Andy Chalk said:
By now you've no doubt seen and probably formed an opinion about last week's trailer for Hitman: Absolution, but on the off-chance that you've missed it, it goes more or less like this: a group of smokin' hot nun assassins wearing light bondage undergarments attacks Agent 47 and he messes them up badly. Some people thought the video was silly, others found it offensive, and still more were offended by the apparently shabby treatment being given to their beloved Hitman franchise.
But Hitman studio IO Interactive apparently saw none of it coming. "We're sorry that we offended people - that was truly not the intention of the trailer," Game Director Tore Blystad told IGN. "We were surprised that it turned into such a huge topic. Something similar happened with our Sniper Challenge pre-order bonus... We just wanted to make something cool, it wasn't the intention to stir up anything."
I'm really, really not sure what he thought would happen. He was either flying in the face of the tone of the series, or showing a bald man murdering a group of nuns on their way back from the new dual-purpose NRA/S&M club.
Andy Chalk said:
The trailer is actually based on a level in the upcoming Hitman: Absolution called "Attack of the Saints," in which the Agency sends a team of female assassins to punch 47's ticket once and for all. As for why they're dressed like nuns, Blystad explained that it's a combination of the game's natural extremism and the influence of film directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
...oh, hell.
Andy Chalk said:
"The grindhouse theme is something that we're using throughout the game," he said. "It tends more towards sixties exploitation movies - these were a fascination [for us] because they were so extreme."
I didn't get a single sense of that from the gameplay footage. But if that's true...
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Andy Chalk said:
I can buy Blystad's story that the trailer wasn't meant to be taken quite so seriously, but his statement that it wasn't intended to "provoke" people is nonsense. The specific purpose of promotional trailers is to inspire a response; otherwise, what's the point? I also have a hard time believing that nobody at IO saw any potential problems with the video. They aren't "real nuns" (or even real people) but given the relative immaturity and insecurity of the videogame industry, surely somebody, somewhere, must have paused for a moment to consider the implications of graphically wiping out a squad of Holy Sisters. Not that I'm suggesting the video shouldn't have been released, but claiming surprise over a not-entirely-positive reaction to it strikes me as just a tad disingenuous.
What baffled me the most was how easily it could've been...well, better. And without sacrificing the overall structure of the trailer.
-Take the pace of it, for one thing: we've got the stupid contrast between the assassin team's combat prowess/their deliberate movement
after the RPG hits...versus their inane Charlie's Angels pose before it fires. They're not preparing to take on the deadliest assassin on Earth. They're posing for the camera.
-Their clothes. I have no problem with disguising them as nuns. In fact, I like it. But it's important to
leave it at just a disguise. Why would anyone go through the trouble to obtain habits for disguises and then also prepare fetishized version to wear underneath when you decide to throw subtlety out the window?
-Show the disguises being worth something. Most of those guns could reasonably fit underneath a nun's habit, except for the RPG. Replace it with an underslung grenade launcher for her assault rifle and you're golden.
New version: group of 'nuns' approaching the building. It'd be better if they were walking alongside it, because then it's not obvious that they're making a b-line for 47's room. Then, in one smooth, unified motion, they draw their weapons and open fire, riddling the hotel room with bullets. A grenade is fired, and the explosion happens. From there, things proceed normally, albeit without them wearing ridiculous fetish costumes and combat stilettos that
are visible through their disguises.
With that rendition, they actually look like competent assassins. They maintain their cover until the very instant that they're opening up on their target, and never bother with any of that pointless showboating. I enjoy the sort of thing they claim to be taking inspiration from, but those (when done properly) didn't go so clearly out of their way to make it obvious that the things they're doing are just for the benefit of the viewer. If you want an absurd world, go for it...but keep it uniform. The moment that you throw in nun assassins making Charlie's Angels poses and put them alongside a professional hitman we already know, you've lost most of your main audience.
