Hitman: Absolution (2012)

This mainline Hitman entry, at the time, represent a noticeable shift in direction for the long-running stealth franchise. The game places Agent 47 in a more personal and emotionally driven storyline, where he finds himself protecting a young girl while being hunted by his former agency. This narrative focus gives the game a stronger cinematic feel, with high-quality cutscenes and a more linear progression than fans were used to.

The core gameplay still revolves around stealth, disguise mechanics, and carefully orchestrated assassinations, but the structure is more guided than in previous entries like Blood Money. Levels are often broken into smaller segments, and while some areas still allow for experimentation, others feel restrictive. This design choice makes the game more approachable for newcomers, as objectives are clearer and progression is more straightforward. However, it comes at the cost of the open-ended sandbox style that defined the series, where players could freely explore and execute targets in countless creative ways.

One of the most notable additions is the “Instinct” system, which allows players to track enemies, predict patrol routes, and blend more effectively into crowds. While useful, it can sometimes make the experience feel less organic, as it reduces the need for careful observation and planning. The disguise system has also been tweaked, making enemies more suspicious of Agent 47 when he wears outfits similar to theirs, adding a layer of challenge but occasionally leading to frustration.

From a technical and artistic standpoint, Absolution is impressive. The game uses the Glacier 2 engine, delivering detailed character models, expressive facial animations, and richly designed environments. Locations range from rundown urban neighborhoods to lavish mansions and seedy back alleys, all contributing to a gritty, stylized atmosphere. The tone leans heavily into dark and sometimes exaggerated themes, which can feel over-the-top but also gives the game a distinct personality compared to its predecessors.

The sound design and voice acting further enhance the experience. The performances are generally strong, and the soundtrack complements the tension and drama of each mission. That said, some of the writing and characters can feel stereotypical or uneven, particularly in the way certain antagonists are portrayed.

Overall, Hitman: Absolution is a polished and engaging stealth game that successfully introduces new players to the franchise with its cinematic approach and refined mechanics. However, its more linear design and reduced player freedom make it a somewhat divisive entry among longtime fans. While it may not fully capture the depth and openness of earlier Hitman titles, it still stands as a memorable and well-crafted experience in its own right.

Hitman: Absolution is a game you just can't go wrong with. Although this is a more linear game than the other Hitman entries, it certainly doesn't stop you from being creative with your kills. Each mission has different specific targets to kill and there are many different ways to take out your target. You can use different weapons you find or use parts of the environment to your advantage. Each mission takes a very cool dynamic with different set ups and layouts allowing you to always find different ways to kill. There's also a disguise system which allows you to steal peoples clothes after knocking them out or killing them, allowing you to blend in, helping you move around without causing any suspicion.

There are a variety of different and unique level locations including China town, a mansion, a library, a strip club, a gun store, a wrestling arena, a courthouse, and hotel during the story.

It's hard to explain the story without giving away any spoilers but It's nothing mind-blowing. It's the type of story you would expect in a Hitman game but it's the gameplay that makes up for it.

A somewhat disappointing entry in the Hitman series, Absolution is a bittersweet rendition that brings the best graphics seen in the franchise, but ultimately falls flat by the changes made in approach that aren't exactly In Agent 47's best interests.

Absolution took all the freedom away from players, giving next to no variety in means of execution and playthrough. Instead of the player finding a route that better suits their playstyle, we're forced to follow a direct path.

With the lack of freedom in mind, the entire feel of this installment is unlike any Hitman game before, acting and playing much more like Splinter Cell than Hitman. Stealth has always been apart of the games, but not to the extent of having to hide most the time, though it is part of the story.

Graphically speaking Hitman: Absolution looks beautiful with its new polished look, but at the end of the day, the gameplay kills the experience.

I had some fun with this, but the replay value here disappears soon after starting, something I've never experienced before with this series.

Just finished this one yesterday. It was my second experience with the series, after playing Blood Money many years ago. It was fun, but not very memorable. The story has a decent premise, and I enjoyed the way 47 was portrayed, but the villains are so unimaginative and stupid that none of them gave me any satisfaction when I beat them. That are also too many boring levels with limited options to approach, but the exceptions provided some really exciting moments.

I thought about writing a proper review, but anarchistica has already said everything I could discuss about the game, so I'd rather point to that one. It was as cool game, but not even close to Blood Money. I'll be trying 2016 in the future with much higher expectations.

Hitman Absolution has some of the most bizarre design choices i've ever seen in a videogame. And while it can be infuriating at times, it's also too good not to recommend. But, i would only recommend it if you've already completed Hitman 2016, which is far superior in (almost) every way.

