Trailers: Hitman: Absolution - Run For Your Life trailer

[Athinira]

This looks absolutely horrible. This trailer killed any hope I had for this being good. They took everything that made hitman good and threw it right out the window.

What exactly made Hitman good?

The unintelligent AI?
The artificial behavior?
The fact that almost every single mission had a pre-planned route that you in most cases had to take, leaving you very little freedom of choice (unless the mission permitted you gunning up the entire place)?

I'm happy to see the games finally evolve into something where the player has more freedom of choice, more options (in the face of a new and more intelligent AI, rather than a scripted one), and above all else what seems like a much stronger narrative (The Hitman narrative never was very strong except in Blood Money. It was decent, but not outstanding).

Of course i might just be dreaming at this point since it might end up being a short disappointing game, but gameplay-wise they are on the right track. If you don't think so, then you can just go back and play the old games again. I trust you haven't forgotten all the scripted levels so you can just breeze through them?

Roughly 10 years ago we had three distinct game mechanics for stealth action:

1) Hiding in shadows (Thief, Deus Ex, etc.)
2) Hiding in plain sight (Hitman)
3) Hiding behind obstacles (Metal Gear Solid)

Why today there is only the latter? All of them were great at what they were doing.

Beyond the fact that the video actually shows BOTH plain sight and obstacles, you you taking one level out of an entire game out of context and concluding that this is going to be the entire experience of the game.

People, please. There is likely going to be a wide variety of levels which all require different stealth-approaches. It's obvious that in a level where Hitman is on the run and people are actually LOOKING for him (knowing that he is likely there), that it's going to be harder to hide in plain sight. Hitman has always been about blending in, and there is surely going to be plenty of levels where people will find it suspicious if he is found hiding behind a counter.

 

[Ryokai]

Cover system? DO NOT WANT

 

[red dragon 52]

God you people are helpless. All the new things are improvements. The old combat system felt so tacked on and not part of the game, with the cover system it looks a lot more fluid. The 'Instinct' mode is a good replacement for the map which was unwieldy and did not help the games flow. THIS GAME LOOKS FUN!

Also it is an obvious tutorial, they are not making hitman linear.

 

[1337mokro]

First of all the instinct view is not an issue. People complain about 47 magically seeing people through walls whilst completely forgetting that guards showed up on the map magically to. What did they all have chips implanted in their hands that shows you where they are?

Don't whine about gameplay changes that have the same practical function. Map becomes X-ray vision. NO PROBLEM! Same function: Show me where the guards are.

Secondly, combat desperately needed an overhaul. Combat was the worst part of the old games, admittedly if you were good you never needed it unless you deliberately sought it out, but making the combat system more refined and up to date is a good thing. It is now a viable alternative to stealth.

Thirdly, the Instinct bar. This is another addition I support. Tipping your hat to a superior to dissuade superstition rather then walking past him like a stiff automaton, good addition. Sure the "hiding in plain sight" mechanic falls apart a bit when 47 ignores allot of the people staring at him. Maybe turn down the obvious and loud voices questioning his identity IO? Give 47 a comeback reply for example a "Yeah" or "Chief called me".

Lastly, Hitman has linear sections in allot of it's levels. Linearity is not a problem if that linearity is brief and entertaining with nice set pieces. Tutorials are also linear because they need to teach you stuff. People keep saying that this is a tutorial, but I don't believe it. There was a mission before this one, most likely that mission was maybe the Tutorial or the 1st mission where everything went to pieces. Even then it's still a slightly open linear section as said in the video you can kill the chief. You don't have to but with careful planning you'll make sure the Chief takes an early retirement.

Now I'm done defending the game. Needless to say all this defending can be instantly undone if the game is a horrible mess. Don't let people down, give us Hitman, make it your absolution.

See what I did there?

I will eagerly await

 

[mrhateful]

Omg I can't stand danish accents of english.

Ps. I am danish myself

 

[easternflame]

Love it!!!

 

[mottamort]

The only problem(aside from being very linear and that it looks like Splinter Cell) is that godawful "Disguise powers".I mean hes just covering his damn face, i though that would make a large suspicion.

As much as I love the series, I have to admit that it's a little less stupid than the guards freaking out and killing just for standing too close like in Silent Assassin.

See now why am I the only one that picked up that using the intinct bar means your disguise becomes more natural, and that to me what he was doing was NOT covering his face, but talking into his shoulder-walkie-talkie...which is a VIABLE way of covering up his face as well as being a NATURAL thing a cop in that area would be doing. You can even hear the talkie sound after the developer commentators finish talking.

