izigame.me

TLDR

Due to the switching of publisher, Hitman: Absolution lost a section of gameplay/content and achievements. It's been 5 years since then they still cant get their poop together. Goes to show you how much they care about this product. It's a victim of bureaucracy. Be aware that what you are paying for is only for the campaign - it will offer you a lot of fun and adventure, creative ways of taking down your targets but at this price?


Non-TLDR

Hitman: Absolution (HA in short) is developed by Io Interactive, Nixxes Software and published by Square Enix. The PC version was released on Nov 19, 2012 and it is also available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. As of this writing, Metacritic (https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/hitman-absolution) shows:

An average meta score of 79 from 26 critic reviews
An average user score of 7.2 from 1679 ratings
#60 Best PC Game of 2012
#20 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
#23 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Hitman, the bald man with in a suit and a barcode stamped behind his head. Who would not recognize this iconic figure? This Franchise has come a long, long way and withstood the test of time with its stealth and assassination gameplay.
Unfortunately, due to publisher switching, legal/business dealings, HA got affected. Most people wont know about it until its too late, just like me - when i tried to access the "contracts" section in 2022. I know i am 10 years late but this should not have happened. Feel free to do your own research in understanding what actually happened and how they handled HA.

Controls, Audio, Visuals, Story

Visuals: For me, i'd say overall this is still impressive but not as impressive as Assassin Creed 2, especially when it comes to crowds and level design. Don't get me wrong, HA is based in "current" time, there's a lot of indoor structure, close quarter.. maybe Chapter 2 Chinatown was 'wow!' the other maps takes you from roof top, hotel, mines, clubs, church etc the places you go are unique however it is still in a sandbow/enclosed areas. Every disguise, every enemy, every npc, the world, the objects, the weapons, everything has been made properly. Only certain units have more details on them; the police, SWAT team but the rest are more "plain" in nature. Some of the women in HA *nose bleed* Oh my eyes, my eyes! I will never forget the first time i walked into that club O_O" +1 to the visual team
Audio:
The music, the voice acting, the npc reaction, npc deaths/screams, weapon feedback, explosions - well done. +1 to the audio team
Controls:
Keyboard and mouse. The key bindings are on point. No funny business. No finger entangling crap.
Story:
You play as Agent 47 and is given a task by the agency: assassinate your handler, Diana. In her dying moments, she made you promise her: protect a girl from the agency (Victoria) and as usual, nothing goes according to plan. This comes in the form of a man named Dexter. You travel across various locations to bring down Dexter's network while being hunted by "dirty" cops, Saints & the agency just to uphold your promise.
HA's campaign gives you 20 chapters to go through and ...forget about the contracts section. its no longer working due to the server ownership issue or some laws/guidelines issues.

Mechanics

HA introduces instinct. it's something like having a like spider sense with heat vision. Instinct plays a heavy role from showing where enemies are, their path, objects/weapons, special interactive places?, performing multiple kills in an instant and also to protect your cover. Some may not like this but i accept it as an innovation to the franchise.
Stealth takedown feels satisfying. Hiding bodies in containers (limited to 2 only). Field of View is very important as you can get spotted by npc/enemies if not careful/you didnt plan or take into consideration dragging a body away...lol Disguises are the highlight of the game. Key moments that i had fun in HA was disguising myself as a chipmunk, a pro-wrestler and a judge. ^_^
The stealth approach can somewhat feel very frustrating because certain levels were designed not to allow you to do it "in your way/what you expect to do" but once you learn about the map and the key locations, your stealth gameplay will be less infuriating.
Going loud (bang bang) is fun as the game will spawn more enemies as reinforcement. The cover system is good - it offers a "snap" on feel behind walls and objects and this will be important in both styles of play. The only issue is Ammo management. You can get killed with a couple of shots and you need to look for healing kits to heal but i dont understand why at times your HP can regen.. hmm
For me these are the core aspects of the game that everyone should be aware about.

My personal thoughts/My Summary

Fortunately or unfortunately for me, this is my very first Hitman game. Did i enjoy what the product has to offer? Hell yes. The campaign gave me to opportunity to unleash my payday 2 stealth skills :p and i really enjoyed the mechanics in the game - and its because of these mechanics, it gives you so many creative ways of taking out your key target that makes the game fun and unique. Of course that comes with effort and patience! which some may not have and going the loud route is also fun! but restricted to you ammo/guns.
Everything leading to the final chapter was awesome. For me, the final chapter itself was the problem. The level design was limited, not as fun as compared to layla's level for example and the final boss fight was utterly disappointing. There was no boss fight, all you had to do is to take down 3 goons - the standard way. no special/unique ways to do it. T.T
The ending? Well, i certainly didn't expect a twist but i felt 'happy' because i kept my promise to Diana.
I was 'happy' until i tried to access the contract section and was greeted with a server error message..only to find out that this happened because/during the the transfer of ownership between Square Enix and IO interactive. I turned green and bald instantly. Fuck.
So, on the scale of 0 - 10, my personal rating for Hitman: Absolution is ..*looks at the price for the game on steam store* fuck it! A DISGRACE 7/10.
I lost all respect in both publishers due to their handling of Hitman: Absolution.