I'm near the end of Absolution, and though it's a great game, it's not quite the Hitman I once knew. It takes a Tarantino style bringing a story that looks out of place in the real world, such as The Saints, who show up out of nowhere for no real good reason, as if they were thrown in the game because "they looked cool". But that's not a problem, the problem is the way the game was modernized...
In what i can only guess was an attempt to keep Hitman alive with modern audiences, the game was made much less strategic and much more action oriented. For instance, remember when you had a HUGE environment with a few windows of opportunity (some which you could only get wrong or right ONCE) to take down a target? So you'd walk up and down on your suit, until you decided to get a look backstage, meaning you'd have to disguise yourself, and so on. This no longer happens. Those "windows of opportunity" happen often in the game, the targets staying right on spot as if shouting "look I can be killed here!", and to make matters worse, the environments are small: you often begin in point A, and have to arrive on point B (the game will usually give you about 2 ways to get there, noticed or unnoticed, really, like Metal Gear), then that changes the level for point B to C, and when you arrive at C you get a slightly bigger scenario to plot the target's assassination. It all feels very straightforward and unprofessional, not to mention that most missions take place in environments you can't be in, so you're always hiding, and not like just use the disguise, cause they end up getting even more attention to yourself.
I know, it sounds like I hated the game, i didn't, I'm enjoying it a lot. But the gameplay is totally different from what hitman used to be, and as someone else aptly put, makes it feel like a cheap knock-off of MGS and Deus Ex.
