Hitman: Absolution

Like Dishonored before it, it’s actually a true pleasure to play a game that lets you tackle it from multiple angles. After several years of increasingly totalitarian games where you’re very much following a pre-determined path, it’s nice to have a game that doesn’t just encourage improvisation; it requires it. More please.

“The Hitman series returns, and it was worth the wait”

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Hitman: Absolution constantly flip-flops from being awesome to bad in the blink of an eye. It never consistently amazes, nor constantly disappoints. We wished it was more at times, and thought it nearly perfect at others.

A fun approach to the assassin genre that gives players plenty of options to progress through levels, dodge the police, and eliminate targets.

With a six year absence since Agent 47's last outing, it's not surprising to see that everybody's favourite murderer has gone through a few changes. And while series purists may lament the days of yore, Hitman: Absolution still steals the show with its unique stealth elements, freedom, and deadly satisfaction.

Throughout the game's meaty campaign players will find themselves occasionally falling into the age-old stealth game problem of grinding down predictable AI, but the level designs, creative and unique story-driven assassination set pieces and solid gameplay help Hitman: Absolution stand as one of the most fun and rewarding stealth games available. A contender for best in the series, Hitman: Absolution requires patience, tactics and a cool head and if at first, you don't succeed, try, try again. Even if you do succeed, try again to do it better.

Six years is a lifetime in gaming, and when we last whipped out Agent 47’s fibre wire Uncharted was but a glint in Sony’s eye. So while Hitman: Absolution hopes to revive fond memories by putting us back in the shoes of the chrome-domed master assassin, it also tries to move with the times – adding more story, more gunfights and a wee dose of x-ray vision. The question is, can the series keep up with the Joneses without sacrificing its stealthy appeal?

The problem with Absolution is that its new custodians from the Kane and Lynch team seem to have fundamentally misunderstood what made Hitman great.

So, Hitman: Absolution then. IO would maintain until the day they die at the hands of a hitman that it’s a game full of choices. On one level that’s true, but if some choices are really choices that no sane person (or someone wanting to do things ‘properly’) then is it really a choice? This game has its share of interesting and mundane sections, and whilst it does a few key set-pieces quite brilliantly, on a whole it’s a fairly underwhelming experience. It’s hard to really give a ...

It was just another Saturday night, or so I thought. I’d shaved my head in anticipation for what I was hoping was another fairly simple night, one with no complications and one where I’d go unseen, like a ghost in the night. Suited up in my slick black suit with my blood red tie, I slipped into the darkness. If I’d have been seen, it would have been disastrous. My reputation ruined with one lapse in judgment and concentration. I needed to have my wits about me. Especially if I was to sl...