How many enemies do you think you’ve killed in video games this year? I’d wager thousands, at least. We’re all virtual murderers, but while we are all accustomed to killing, “the difficult part is getting away with it” in Hitman: Absolution.
That’s a line from today’s awesome new trailer. The sexy female narrator continues: “and getting away with it in style”, and there’s certainly plenty of style. Gaming’s greatest assassin, Agent 47, is seen using all manner of environmental hazards to kill his targets. Killing ranges from the subtle to the sadistic as you can electrocute someone with an electric gate, drop a disco ball on someone’s skull, set someone on fire with a large stack of fireworks, and tweaking a surgical machine to violently slaughter a patient.
Variety has been a strong aspect of the series, as has freedom. Each mission is like a mini-sandbox, and you can assassinate your target in whatever way you want. The best (and most fun) ways are the kills like those described above – kills that look like simple accidents. You can of course go in all guns blazing if that’s your style, though its not always necessarily going to be easy.
What I adored from previous instalment, Blood Money, was that despite carrying an arsenal of weapons, if you’re playing it right you can go through the whole game without firing a single bullet.
Unless you’re among the most hardened of stealth veterans, its inevitable you’ll be detected at least a few times. The trailer shows that Agent 7 is fully prepared when surrounded by guards, showing epic combat, human shields and gunplay.
Hitman: Absolution will release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next month on November 20th, and I can’t bloody wait.
If you pre-order the game you can already gain access to the “Hitman: Sniper Challenge”, an interesting standalone set of sniping missions available from selected retailers.
