GusHasGas

Contributor
CRank: 9Score: 35030

User Review : Hitman: Absolution

Ups
  • Great gameplay graphics
  • Good gameplay mechanics
  • Great voice acting
Downs
  • Not so great cinematic graphics
  • Repetitive gameplay
  • Story isn't deep

Hitman: Absolution - Review

Hitman Absolution is the very first Hitman game I've ever played, and I have some mixed thoughts about it that I thought I'd share: (beware, spoilers ahead)

PLOT:
The game's story consists of Agent 47, a Hitman of "The Agency" who is assigned to murder Diana, a former member of The Agency that went rogue. 47 wounds her, and as she is dying, she asks 47 to protect a girl, who has been genetically raised by The Agency, known as Victoria. And so, the adventure begins as 47 himself goes rogue to protect Victoria from The Agency. However, a new villain enters the story, and his name is Dexter. Dexter kidnaps Victoria and 47 has to go killing man after man after man (all of these "men" are Dexter's affiliates in some way or another) until he finally murders Dexter and Travis (the head of The Agency) and learns that Diana's death was faked and 47's "wounding shots" were actually non-lethal. So, 47 is welcomed back to The Agency by Diana and there's a happy ending.

GRAPHICS:

I found that the graphics during cinematics were quite poor (this is just my opinion) - The characters during the cinematics were almost horrendous-looking at times. The graphics during gameplay were much better and were outstanding, however. Environments, characters, and pretty much everything else looked great during gameplay, except for weapons, which didnt look as great as they could've.

AUDIO:

The voice acting was pretty damn good for the most part. I feel like the voice actor of Agent 47 did a very good job, out of all characters though. Other sounds were also realistic and good.

GAMEPLAY:

The gameplay mechanics of this game were very good. You were allowed to take cover (which is essential in a stealth game like this) and you have a variety of weapons and objects were always lying around which you could use to your advantage to distract enemies. You could also take an enemy's disguise after you killed them, which would allow you to be hidden from enemies. Speaking of being hidden, there were dumpsters, bins, lockers, and other things that you could hide in or hide your enemies' dead bodies in. There was also a point shooting system where you could mark targets and rapidly kill them. You also have an Instinct Mode, which allows you to see enemies through walls and see what their path is. You also have a limited time to use the Instinct Mode, depending on what difficulty you play on. Overall, I didn't have an issue with any of the gameplay mechanics.

I did however have an issue with how repetitive the gameplay was. Literally every single mission was: detect the bad guys with Instinct Mode, silently pick off and kill one guy, take his disguise, take a casual stroll to the exit of the level, and execute a main antagonist. There were very few variations when it came to gameplay, and I didn't quite enjoy playing through the missions. The only thing that would actually vary the gameplay was trying to complete challenges such as: "Finish a mission without using a disguise" except most challenges such as the one I just mentioned are quite hard.

Even though the gameplay was repetitive, the story wasn't repetitive and was enjoyable, right? Wrong. There were no twists whatsoever in the story, except for the twist at the very end, AFTER YOU FINISH THE GAME. I would literally start every mission and already know how it would end: with me executing one of Dexter's henchmen!

ONLINE:

I am a big fan of multiplayer but the game unfortunately didnt have any. It only had a Contracts mode where players could create their own contracts for other players to complete. FYI, it's not nearly as cool as it may sound.

Score
8.5
Graphics
The cinematic graphics were terrible. The gameplay graphics on the other hand were quite fantastic.
9.8
Sound
Great voice acting and sounds.
7.5
Gameplay
The gameplay mechanics were good but the gameplay was repetitive.
7.0
Fun Factor
The fact that the gameplay AND storyline were boring proved for little fun and nothing to look forward to besides finishing the actual game.
6.0
Online
Contracts mode was boring. 'Nuff said.
Overall
7.8
Valenka3935d ago

"I found that the graphics during cinematics were quite poor, but the graphics during gameplay were much better and were outstanding."

That's funny, considering that the graphics within the cutscenes and gameplay were the same. There were only a couple of pre-rendered scenes; the rest were compiled using gameplay visuals.

GusHasGas3935d ago

You can say whatever the hell you want, but I'm not blind. I could notice a difference from when the characters spoke their dialogue to when you were actually playing. Also, where did you get this "the graphics within the gameplay and cutscenes were the same" bullcrap? (Source, please.) but even if there is a source, there's no telling if that source was lying or telling the truth.

Valenka3935d ago (Edited 3935d ago )

Um, anyone with eyes can see that the visuals were the same; the only difference is that the cutscenes were pre-recorded, so the mouth movements were of course more on-point that during actual gameplay.

As for the source for that, aside from the blatantly obvious personal experience, you could simply Google it and get the Square Enix Q&A press release. Otherwise, if you aren't feeling proactive, I'll track it down for you and send it via PM.

Just because characters' mouth movements were better in cutscenes than during actual gameplay does not mean the graphics were different. I can name several games in which mouth movements were more prevalent in cutscenes than during gameplay; the visuals remained the same.

GusHasGas3935d ago

@Valenka

Alright, you're right. I'm wrong. I have some sort of eye damage and I should get them checked out.

Happy?

Valenka3934d ago (Edited 3934d ago )

It has nothing to do with any admittance that I'm correct, it's the fact that your review contains misinformation. In addition to the issue with the graphics, Victoria is NOT Diana's daughter, and if you'd even played the game, you would know that. With the instances of simply wrong information, mixed with the lack of description or detail in your review, I'm going to have to assume that you did not play the game and pieced this review together from information you've read about the game, your own assumptions and videos you may have watched.

Have a look at other user reviews for this game and notice the detail and break-down of what the game offers. Since this was allegedly the first Hitman game you've played, you should have a lot more to say about it.

GusHasGas3934d ago ShowReplies(1)
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When Hitman 3 recently changed its name to Hitman World of Assassination, fans had no idea how meaningful the moment was. On the outside it looked like a simple thing: Hitman 3 would now be known by this name and include levels from Hitman 2 and 3 - the trilogy would all be in one place. But on the inside, at IO Interactive, much more was going on.

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QuantumMechanic404d ago (Edited 404d ago )

You mean destroyed it with this tethered single-player campaign BS... And only the first few levels of the third modern game were on the disc! I'll never support this crap at any price-point! They've lost me as a customer.

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ToddlerBrain745d ago

Hitman is, and has been, a remarkable series developed by some of the best. Some are better than others, but every Hitman is challenging and fun.

Sure, there have been some stumbles and fumbles, but always in pursuit of the perfect Hitman game. The most recent trilogy is a masterclass in level design.

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AK911862d ago

Ugh Multi page always damn multi page.