example, you might be tasked with killing a policeman and a drug dealer in the Chinatown level using only one disguise and a hammer. It's not quite the same as having a fully-featured level editor, but it still makes the game pretty replayable.
Sounds cool so far, right? And it is. But there's one area of Hitman Absolution that doesn't quite sit right. It doesn't ruin the game, but if it were fixed it'd make Hitman a great game, rather than just a good one. The disguise system has been tweaked somewhat, so that if you're in disguise you can be spotted by people wearing the same disguise. This sort of makes sense when you're talking about guards - after all, they'd know their own, right? But they have the ability to sniff you out when you're pretty far away from you. You can use the game's instinct system to temporarily postpone this - you only have a limited amount of instinct - but this involves... wait for it.. sticking your hand in front of your face or pulling down your cap. No, really. Odder still is when you're disguised as a chef wearing a chef's hat, and the other chefs in Chinatown somehow start to recognise you as an interloper. The ones wearing black caps don't, however - and I find it hard to believe every Chinatown chef knows each other.
As previously mentioned, Hitman Absolution is a good game, though not a great one. It's a worthy addition to the Hitman series, though admittedly it's not quite as open as previous entries. If you're a fan of the stealth genre in general then it's well worth picking up, especially given that the game's Contracts mode extends its playability almost indefinitely. Graphics-wise, the game has come on leaps and bounds since the previous game asl well. And if you're a HItman fan - then pick it up right away.
Score - 8 out 10.
Pros -
Excellent graphics.
Plenty of ways to dispatch foes.
Good storyline.
Contracts mode.
Cons:
The levels aren't quite as open as they were in previous games.
The disguise system seems a bit picky.
Hitman: Absolution doesn't really explain what happened between Hitman: Blood Money - the last game in the series - and this title, though there's apparently a book out that does fill the gap a little. Instead, the game charges you, as 47, with the task of killing Diana, 47's agency handler who has gone rogue. The first level serves as a tutorial of sorts, after which you're thrown into the game proper, and the game takes things up a notch. It turns out that Diana left the Agency to safeguard a young girl, Victoria, who is apparently worth a lot of money to both them and an unscrupulous arms dealer, Blake Dexter. It's up to you to keep her out of the hands of either party, which is no easy feat. What this means is that we finally have a Hitman game with a decent storyline. No, I'm not being harsh - while the previous Hitman games were a lot of fun, the storyline was pretty sparse, serving only to frame the missions. Like those old Amicus anthology movies starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Peter Lom and whoever else was popular at the time.
However, this isn't the only change IO Interactive have made, and there's been some consternation amongst Hitman fans that the game has become 'dumbed down'. As a fan of the series myself, I was fully prepared for this latest entry to be complete cobblers but thankfully it's not. The levels aren't as open as they were in previous games, but you still have plenty of ways to tackle each level. Like jumping up and hanging from the ceiling and waiting for your opponent to pass below, right? Not quite. Because while Hitman Absolution is a stealth game, it's not in the same mould as Splinter Cell. Some of the time you'll be hiding behind objects to avoid the gaze of the guards and other characters, but you also spend time hiding in plain sight. Which basically means knocking someone out and taking their clothes, then wandering around incognito. You can also go in guns blazing if that's what you really want, but the game penalizes you for doing that, so stealth is really the order of the day.
47 is as bad-ass as ever, voiced once again by David Bateson, although Diana herself is voiced by a different actress. He has the good sense to cover up and/or remove his barcode in this game, not least because he ends up on the run for part of the game. Yes, the police finally get wind of 47's activities, in a plot twist which seems to borrow from the Hitman movie somewhat. You get to explore twenty or so levels, six or seven of which are as open as the levels in Hitman Blood Money were. My personal favourite has to be the Cornfield level because it lets you roam around in a scarecrow disguise, hiding out on a scarecrow stand and having your enemies wander past before dispatching them. Not unlike Jeepers Creepers in fact. Very, very cool.
Equally awesome is the game's multiplayer Contracts mode. This allows you to choose targets from the single player levels and execute them in a variety of amusing ways. You then challenge other players to follow your lead. Or if you're not feeling quite so creative you can just download contracts online and have a go yourself. For example, you might be tasked with killing a policeman and a drug dealer in the Chinatown level using only one disguise and a hammer. It's not quite the same as having a fully-featured level editor, but it still makes the game pretty replayable.
Sounds cool so far, right? And it is. But there's one area of Hitman Absolution that doesn't quite sit right. It doesn't ruin the game, but if it were fixed it'd make Hitman a great game, rather than just a good one. The disguise system has been tweaked somewhat, so that if you're in disguise you can be spotted by people wearing the same disguise. This sort of makes sense when you're talking about guards - after all, they'd know their own, right? But they have the ability to sniff you out when you're pretty far away from you. You can use the game's instinct system to temporarily postpone this - you only have a limited amount of instinct - but this involves... wait for it.. sticking your hand in front of your face or pulling down your cap. No, really. Odder still is when you're disguised as a chef wearing a chef's hat, and the other chefs in Chinatown somehow start to recognise you as an interloper. The ones wearing black caps don't, however - and I find it hard to believe every Chinatown chef knows each other.
