This is rather good so far. Quite like it when I fuck up purely by my own inadequacies and having to adapt. First game ive really ever felt that in. Although it only really works if you can limit the fuck up, avoiding escalating it into a full out war.

Crowd scenes are very nice - providing you dont try and break it.

Three missions in, so far so good.  There have been some hints of the dialogue from spectators not really fitting the situation, but I imagine it would be almost impossible to eliminate reactions feeling scripted.  I'm happy to be lenient with my judgement until later.

I shot a gun in the face. He then spoke to me. I pretended it didnt happen.

I thought Max Payne 3 would be the only game this year where the developers didn't get the appeal of their own franchise. I was wrong. This aint no hitman. Its splinter cell with nuns.

The people I know who've never played a hitman game seem to be loving it though, so what do I know (aside from the joy and freedom of Blood Money)?

I too thought it was a bit Splinter Cell and so far I am enjoying it with the only problem being that I am shit at it, and when I say shit I don't mean the odd detection here and there but I end up having to shoot everybody!

This is on Amazon's Black-Friday Week thing today at noon (both 360 and PS3, currently lists at £34'ish) so anybody that was umming and arring this might be your chance to grab a cheap copy...

I still not sure i quite get how this works. The games point system is based around not being seen, not killing anyone uneccesary, but to me that sounds like there's really only one 'perfect' way to do each scenario, which is bullshit! Freedom of choice is supposed to be its selling point.

Also, why don't i start each level with my preferred silenced pistol(s)?

Yeah, scoring system is 100% bullshit. Should have kept it to Contracts mode.

If a game is open to all possibilities you shouldnt be rewarded or punished by a points system. Appealing to an XP craving generation. Urghh.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-22-hitman-franchise-future-split-over-two-teams-like-call-of-duty-dev-says

They could have got away with this back when the game was a sandbox. If the franchise had been the same as blood money with new levels I'd be queuing up every year but this linear story-focused bullshit has put me right off.

I've played a bit more of it, i'm just infiltrating some mine place, thingy.

When its a sandbox, its great, the levels where i had to kill larry's cronies were fun with plenty of possibilities. And then theres the splinter cell levels, it wouldnt bug me so much if those levels had a few multiple routes in them, theres a couple where the path splits off, but for the most part they're just funneling me where they want me to go, and as said before, thats not Hitman, the Sandbox, levels seems to enable to me to put up with the odd linear infiltration mission, i just want to get through them get to the sandboxy goodness.

I don't mind them trying to add a story and putting the infiltration levels in, but make them more open, gives us some objectives, to do in them besides getting from A to B, perhaps having some side contract targets to kill in them.

I like the score system, its set around beign a "Silent Assassin" so it works for what they want you to do, and im finding it fun having PSN friends names showing as the high score, gives me something to aim at.

The new UI's good, controls are better and smoother and the detection part is alot better then the previous games, yellow/red/black)iirc) meter, i think it would have been a top top game had they had 75% sandbox levels and 25% story/infiltration missions, as it is its more weighted to the story/infiltration missions it hurts it and knocks it down a couple of notches.

Still im happy-ish with my purchase, £30 well spent and at least it staved off me dropping 40 squids on the next annual Call of Duty knock out.

This should be one of my favourite games right now but it hasn't clicked.  I enjoyed Silent Assassin, even enjoyed Contracts (although I can't find my second Xbox copy I bought in the summer), and absolutely loved Blood Money.  The things that made those games was the sense of not endless possibilities, but an obvious selection of half a dozen possibilities for each element so there was still some focus.  The map facility meant you could plan and stage events for ages while watching how people moved and reacted, thinking about routes etc.  

That's all been diluted a bit in Absolution.  The mapping's not as simple, accessible or clear so you can't structure your way around levels, or even spot an exclamation point and decide that's where you need to get to.  Kills are much more opportunistic, it seems that there's no way to freely roam some of the earlier levels I've done so I end up panicking and sticking a pair of giant scissors through my target's head then tossing them into a hiding place, rather than setting up some crazy trap.

I've only played a few hours, but so far every level seems to be 1000 NPCs, rain, and some sort of derelict building.  Combined with the lack of a full map it means it's so difficult to hide.  I'm not enjoying set pieces like hiding from a helicopter too much either, I want freedom to roam my levels with just a target.  

I see what they've tried to do, as things like the full map never made much sense before, but it's not clicking yet.  Plus, the scoring system seems like it adds amazing replayability, likewise the Contracts mode, so I do want to get into it.  I'm not sure how I get all of the "tiles" after a mission though, it seems like there's credit for picking up one of every possible weapon etc?

So far it's disappointed, but I need to give it more time.

I don't think those routes are as telegraphed from the start as they were in the previous games.  I miss the feeling of laying out the blueprints and observing, knowing that the vast majority of the level was open and I could wander around fine.  It seems that half the levels I've played so far are all restricted areas and result in attacks if you're spotted, so much less freedom so far.

hd collection should be here soon.

i enjoyed this apart from a few of the earlyer missions that funnel you thru.
but the others are a lot more open than they first may seem.
iv gone back thru a few of the missions to see if i could better my rating and discover anything i missed previously,
the answers were both yes.
theres some real invention to the multiple routes and the harder ones seem more rewarding too.

some of the best deaths too.......who else cut the wires and turned the power on when the guy pisses against them?

It's got a lot better!  Later missions like the motel, the gun shop, and the streets of Hope are much more traditional "Hitman;" lots of wandering around watching, planning, waiting, and then getting away with it.  So much fun!

More importantly, why did no-one mention there was an HD collection coming out?  I've just ordered it; has Hitman 2, Contracts and Blood Money, and everyone should play them.

daviedigi wrote:

Elmlea wrote:

It's got a lot better!  Later missions like the motel, the gun shop, and the streets of Hope are much more traditional "Hitman;" lots of wandering around watching, planning, waiting, and then getting away with it.  So much fun! More importantly, why did no-one mention there was an HD collection coming out?  I've just ordered it; has Hitman 2, Contracts and Blood Money, and everyone should play them.

i mentioned the hd collections in an earlier post, but was ignored as usual. theres some great levels towards the end of absolution too. not gonna spoiler anything but id like to know how you deal with a certain one later.

I won't ignore ya Davie ! 

I'm late to Hitman - have never played one before  , bought absolution as it was cheap. And have just got Hitman HD , graphics don't look too special and something about limited saves , I'm guessing that's per mission ?

Just read on a few sites that the framerate suffers on PS4 on the beta, so the bone will too presumably.