The Hitman series featured some of the best stealth based gameplay of the last generation. Agent 47 was a genetically engineered super killer working for the International Contract Agency, also known simply as “The Agency.” Each stage was a different hit you had to carry out, some times on more than one person at a time. How you carried out the hit was up to you, whether you ran in guns blazing or snuck in and out, only killing the targets and no one else.
As tends to happen in shady underground organizations, 47 was eventually betrayed by The Agency and the series left us with 47 on the run from the world. After that cliff hanger, IO Interactive went on to work on other projects, a new console generation occurred and the only thing we have heard from the Hitman Series was a movie that didn’t have a whole lot to do with the game itself. Thankfully, IO Interactive has returned to the fan favorite franchise with Hitman Absolution and was kind enough to show us a back room demo.
The demo starts off with Agent 47 hiding out in an abandoned library. It seems like the entire city is looking for him, and the police have just arrived and begun to search the building. As 47 makes his way through the shadows, we listen to the banter between police officers as they engage in a coordinated search of the area. Absolution does a fantastic job of blending this conversation with the what is actually occurring in the game. Even if two people aren’t looking at each other, taking them out mid-conversation will make them suspicious.
The Glacier 2 engine used in the game utilizes a comprehensive intelligence spectrum. This allows the AI of NPCs to have multiple levels of awareness , rather then a binary “spotted” or “hidden” system. This is demonstrated when 47 does happen to take out a police officer who is talking with another patrolling on an upper level. Rather then becoming alerted immediately, the officer on the second floor comes to investigate when his buddy stops talking back. That turned out to be a bad decision, as 47 makes quick work of him as well.
Unfortunately, sometimes you can’t hide forever. Even though 47 snuck through the library with out getting caught, and even though he managed to sabotage the lights so that he could hide in the dark, he came to a roadblock that he couldn’t sneak past. The commander of the police force set up camp right at the stairs leading out of the library. Luckily for 47, they were all facing the man in charge who was busy reading a map. That allowed 47 to use one of the officers as a human shield and back his way out of the library. After a tense standoff with half a dozen officers ready to gun him down, 47 makes a run for it. After a getting chased around by a helicopterfor a bit, 47 found a lone officer to pick off and used his uniform as a disgise.
In addition to a revamped AI system, Absolution gives players all the advantages of 47′s hardened instincts. While using the new Instinct feature, players will see a highlighted path that 47 would expect an NPC to take or highlight usable weapons or escape paths. It can also be used to impersonate a person who’s outfit you’ve disguisedyourself with. 47 used this as he made his way through a drug house adjacent to the library and passed the wall of officers on the other side. He even managed to kill someone with a bong and eat a donut on his way.
Look for Hitman Absolution on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC next year.
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