As previously mentioned, Hitman Absolution is a good game, though not a great one. It's a worthy addition to the Hitman series, though admittedly it's not quite as open as previous entries. If you're a fan of the stealth genre in general then it's well worth picking up, especially given that the game's Contracts mode extends its playability almost indefinitely. Graphics-wise, the game has come on leaps and bounds since the previous game asl well. And if you're a HItman fan - then pick it up right away.
Score - 8 out 10.
Pros -
Excellent graphics.
Plenty of ways to dispatch foes.
Good storyline.
Contracts mode.
Cons:
The levels aren't quite as open as they were in previous games.
The disguise system seems a bit picky.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
47 is back! 'Wait, who?' you could be forgiven for asking, given that it's been six years since the last game in the Hitman series was released. 47 is the star of the Hitman series, a genetically engineered assassin who excels at his art, despite having a very conspicuous barcode tattoo on the back of his head. His targets have, to date, generally had it coming since they've nearly all been bad guys - drug dealers, illegal arms dealers etc. Although the game's never explained whether The Agency - the organisation that 47 works for - only gives him these contracts, or if 47 only chooses to kill bad guys himself. That's possibly for the best since it allows you, as 47, to play the game in a manner of your own choosing without breaking character. Grand Theft Auto 4, on the other hand, got a bit odd in that you could play a character who was looking to start a new trouble free life and run around dealing drugs and mowing down pedestrians at will.
Hitman: Absolution doesn't really explain what happened between Hitman: Blood Money - the last game in the series - and this title, though there's apparently a book out that does fill the gap a little. Instead, the game charges you, as 47, with the task of killing Diana, 47's agency handler who has gone rogue. The first level serves as a tutorial of sorts, after which you're thrown into the game proper, and the game takes things up a notch. It turns out that Diana left the Agency to safeguard a young girl, Victoria, who is apparently worth a lot of money to both them and an unscrupulous arms dealer, Blake Dexter. It's up to you to keep her out of the hands of either party, which is no easy feat. What this means is that we finally have a Hitman game with a decent storyline. No, I'm not being harsh - while the previous Hitman games were a lot of fun, the storyline was pretty sparse, serving only to frame the missions. Like those old Amicus anthology movies starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Peter Lom and whoever else was popular at the time.
However, this isn't the only change IO Interactive have made, and there's been some consternation amongst Hitman fans that the game has become 'dumbed down'. As a fan of the series myself, I was fully prepared for this latest entry to be complete cobblers but thankfully it's not. The levels aren't as open as they were in previous games, but you still have plenty of ways to tackle each level. Like jumping up and hanging from the ceiling and waiting for your opponent to pass below, right? Not quite. Because while Hitman Absolution is a stealth game, it's not in the same mould as Splinter Cell. Some of the time you'll be hiding behind objects to avoid the gaze of the guards and other characters, but you also spend time hiding in plain sight. Which basically means knocking someone out and taking their clothes, then wandering around incognito. You can also go in guns blazing if that's what you really want, but the game penalizes you for doing that, so stealth is really the order of the day.
47 is as bad-ass as ever, voiced once again by David Bateson, although Diana herself is voiced by a different actress. He has the good sense to cover up and/or remove his barcode in this game, not least because he ends up on the run for part of the game. Yes, the police finally get wind of 47's activities, in a plot twist which seems to borrow from the Hitman movie somewhat. You get to explore twenty or so levels, six or seven of which are as open as the levels in Hitman Blood Money were. My personal favourite has to be the Cornfield level because it lets you roam around in a scarecrow disguise, hiding out on a scarecrow stand and having your enemies wander past before dispatching them. Not unlike Jeepers Creepers in fact. Very, very cool.
Equally awesome is the game's multiplayer Contracts mode. This allows you to choose targets from the single player levels and execute them in a variety of amusing ways. You then challenge other players to follow your lead. Or if you're not feeling quite so creative you can just download contracts online and have a go yourself. For example, you might be tasked with killing a policeman and a drug dealer in the Chinatown level using only one disguise and a hammer. It's not quite the same as having a fully-featured level editor, but it still makes the game pretty replayable.
Sounds cool so far, right? And it is. But there's one area of Hitman Absolution that doesn't quite sit right. It doesn't ruin the game, but if it were fixed it'd make Hitman a great game, rather than just a good one. The disguise system has been tweaked somewhat, so that if you're in disguise you can be spotted by people wearing the same disguise. This sort of makes sense when you're talking about guards - after all, they'd know their own, right? But they have the ability to sniff you out when you're pretty far away from you. You can use the game's instinct system to temporarily postpone this - you only have a limited amount of instinct - but this involves... wait for it.. sticking your hand in front of your face or pulling down your cap. No, really. Odder still is when you're disguised as a chef wearing a chef's hat, and the other chefs in Chinatown somehow start to recognise you as an interloper. The ones wearing black caps don't, however - and I find it hard to believe every Chinatown chef knows each other.