...so whats the problem?

Also, anyone know a release date? Google says 2012 and somewhere else says december 2011...meh


All that said, it does seem like it could turn out either very good, or a total flop. On the fence regarding the instinct system, but they eased my mind when they mentioned these things are optional...so noone can REALLY complain

 

[PunkRex]

Ive heard the Hitman games were good and this seems to be taking a few notes from Batman (although that Instinct ability seems bloody stupid). Definatly give this game a look if it focuses on the didguises and interacting with your surroundings instead of just shooting up the place.

 

[PunkRex]

I laughed when I saw "20 AmmoGun Bullets picked up"

You use them in your bullets firer.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

This looks brilliant. Great craphics, great AI and the level design seems to be wide open to different styles of gameplay. And for fucks sake people, why does everyone keep complaining about cover based shooting?

 

[SilverHammerMan]

I like the look of it and I think I might have to actually buy this game at some point.
Also, I LOVE Agent 47's sinister ass musical cue.

 

[beefpelican]

I just wanted to point out at 16:17, in the bottom left of the crowd are four guys standing in a line with exactly the same character models. lol

I saw that! Apparently Chicago has been overrun by clones! Clones that like standing in lines and jittering!

 

[Char-Nobyl]

I'm...shocked that so many people are infuriated/turned off by this sequence. It looks great, and it's only at demo stage. I can't wait for its release.

Yes, I know, I remember what Blood Money and such were like. But this is one level out of the game, and if anything, it's one level that should have been in previous games. How many missions did you botch and have to shoot your way to the exit? Didn't you think it was odd that a few bribes and what was apparently a succession of the worst CSI teams on Earth let you get off scot-free after murdering dozens of people?

I won't pretend to know for sure, but this looks like a level that takes place after a mission where things didn't go exactly as planned. This is what lets Agent 47 continue to be as good at his job as he is: he can adapt. I'm sure there will be plenty of missions in the same vein as previous games. Hell, I think most of them will be.

But the low points of previous games (for me, anyway) was mowing down waves of brain-dead security guards on your way out the door, robbed of any of the satisfaction of a flawless hit, and acting more like you're a Terminator than Agent 47.

This demo? This looks like what 47 would do if worse came to worst. And I like it.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Wow, this is a great Splinter Cell trailer! Oh wait...

I was hyped about this game before I saw shit like seeing through walls and how they fired 47's voice actors.

Dude, look at it this way: there comes a certain point when you can't adequately stand in as the mind of an experienced infiltrator and hitman because of growing AI intellect. The vision modes are temporary ways of simulating what 47 would know if he were actually a guy, and this is the easiest/best way of transferring that knowledge to the player.

Disguise powers, wtf???

Yeah. Disguising yourself is more than just changing your clothing. You have to act the part. And contrary to popular belief, people who work together in uniform actually know each other.

Cover based shooting, urgh just leave it out.

As I said before, would you prefer the Terminator approach that previous games took to escaping when you've compromised your identity? Absorbing bullets while gunning down dozens of security guards?

Helicopter chase sequences...

Well, yeah. Police have those. And it'd be 'sequence,' singular.

I really hope this game is good but it doesn't look like Hitman to me.

Ah, but that's because it's the Hitman you never got to be. It's 47 when he's been compromised, acting like a veteran hitman and infiltrator would as opposed to, again, a Terminator.

I won't lie and say that I know this isn't what every mission will be. But I'm pretty damn sure it won't be, and similarly, I'm thankful that the dev team has given us the flip side of the Hitman coin that we never had before: a frantic escape, done the 47 way.

 

[Furioso]

Sure, what to do when you get caught was always a low point in the gameplay, and it's nice to see them improve that, but this is a Hitman game, these are trailers that are supposed to get us hyped, yet they show the worst parts of the Hitman games off in them...

 

[elitestranger1]

OH GOD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE!
hitman is a stylish born killer, he doesnt need a cover system and has no gadgets to warrent a detection system. plus he isnt a gymnast, how can a tall guy in a suit climb around like that, just crouching will rip the seat of his pants.
not only is it a rip off of current stealth games it takes a dump on the best stealth game ever and one of the best ps2 games

5 years ago i thought hitman 5 would be an epic game filled with unlimited ways to kill your targets since bloody money had me playing missions over and over differently each time.