The Good

Let's start with some positives. It looks great, even for a 6 year old game. Gunplay is much better than in previous games. There's a toggle ability that highlights people and objects, and even shows where they're going. Score penalties are much more reasonable than in Hitman 2016; you can kill people who shoot at you and not be punished if you shoot them in the head and hide their body. Agent 47 also feels much more like a real person in this game.

Absolution has a few levels that are sizeable and allow you to sneak around, dodge enemies and kill the target in a creative way. Obviously they absolutely pale in comparison to Hitman 2016's maps that are ten times bigger and allow for countless ways to approach things - but it's still nice. And there's a couple of challenges that encourage you to find different ways to do things, which helps.

The Bad

One of the weirder bad design choices is that the game plays cutscenes while loading. So if you actually want to replay a mission you have to sit through the first 20 or so seconds of those every single time. And yes, even with a decent Ryzen 5 1600 & 16GB ram the loading times are quite long. Another annoyance is that interacting with the environment is clumsy and it's sometimes tricky to get into the right spot to toggle a prompt to dump a body or something. And looking for evidence is an annoying chore. Oh yeah, and the Contracts server is down, which apparently reduces the content of the game by a significant amount. But on to worse things:

Save System

The worst thing about Absolution is the save system. Or rather, the lack thereof. There are a handful of checkpoints that you can activate to save some quest progress. These are rare and some levels don't even seem to have them. And if you do reload, all enemies respawn. Yes, you read that right. All that effort you put into sneakily subdueing enemies and hiding their bodies? Gone, just like that. What the hell were they thinking?!

Bad Maps

There are a whole bunch of filler missions which just have you walk a short distance (as little as 20 meters) to a door. I have no idea why most of these exist. Aside from these, there are a couple of really bad maps. There's the awful helicopter chase. There's the "get detected and you instantly die" map. The final map only has 3 enemies and they're so easy to take on you can actually garrotte and hide them with zero effort. And there are a number of maps with very limited paths/options that just aren't fun and don't encourage you to be stealthy or creative.

No Loadout

In Hitman: Blood Money and Hitman 2016 you pick what items you want to use before the start of the mission. In 2016 you can also choose a disguise and/or a different starting location. One of the most satisfying things about both games is earning better equipment and having new options to approach targets.

Absolution doesn't have this at all. The only progression comes from lame "skill" upgrades that unlock automatically based on your score - you don't even get to pick. And you always start in the same location with the same items. One of the most enraging parts of the game has you drive to a heavily defended location with almost no weapons while right before that you drove off in a car with a sniper rifle, assault rifle and a shotgun. It's like they're Lucy from Snoopy, taking away your ball right before you can kick it.

Blood Money had a system where you picked your weapons and items and could upgrade them before a mission, it's just mindboggling that they removed this. Did they deliberately dumb the game down? Were they afraid things would get too easy if you got to pick your weapons? Did they not want to give you a sense of progression? Thank god they fixed this in Hitman 2016 because picking your loadout is really really fun.

Score System

The score system is a mix of Blood Money and 2016. It's not as detailed as the first, but not as unforgiving as the latter. You lose points for taking people out and being spotted, you gain points for hiding bodies, finding evidence and completing objectives. If it was just that it would've been decent. However, they decided to implement a bizarre score multiplier based on completed challenges (e.g. for each one your future score goes up 5%).

What does this mean. Well, you have to take people out and steal their clothes to unlock the "Chameleon" challenge on every map. And you have to find the evidence, and do this and do that to increase your future score. Finally, after you've done that you get to play silent assassin style and earn the most points (which translates into skill upgrades). In Hitman 2016 you can just start a new mission, complete it SASO (silent assassin, suit only) and get the best possible score. And instead of improving a score multiplier, you score mastery points that give you unlocks.

Obviously they wanted to encourage players to replay missions, but instead they punish you for playing the way you're supposed to play the game (stealthily/no mess). And with many linear maps, no loadout, no saving, unskippable cutscenes (also at the end of missions!), etc. you just don't want to do that. I did replay a couple of missions, but all of Absolution's flaws are even more apparent the second time. Oh, you managed to sneak past a bunch of guys and nearly got to the exit? Oops, someone randomly turned their head and spotted you, and now you have to replay half the map to get that silent assassin rating. Ugh.

Conclusion

Let me just start by pointing this out; I've put 21-23 hours into Hitman: Absolution. I've put over 330 hours into Hitman 2016. Hitman 2016 is one of my all-time favourite games (out of 950+ games) and i can't wait to replay its missions with new options in Hitman 2. Hitman: Absolution is ocassionally fun but deeply flawed and i'm completely done with it already.

But if you do love being "sneaky kill man" and you've already played most Hitman/Dishonored/Deus Ex/etc games then you can certainly enjoy this. Because sometimes, even for just a few minutes, Hitman: Absolution is really good.