As previously mentioned, Hitman Absolution is a good game, though not a great one. It's a worthy addition to the Hitman series, though admittedly it's not quite as open as previous entries. If you're a fan of the stealth genre in general then it's well worth picking up, especially given that the game's Contracts mode extends its playability almost indefinitely. Graphics-wise, the game has come on leaps and bounds since the previous game asl well. And if you're a HItman fan - then pick it up right away.
Score - 8 out 10.
Pros -
Excellent graphics.
Plenty of ways to dispatch foes.
Good storyline.
Contracts mode.
Cons:
The levels aren't quite as open as they were in previous games.
The disguise system seems a bit picky.
Hitman: Absolution doesn't really explain what happened between Hitman: Blood Money - the last game in the series - and this title, though there's apparently a book out that does fill the gap a little. Instead, the game charges you, as 47, with the task of killing Diana, 47's agency handler who has gone rogue. The first level serves as a tutorial of sorts, after which you're thrown into the game proper, and the game takes things up a notch. It turns out that Diana left the Agency to safeguard a young girl, Victoria, who is apparently worth a lot of money to both them and an unscrupulous arms dealer, Blake Dexter. It's up to you to keep her out of the hands of either party, which is no easy feat. What this means is that we finally have a Hitman game with a decent storyline. No, I'm not being harsh - while the previous Hitman games were a lot of fun, the storyline was pretty sparse, serving only to frame the missions. Like those old Amicus anthology movies starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Peter Lom and whoever else was popular at the time.
However, this isn't the only change IO Interactive have made, and there's been some consternation amongst Hitman fans that the game has become 'dumbed down'. As a fan of the series myself, I was fully prepared for this latest entry to be complete cobblers but thankfully it's not. The levels aren't as open as they were in previous games, but you still have plenty of ways to tackle each level. Like jumping up and hanging from the ceiling and waiting for your opponent to pass below, right? Not quite. Because while Hitman Absolution is a stealth game, it's not in the same mould as Splinter Cell. Some of the time you'll be hiding behind objects to avoid the gaze of the guards and other characters, but you also spend time hiding in plain sight. Which basically means knocking someone out and taking their clothes, then wandering around incognito. You can also go in guns blazing if that's what you really want, but the game penalizes you for doing that, so stealth is really the order of the day.
47 is as bad-ass as ever, voiced once again by David Bateson, although Diana herself is voiced by a different actress. He has the good sense to cover up and/or remove his barcode in this game, not least because he ends up on the run for part of the game. Yes, the police finally get wind of 47's activities, in a plot twist which seems to borrow from the Hitman movie somewhat. You get to explore twenty or so levels, six or seven of which are as open as the levels in Hitman Blood Money were. My personal favourite has to be the Cornfield level because it lets you roam around in a scarecrow disguise, hiding out on a scarecrow stand and having your enemies wander past before dispatching them. Not unlike Jeepers Creepers in fact. Very, very cool.
Equally awesome is the game's multiplayer Contracts mode. This allows you to choose targets from the single player levels and execute them in a variety of amusing ways. You then challenge other players to follow your lead. Or if you're not feeling quite so creative you can just download contracts online and have a go yourself. For example, you might be tasked with killing a policeman and a drug dealer in the Chinatown level using only one disguise and a hammer. It's not quite the same as having a fully-featured level editor, but it still makes the game pretty replayable.
Sounds cool so far, right? And it is. But there's one area of Hitman Absolution that doesn't quite sit right. It doesn't ruin the game, but if it were fixed it'd make Hitman a great game, rather than just a good one. The disguise system has been tweaked somewhat, so that if you're in disguise you can be spotted by people wearing the same disguise. This sort of makes sense when you're talking about guards - after all, they'd know their own, right? But they have the ability to sniff you out when you're pretty far away from you. You can use the game's instinct system to temporarily postpone this - you only have a limited amount of instinct - but this involves... wait for it.. sticking your hand in front of your face or pulling down your cap. No, really. Odder still is when you're disguised as a chef wearing a chef's hat, and the other chefs in Chinatown somehow start to recognise you as an interloper. The ones wearing black caps don't, however - and I find it hard to believe every Chinatown chef knows each other.
As previously mentioned, Hitman Absolution is a good game, though not a great one. It's a worthy addition to the Hitman series, though admittedly it's not quite as open as previous entries. If you're a fan of the stealth genre in general then it's well worth picking up, especially given that the game's Contracts mode extends its playability almost indefinitely. Graphics-wise, the game has come on leaps and bounds since the previous game asl well. And if you're a HItman fan - then pick it up right away.
Score - 8 out 10.
Pros -
Excellent graphics.
Plenty of ways to dispatch foes.
Good storyline.
Contracts mode.
Cons:
The levels aren't quite as open as they were in previous games.
The disguise system seems a bit picky.